A Brooklyn-based lingerie brand has sued mega-influencer Danielle Bernstein and Saks, Shopbop, and Carbon 38, alleging they sold copied designs
Christian Vierig/Getty Images
- Danielle Bernstein is a mega-influencer whose blog-turned-fashion brand WeWoreWhat has over 2.5 million followers on Instagram.
- In October, Brooklyn-based lingerie company The Great Eros said WeWoreWhat copied their signature tissue paper design, and put it on swimsuits and leggings.
- But WeWoreWhat beat Eros to the legal punch, filing a complaint against the brand, claiming that they didn't violate Eros' intellectual property.
- Now, Eros is fighting back, with a lawsuit that names not only Bernstein's WeWoreWhat as a defendant, but also retailers Onia, Saks, Shopbop, and Carbon 38, who the suit alleges sold the copied designs.
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A Brooklyn-based lingerie company is suing mega-influencer Danielle Bernstein, as well as retailers that sold her brand's apparel, alleging that they sold apparel that copied the lingerie store's designs, according to a lawsuit filed Wednesday in California.
Lingerie brand The Great Eros accused Bernstein and her label, WeWoreWhat, of copying the pattern of female nudes that adorns Eros' tissue paper, and selling swimsuits, wallpaper, and other merchandise with the stolen design. In addition, the suit names luxury retailer Saks Fifth Avenue, online retailer Shopbop, swimsuit brand Onia, and retailer Carbon 38 as defendants in the lawsuit, claiming that they sold the stolen designs.
Filing from the US District Court, Southern District of New York
The legal battle between Bernstein's WeWoreWhat and The Great Eros kicked off in October, when WeWoreWhat and swimsuit brand Onia filed a complaint against The Great Eros, claiming that they didn't violate any intellectual properties laws and saying the design was not copied.
In a statement on social media in October, Bernstein said that her company's pattern was influenced by Matisse's line drawings, not by Eros' tissue paper. She further denied allegations of copying, saying that she hadn't even bought or been given free merchandise from the store, and that she had checked with WheWoreWhat's designers, and found that they weren't aware of Eros' pattern either.
Eros' counsel Jeff Gluck told Business Insider strongly pushed back on these claims in an interview with Business Insider in October. He said that that he had evidence, in the form of showroom logs and gifting requests, that proved that Bernstein visited Eros' showroom (not its retail store), and that Bernstein had previously requested free merchandise from The Great Eros, Gluck said.
Gluck also clarified that in terms of intellectual property, Eros wasn't claiming that they owned the rights to line drawings of female nudes. He said that the design similarities between Eros' tissue paper and WhatWeWore's merchandise had multiple design similarities, such as the weight of the lines in the drawings and the way that the figures were arranged.
The Great Eros slammed Bernstein's decision to sue in a social media post in October.
"Danielle, you have become a bully... You just drove 100 mph into a brick wall, because your bulls--t stops here and now," the brand wrote.
"I am an advocated and committed supporter of small businesses, and as an entrepreneur and designer, I hold creative liberty and ownership in the highest regard," Bernstein responded on Instagram.
Saks Fifth Avenue, Onia, Bernstein, WeWoreWhat, Carbon 38, and Shopbop did not immediately respond to Business Insider's requests for comment.
WeWoreWhat has faced allegations of copying smaller designers in the past, including a face-mask design in July. Since starting her blog WeWoreWhat in 2011, Bernstein has released designs that include overalls, swimwear, and more. Her designs have been carried in stores ranging from Intermix to Macy's. In 2019, she launched ShopWeWoreWhat.com, an ecommerce site to sell her fashion lines.
WeWoreWhat has partnered in the past with Onia, which is also a party in the lawsuit filed by The Great Eros. The latest collaboration between the brands in May 2019 sold $1 million within three hours of its release, WWD reported.