These Independent Designers Say They Were Also Ripped Off By Zara

    Crywolf, an independent Toronto store, says its lapel pin design was taken without permission.

    Ishmael N. Daro
    by Ishmael N. Daro

    BuzzFeed Staff, Canada

    Two independent Canadian designers are accusing Zara of ripping them off, just a day after Los Angeles-based illustrator Tuesday Bassen levelled similar accusations at the Spanish clothing giant.

    Crywolf / Facebook

    Stephanie Drabik and Rose Chang, co-owners of the Toronto boutique Crywolf, say the design for one of their lapel pins was taken without permission.

    A friend of theirs found a similar pin available at a Zara store and sent them a photo, Chang told BuzzFeed News.

    Crywolf shared this photo online, comparing their "Healing Cloud" design to a similar pin sold by Bershka, another brand under Zara's parent company, Inditex.

    Crywolf / Via instagram.com

    Chang said this isn't the first time a major retailer has ripped them off. “It feels really horrible. We wouldn’t have even known until someone pointed it out. It’s just so hard to track these things.”

    Although these pins no longer seem available for sale online, the images are still hosted on the Bershka website.

    http://static.bershka.cn/4/photos2/2016/I/0/1/p/9506/486/250/9506486250_2_1_3.jpg
    http://static.bershka.cn/4/photos2/2016/I/0/1/p/9506/486/250/9506486250_1_1_3.jpg

    Inditex did not immediately respond to questions about the pin.

    In response to earlier accusations of theft, however, Inditex told BuzzFeed News that it "respects any third party’s creativity and takes all claims concerning third party intellectual property rights very seriously."

    Chang said that one silver lining so far is that a lot more people are aware of Crywolf. “That’s all we could ask for, especially in this day and age of social media when it’s really easy for people to rip you off," she said. "But it’s also easier for people to band together to expose companies that do it.”