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A fashion designer has come forward accusing LaLa Anthony and her stylist of stealing her designs.
On her Instagram, Ash Forde claimed that stylist Jeremy Haynes reached out to her to pull a dress from her collection for Anthony. Fast forward to this week and she was shocked to see Anthony strutting and posing in a copycat version of that dress at her launch for her PrettyLittleThing collection.
“I can’t express the amount of disbelief I’m experiencing right now. For another black woman to mirror the designs of another black woman, pure hurt. We’ve seen this narrative so many times from different cultures, but girl — OURS?,” she wrote in an Instagram post.
She’s now accusing Anthony and Haynes of recreating their own version of her dress.
“Before I launched @lala’s stylist @therealnoigjeremy reached out to pull from my first collection for @maisonashforde. We met in NYC where I personally delivered the dress with excitement. MY DESIGNS, NO TEAM, NO SUPPORT, MY FUNDING, AND FOR FREE. Only to find out that the design of my dress would be duplicated by a larger fast fashion brand for @lala’s collab with @prettylittlething and it’s sad because we’ve seen this happen with small black businesses too many times. We know that @lala had to approve these designs. The level of respect is at an all time low. Being an influencer and new designer, I’ve never counted out small businesses. My rates are fair. I always give recognition and ALL OF MY DESIGNS are original. Just thought I’d share my story so it puts a dent into the cycle stopping in this industry.”
Haynes denied that Forde’s design was stolen and that the PrettyLittleThing collection had been in the works for two years. In an Instagram post, he shared a text message that showed he had reached out to Forde on Sept. 7. He added that he wasn’t involved in the development of her line either.
“For clarification purposes the collection was designed & produced prior to me pulling the dress,” he wrote. “I was not involved in the creative process of the line. Nonetheless, I am very proud of my sis @lala hard work. Make sure y’all support.
Anthony hasn’t addressed these claims.
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