Kim Kardashian responds to claims she’s helping knock-off her own dresses

The devil works hard but Kris Jenner works harder.

If you’ve been keeping tabs on Diet Prada, you’ll know the fashion sleuths behind the account have been a little suss on the actions of Kim Kardashian West and her sponsorship transparency for a little while now.

Last month, the account called out Pretty Little Thing for its fast-tracked knockoff of a Jean Paul Gaultier 1996 dress, just weeks after Kim K wore it on November 11.

 

View this post on Instagram

 

When a Kardashian wears one of your designs, the typical life cycle of the imminent knockoff is fast tracked. In the case of this @jpgaultierofficial dress from his Spring 1996 “Cyberbaba” collection, it likely took a couple weeks (or even less) to produce before it started spilling into dreaded retailers like Pretty Little Thing and smaller clubwear boutiques the world over. At least this one has a somewhat happy ending with Jean-Paul reclaiming the design in his most recent haute couture collection. This time around, the iconic contours were spangled with crystals ✨. • #jpg #jeanpaulgaultier #gaultier #couture #hautecouture #pariscoutureweek #pfw #parisfashionweek #bodycon #1996 #stripes #sheer #kimkardashian #kardashian #kuwtk #prettylittlething #mystique #wiwt #ootd #knockoff #dietprada

A post shared by Diet Prada ™ (@diet_prada) on Jan 25, 2019 at 10:34am PST

But then again, earlier this month, Missguided was caught selling a gold two-piece variation of a Yeezy dress, just three hours after Kardashian posted about it.

 

View this post on Instagram

 

Hey Kim, we’re onto your little game. Just when you thought nothing would top the fake-out “confession” of Kendall’s Proactiv ad, the Kardashians do it again. @kimkardashian posted a picture of herself in an old dress Kanye made for her, presumably under his Yeezy label, with a pithy caption pleading for fast fashion brands to let her wear the dress before knocking it off. ⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀ ⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀ Three hours after her post, it popped up on quick-turn retailer @missguided , who has entire website sections dedicated to kopying the Kardashian style. Last year, Fashion Nova famously dropped their own versions of Kylie’s custom birthday looks mere hours after she posted them. The lack of transparency around celebrity endorsements is a big problem facing social media. We think we smell a rat. Dieters, is this a thinly veiled collab, or does Missguided have a secret atelier of magical elves making stretchy dresses round the clock and shooting them on Kim K doppelgängers? Lol. ⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀ • ⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀ #kimkardashian #missguided #literally #fastfashion #collab #transparency #designer #yeezy #ye #kanye #kimye #collaboration #magicalelves #speedtomarket #retail #luxurybrand #kardashian #kuwtk #fashionnova #ootd #wiwt #dietprada

A post shared by Diet Prada ™ (@diet_prada) on Feb 8, 2019 at 1:33pm PST

The same thing happened again this week, after Kardashian was spotted in a vintage Mugler dress. Unsurprisingly, a replica appeared on Fashion Nova only hours after she was spotted.

But this is where things get a little more interesting. Ahead of the imagery being released, Fashion Nova’s model, Yodit Yemane, shared an IG Story showing image options from her shoot. If you look closely, however, the file names of the images are dated to February 14, four days before Kim was seen wearing the dress.

Unsurprisingly, the discovery has left many questioning the transparency around ads and sponsorship in fashion. 

 

View this post on Instagram

 

UPDATE: See stories for a screenshot of the date of the Capture One session (it’s labeled 02-14-19). Fashion Nova Mugler knockoff shot 4 days before Kim wore it on 02/18/19. Kim, you’ll never fess up to your sneaky lil collaborations, but we got all the receipts ?. • ⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀ At some point recently, a fast fashion photo shoot happened featuring a vintage Mugler dress that @kimkardashian just happened to wear on Sunday night to the Hollywood Beauty Awards…and yes, it appears to be a real dress, not photoshop. Ahead of Fashion Nova releasing the dress at 9pm EST tonight, house model Yodit Yemane may or may not have accidentally leaked a story 2.5 hours earlier of photo options from her shoot featuring the Mugler replica. The file names were even labeled “Kim dress” while it’s now being called “Winning Beauty Cut Out Gown” lol. This begs the question: Did Fashion Nova whip up the dress overnight in their Los Angeles atelier after seeing Kim in it or is she peddling her vintage finds to mass retailers ahead of debuting them for a calculated, timely release? ⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀ • ? : Getty • #kimkardashian #mugler #thierrymugler #manfredthierrymugler #bodycon #cutout #barelythere #strappy #straps #black #vintage #dress #velvet #fashionnova #wiwt #ootd #kuwtk #hollywood #beauty #kkwbeauty #kardashian #ecommerce #shady #smh #photoshoot #model #fashionmodel #dietprada

A post shared by Diet Prada ™ (@diet_prada) on Feb 18, 2019 at 6:54pm PST

Hitting back at claims she’s been working in secret with these brands, Kardashian took to her IG Stories, claiming she knows nothing about the knockoffs. You can check her response below via our screenshots.

So, have the Kardashian’s cottoned onto getting around labelling their sponsored posts as #ads. Are we seeing a new wave of celebrity influence? One in which we don’t even know we’re being targeted?

The jury’s still out, but if Diet Prada has anything to do with it, it won’t be for long.