Taylor Swift Alters ‘folklore’ Merch After Black Designer Calls Out “Blatant Theft”
"I am sharing my story to bring light to the trend of large companies/celebrities copying the work of small minority-owned business owners."
Taylor Swift and her team have changed the merch for surprise album folklore after the owner of a designer store named ‘The Folklore” accused the pop star of “blatant theft”.
As reported by CNN, the founder of The Folklore Amira Rasool accused Swift’s team of ripping off her website’s logo and using it on merch for the album.
While Swift’s album is called folklore, merch originally included the words ‘the folklore album’ in a similar type-set to what’s found across Rasool’s website. Rasool posted a comparison on Instagram last week.
“Based on the similarities of the design, I believe the designer of the merch ripped off my company’s logo,” she wrote.
“I am sharing my story to bring light to the trend of large companies/celebrities copying the work of small minority-owned business owners. I am not going to let this blatant theft go unchecked.”
Rasool then tagged two well-known Instagram accounts which call out design plagiarism, The Fashion Law and Diet Prada. The Folklore is based in New York, and specifically stocks wares from “Africa and the diaspora’s top luxury and emerging fashion brands”.
Within days, the merch had been removed from Swift’s store, having swapped it out for merch that said ‘folklore album’ instead. Rasool commended the singer for taking a “great first step”.
“I commend Taylor’s team for recognizing the damage the merchandise caused to my company @TheFolklore’s brand,” she wrote.
“I recognize that she has been a strong advocate for women protecting their creative rights, so it was good to see her team is on the same page.”
Swift then announced via Twitter that she was making a donation to both Rasool’s business and the Black in Fashion Council, a soon-to-launch collective that aims to “represent and secure the advancement of Black individuals in the fashion and beauty industry”, of which Rasool is a board member.
Rasool has since posted that she considers the issue “resolved” and wished Swift all the best.