Spring is starting to feel out of reach, but the bees are certainly buzzing and one little bird is singing. Jewelry designer Alexis Bittar has released some statements regarding his designs being (cheaply) copied by one of his now former clients, Mrs. Kim (Kardashian) Humphries. Unbeknownst to me, Kim Kardashian has a jewelry line outside of the jewelry collection included in their Kardashian Kollection for Sears. This jewelry collection is called, Belle Noel, and it is sold at none other than Dash – The three Kardashian girls’ boutique. Well, Mr. Bittar happened to take a stroll around good ole’ NYC the other afternoon, and as he passed by the Dash store’s Broadway location something caught his eye. Alexis Bittar noticed the jewelry and instantly recognized aspects of the designs he has only seen in his own jewelry collection. Instantly, Alexis Bittar reminisced to all the times Kim was sent pieces of his jewelry to wear and instantly put an end to that. Mr. Bittar seems disappointed, but later goes on to say Kim most likely has nothing to do with the design process so he should be mad at the people who produce her jewelry. Statements form Mr. Bittar and Kim’s people is slightly entertaining;
“In the reality TV world, there are so many people coming out with lines to capitalize on their TV shows. They are not designers and they are just stealing. I passed the Dash pop up store on Broadway, and I saw that Kim’s pieces were very similar to mine, and she definitely has been taking note (of my designs). The tricky thing is that we have sent pieces to Kim in the past to wear, so now I have told my staff we cannot send anything to her. She was definitely influenced by my designs without a doubt… You have to be very careful to pick and choose your battles. I haven’t talked to Kim about it, the truth is she might not even know. She might be so far removed from it (the design process), and her designers just go shopping and knock things off. But we are definitely not lending to Kim any more, she has been barred.”
Seems pretty harsh, but when $200 is on the cheap side and your competitor’s average price is around $20, it can cause some concern. It can also be argued that the two companies would never see an overlap in customer due to the price difference…so let’s hear Kim’s side.
Kim’s people clarified, “Kim is constantly inspired by her travels which she incorporates into her designs. She hasn’t ever noted any inspiration from Alexis Bittar’s pieces so any similarity in design is purely coincidental.”
What do you think? Want to see the jewelry in comparison? Check out fashionista.com to see photos.
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