Some fashion fans have called for a boycott of the highstreet store Zara after they have been accused of copying designs from a numberof artists. Many have taken to writing the hashtag #BoycottZara over theretailer's Instagram posts following a social media campaign by a group ofindependent artists who say their work has been plagiarised.
The trouble started when artist Tuesday Bassen accused Zaraof using some of her illustrations on their clothing. She shared photos of herown designs next to the clothing giant's replicas on Instagram, and fans werequick to notice the similarities between the two.
A number of artists have accused Zara of copying theirdesigns
However Zara refused to admit responsibility, saying:"the lack of distinctiveness of your client's purported designs make itvery hard to see how a significant part of the population anywhere in the worldwould associate the signs with Tuesday Bassen."
But it was not just Tuesday who noticed that her work mayhave been copied. A number of other artists have come forward to share theirown experiences, with designer Adam J Kurtz launching a website to showpictures of the designs Zara has allegedly replicated.
In total he cited 42 examples on his website Shop Art Theft,prompting Tuesday to write on Instagram that the problem was "so much worse"than originally thought.
Many customers are commenting on the brand's social mediaposts with #BoycottZara
The social media campaign has captured the attention of Zaracustomers, some of whom are so angry about the situation they have taken tocommenting on the retailer's social media posts to address the issue, using#BoycottZara and tagging the account @StopArtTheft.
Zara has yet to respond to the boycott but insists it isworking with the individuals on a "case by case basis" to resolve anyclaims of copyright infringement.