Olivier Rousteing, the creative director of French fashion house Balmain, has been accused of plagiarism.
Sarah Diouf, founder of Senegalese brand Tongoro, found strong similarities between the accessories Balmain showed at its FW24 men’s fashion show in Paris and her designs. The owners Dominica Devero and Natashia Underwood of the London-based label Selfhood Official also accuse the brand of plagiarism.
“In May 2019, we present our jewelry line focused on the facial jewelry ‘Cairo’, inspired by the makeup of the men of the Woodabe tribe,” Diouf wrote on the Tongoro account on the social network Instagram. “The face jewelry was first shown at our ‘Tongoro Tribe’ collection fashion show in Dakar as a tribute to African nomadic communities.”
After the show, the facial jewelry was worn by British model Naomi Campbell and American singer Alicia Keys and quickly became a success. The visible similarity of the pieces presented by Rousteing in his Balmain Fall/Winter 24/25 collection was a “difficult and painful event” that “raised once again doubts about the true appreciation of Western brands for African creativity.” Diouf compared the similarities between the two brands’ pieces using a photo.
Another accusation
Selfhood Official also accused Balmain of relying heavily on the label’s durag, an African headscarf. “This piece is unique to us. We are very proud of this, especially because we have never seen anyone make a durag out of a hard material like plastic or metal,” read a post on Instagram.
The Balmain collection therefore hurt her even more. It continued: “Whenever we are inspired by someone, we thank them. Somehow it never seems to work the other way around.”
Balmain has not yet responded to the controversy.
This article originally appeared on FashionUnited.fr. Translated and edited by Heide Halama.