Zoë Carol is a Dublin-based designer whose pieces are stocked in a number of boutiques across the country.
Zoë, who grew up in both Hong Kong and Galway, studied at both Trinity College and the NYC Parsons School Of Fashion Design before launching her own womenswear line in 2014.
The talented designer recently published An Open Letter to Penneys on her website where she shared a photo of a Penneys item, similar to one of the designs in her S/S 2016 collection.
She explained that a friend sent her the photo of the bird print sleeveless blouse which and Zoë “instantly knew was her design”.
Describing this as “clear robbery of intellectual property”, Zoë drew attention to the fact that there is “no law against what you did and there’s no law to protect designers and makers”.
However, she went on to say that she doesn’t feel “bad” about it because she’s now more determined than ever to create designs that everyone can afford.
“Penneys has taken what I envisioned into something inexpensive and for the masses. That’s ok. If you’re paying less than €20 for your blouse, it’s more than likely because they cut out the cost of paying a designer on top of other things (inexpensive fabric bought in bulk, low labour costs in developing countries and large manufacturing quantities)”.
The Daily Edge obtained a statement on behalf of Primark in relation to the matter.
Primark’s team of designers take great pride in bringing its customers the latest trends at affordable prices. The Primark buyers responsible for commissioning and developing the product in question were not familiar with Ms Wong’s company, or with its designs, and at no time took inspiration from them.
Zoë’s final say on the subject sums up her feelings…
“Moral of the story? FUCK YOU PENNEYS but also you do you Penneys because this is life and life’s not fair”.
