Multimillion-dollar fashion label White Fox Boutique has faced backlash as influencers accuse the label of ripping off styles from smaller brands.
Influencers and small businesses have taken to social media to share side-by-side comparisons of the designs produced by the Australian fashion label, questioning its originality.
A series of social media posts have accused the fast-fashion label of selling designs similar to clothing from Australian and international brands Mr Winston, Miaou and Dion Lee.
Multimillion-dollar fashion label White Fox Boutique has faced backlash over its alleged ‘copycat’ designs (pictured, a dress sold by White Fox (left) alongside a dress sold by UK fashion label Rat & Boa)
White Fox Boutique co-founders Georgia Moore and Daniel Contos (pictured) have enjoyed booming success with their online retailer as a result of Covid-19 lockdowns
Ilah Watson was among one of several small business owners to point the finger at the label for creating designs resembling products sold by other brands.
In a recent Instagram post, Ms Watson shared an image of a blue mini skirt sold by her online retailer Vesper.co alongside an almost identical design from White Fox.
‘Am I crazy, or…?’ she wrote.
Ilah Watson was among one of several small business owners to point the finger at White Fox Boutique after she shared a style which appears similar to one of her designs (pictured)
In a video uploaded to TikTok, a number of White Fox designs appear alongside similar styles from other fashions brands, sold at a drastically cheaper price.
The clip includes a white bustier sold by Australian designer Dion Lee which retails for around $790 pictured alongside a White Fox version sold online for $69.95.
A TikTok shows a white bustier sold by Australian designer Dion Lee (Pictured, left) which retails for around $790 pictured alongside a White Fox version sold online for $69.95 (Pictured, right)
Ex-White Fox brand ambassador and influencer Sophia Begg has dropped the brand over the revelations, revealing she no longer works with the company.
‘I no longer work with the company I think the copying is awful,’ Ms Begg wrote in comments on TikTok.
TikTok user Lianaelizabethh has called on other influencers to boycott the brand after sharing a video in January titled ‘White Fox at it again’ alongside a montage of alleged ‘copycat’ designs.
Social media users have made comparisons of White Fox designs that appear similar to a jumper sold by Melbourne brand Mr Winston (pictured)
This week she continued to call out the fashion label despite revealing she has lost a number of collaborations with businesses over the posts.
‘Me calling out White Fox and losing all the collab opportunities I used to get because I’m controversial. Me continuing to do it because everybody deserves to know how shady they are,’ she wrote alongside a TikTok on Friday.
Design imitation can be difficult to navigate in the Australian fashion landscape as current copyright laws only offer a limited degree of protection.
‘Once a designer uses that design on a commercial scale, copyright protection is lost,’ Olivia Hitchens, legal adviser to the Australian Retailers Association, told Daily Mail Australia.
‘Intellectual property can be time consuming to register and most creatives don’t bother, most original works have no IP protection once they are mass produced meaning, other traders can copy their concepts with minimal risk.’
Ms Hitchens said in the absence of trade mark and design protection, fast-fashion labels are only held liable if the replicated design is ‘misleading or deceptive’ or is attempting to ‘pass off’ as the original product.
Ex-White Fox brand ambassador and influencer Sophia Begg (pictured, centre) has dropped the brand over the revelations, revealing she no longer works with the company
‘This is hard to argue and many smaller brands and creatives don’t have the time or money to protect their concepts from the outset,’ she added.
‘Even if they do register their designs or names/logos, it is easy for a competitor to change those designs sufficiently to avoid infringement (i.e. by still having the overall look and feel, but with enough stylistic tweaks). ‘
Sydney based label White Fox Boutique began selling clothes on eBay in 2013, offering the latest trends at affordable prices.
Despite its founders Georgia Moore, and Daniel Contos, having no experience in the fashion industry, the venture has proven sucessful with styles worn by the likes of the Kardashian sisters, Sofia Richie, Hailey Baldwin and Emily Ratajkowski.
Ms Moore previously told Daily Mail Australia that the main secret behind the label’s success has been social media.
‘I didn’t have any money when I started the business so if we weren’t using Instagram I don’t think it would have grown as big as it has,’ she said.
Covid-19 remarkably saw even more success for the business after shoppers flocked to the retailer to stock up on activewear and loungewear during lockdowns.
The retailer saw a mammoth 154 per cent increase in activewear sales after NSW plunged into its second shutdown in June.
Daily Mail Australia has contacted White Fox Boutique for comment.
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Read more at DailyMail.co.uk