Retail giant H&M has found itself in hot water again, this time thrown into the pot by Justin Bieber.
It’s no secret that H&M has faced a few accusations as one of the most profitable retailers around. Copying artwork and greenwashing are two of the most common fingers pointed at the group. Recently Bieber has made accusations that H&M created a “trash” Justin Bieber Collection without his approval.
“I wouldn’t buy it if I were you,” Bieber said on his Instagram stories, where he boasts 270 million followers.
H&M has since shared that they did follow “proper approval procedures,” in a statement to Rolling Stone.
As for other massive disputes over design faced by the company, earlier this year Asian-American designer Chet Lo accused H&M of stealing their spiky knitwear designs, which Lo noted are originally “hand-made with love”.
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Now you might be thinking to yourself “isn’t H&M’s entire model based on copying high-end designs to make them accessible and affordable?”
In an era where intellectual property is no small treasure, there has to be a difference between “taking inspiration from” and flat-out copying without permission, as many critics have pointed out with regards to all major fashion retailers.
Although the defense has often come by way that no designs are truly “original” anymore, the anti-H&M camp follows the thread that there is a massive contrast between obvious curtail-riding and following a trend. The contestation against H&M was critiqued as far as copying poses from shoots done in the originals.
As for the Justin Bieber debacle, H&M opted to pull the plug on the collection.
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Feature Image: @evanpaterakis/ shared by @justinbieber
