The Australian designer of a high-end fashion label has told of her devastation after spotting Kylie Jenner’s collection that she believes looked identical to hers.
Jessica Johansen, the founder of luxurious brand Johansen, put her “blood, sweat and tears” into launching her dresses with unique twist straps, with prices ranging from $289 to $329, in 2020.
The business owner was lost for words after her friends, family and customers began “congratulating” her because they assumed she had collaborated with the reality star for her new clothing brand Khy.
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Upon a closer look, she noticed the striking similarities between the designs — with the multi-millionaire selling what Johansen claims to be cheaper versions of her dresses — sold for a fraction of the price.
“I actually felt a bit sick inside when I first saw it, it was like a wave went through my body,” Johansen tells 7Life.
“I worked so hard… It’s just so disheartening.”
7Life has contacted Kylie Jenner’s representatives for comment.
Johansen, who founded her label 10 years ago, claims the dresses are nearly identical — with many of the same features.
“Similarities include the fabric composition — 95 per cent polyester; 5 per cent elastane signature twisted arm and shoulder detail, colour palette and dress lengths,” she claims.
“I’m just incredibly disappointed.”
The designer was alerted to the similar-looking designs after she was bombarded with comments in her inbox.
“I’ve been getting so many DMs from customers, friends and family going, ‘Is this your dress? Oh my god, you collaborated with Kylie. Congratulations’,” she recalls.
“We’ve dressed Kylie before so when I was looking at it, I just thought it was old stuff. Eventually I was getting so many DMs, I started looking into it and took a dive. I was so shocked.”
As for quality, the designer says her brand isn’t mass produced as her dresses are made to last a lifetime.
“I want to explain where the price point comes from because I’m not a fast fashion brand… We don’t order hundreds of thousands of units,” she says.
“Johansen is such a quality brand… My fabrics are good quality fabrics and therefore, they last forever.”
When Johansen contacted Jenner’s team in the hope of understanding the situation, she was unimpressed with their cursory response to her.
“We developed these designs through our team’s hard work and innovation,” a spokesperson for Jenner said to Johansen via email.
She hasn’t heard from Jenner’s team since so she decided to share her experience on social media.
“I spoke out to put pressure on her team to resolve it with me,” Johansen says, adding that she’s been in touch with US attorneys.
“I originally contacted them to resolve things amicably behind closed doors and since they weren’t prepared to do that when I first contacted them I went public.”
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