Copycat Chanel Admits to Stealing Designs

Iconic French fashion and beauty label Chanel have admitted to using another designer’s work after recently being branded copycats following the debut of their latest knitwear collection.

The Metiers d’Art collection of chunky knits debuted last week in Rome and the Fair Isle jumpers featured reminded Scottish designer Mati Ventrillon of her own work just a little too much.

Shocked and upset that Chanel would replicate her work without her permission, Ventrillon took to social media, captioning a side-by-side image of the two extremely similar designs, “Endorsement or plagiarism?”

The designer then went on to explain how two members of the Chanel team had visited her small bespoke Fair Isle studio in summer and purchased items as ‘research’ for their upcoming knitwear collection. Ventrillon vented on Twitter and Instagram, “I specifically said that I was going to sell it to them for the reputation of Chanel house and because I would not expect them to copy my design.”

Following the controversy, Chanel confirmed that Ventrillon’s designs did inspire pieces within the collection.  A spokesperson for Chanel apologised for the incident, claiming that it was a result of “dysfunctionality within its teams.” In an attempt to rectify this, Chanel will include the words ‘Mati Ventrillon design’ in their communications to “recognise her as the source of inspiration…” Despite the incident, the spokesperson wished to assure that Chanel is “extremely vigilant in terms of its respect for creativity, whether its own or that of others.”