Vena Cava Calls Out Alice + Olivia On Instagram

Uh oh, this is certainly new. I always assumed that calling out someone via social media was a middle/high school move. I would never expect this behavior from a well-known fashion house, but then again, there’s a first time for everything.

Vena Cava called out Alice + Olivia on their Instagram for apparently “ripping off” one of its prints. The image the brand posted to its Instagram account features a dress from Vena Cava’s fall 2012 collection (pictured left) next to a print from Alice + Olivia’s pre-spring 2013 collection (pictured right). The caption lovingly states:

“@alice_olivia Please stop being “inspired” by our prints from last season. Get a library card.”

Jeez, Vena Cava has certainly watched "Mean Girls" a few too many times. As was expected, the picture has spawned a whirlwind of commentators taking sides on the incident. Some are in shock that Vena Cava would be so unprofessional as to call another brand out on Instagram, others are siding with the designer.

Honestly, the prints are not that similar. Yes, they are both printed with a yellow repeating flower against a black backdrop, but the flowers are completely different. You can’t claim a pattern as general as that. One commenter on Instagram went so far as to point out that the original Vena Cava design was actually “inspired” by a vintage dress in designer Lisa Mayock’s closet that she wore in Elle Magazine circa 2009.  Boom.

Alice + Olivia’s designer Stacey Bendet responded to the Instagram insult with this statement:

“In the past eleven years we have never been accused of imitating another designer’s print. We take great pride in the artwork we create for our brand. This print was an interpretation of a vintage screen that has been in my office for years. We then used botanical iris print illustrations to create our own unique version.”

I’m with you Stacey.

Photo Credit: WENN, Instagram