Last week, the world of fashion was privy to its first high profile meme-based scandal: that Alexander Wang post. Just in case you missed it, we’ll jog your memory. Five days ago, the designer shared a video on his personal account (home to a tidy 81.2k followers) cataloging the apparent similarities between Philipp Plein’s recent NYFW show and Wang’s 2014 presentation for H&M.
44,000 views later, Philipp Plein’s marketing and communications director Jennifer Leppla has vigorously denied Wang’s accusations of plagiarism.
In a statement to WWD, Leppla asserted she had been “involved in every step of the production” with Plein and art director Simon Costin. “I have been working with Mr. Plein since his first show in 2010,” she continued, “I can assure you that the shows are always born of a concept in Mr. Plein’s head, the visuals are then developed by the team. Copying the layout of another fashion show is just not the process used at Philipp Plein.”
“Actually, the photo posted by Alexander Wang is rather deceiving, because it does not show the main theme of the show,” Leppla said, “which was the two-story gym hidden behind the reflective walls, which was revealed at a certain point during the show.” A stern response, to be sure — though Plein is yet to post a meme of his own.
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Text Isabelle Hellyer