In a twist of fate, modest fashion entrepreneur Vivy Yusof appears to have ordered an artist to take down art that included an image from a fashion campaign she was weeks ago accused of allegedly plagiarising.
Malaysian artist Izat Arif yesterday said he was contacted by someone representing Vivy and her FashionValet online store demanding his artwork be taken down. He shared a screenshot of the message saying Izat had “reproduced” the entrepreneur’s image “without their permission” and “offered to sell” it.
“All (accusations) of plagiarism are equal, but some (accusations) of plagiarism are more equal than others,” the 34-year-old artist, known for his mixed-media artworks, wrote in the caption.
Vivy did not immediately respond to Coconuts KL’s request for comment.
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The artwork in question included an edited photo of Vivy with the words: “AT THE END OF THE DAY ART IS NOT ESSENTIAL PUN.”
Izat is a familiar name in the local art scene and has exhibited his works in places like Kuala Lumpur’s Ilham Gallery.
According to the message Izat had shared, he was requested to take down the art “immediately.”
“I represent Fashionvalet Sdn Bhd, 30 Maple Sdn Bhd and Datin Vivy Yusof,” the message began.“It has come to our attention that you have reproduced an image belonging to our clients and featuring Datin Vivy Yusof without their permission. You have also offered to sell that image on your Instagram account at (link has been removed).”
It added: “We hereby request that you remove the image immediately and cease using our clients’ image. Your kind cooperation is highly appreciated.”
The image Izat had used was taken from a fashion campaign for Vivy’s new scarves collection The Artsy dUCk, which was called out by designer Nia Atasha – aka Instagram user @Sleepylllama – on April 28 for bearing similarities to her own collection released two years prior.
That was around the same time Vivy’s team had already began conceptualizing The Artsy dUCk, according to the 32-year-old entrepreneur’s defense.
“This print is our print that we developed and you would’ve seen it in our Threesome Pen stationery set. Next are some screenshots of the teams’ emails with pictures from JUNE 2018. The other party’s collection launched in DECEMBER 2018,” a statement she issued said.
Last year, graphic designer Syaza Yunos of fashion brand Warong Syaza and another brand Ilham Enchenta also directed similar accusations to Vivy.
“Tell ur GM to step down from your company dear V. Hire me instead if you really like my @ilhamechenta turban,” Ilham Enchenta founder Faezah Ahmad Fadzil said at the time, noting that FashionValet was a buyer of Ilham Enchenta since 2014.
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