LOONA’s Stylist Sparks Heated Debate After Allegedly Dressing A Member In A “Knock Off” Dress

Twice.

Back in September 2019, LOONA‘s stylist took some heat after member Go Won dropped the music video for her solo track “One & Only”…

… in which she appeared wearing this dress. LOONA fans, especially the ones passionate about the Japanese Lolita fashion subculture, believed this outfit to be a “knock off” version of the beloved “Saint Claire” dress from the popular Japanese designer Mary Magdalene.

 

Then in December 2019, Go Won performed “One & Only” at the LOONA Premier Greeting Meet & UP fan event in another style of the Lolita dress…

… and as fans pointed out that this outfit is also allegedly a replication of Mary Magdalene brand’s “Charlotte” coat dress, the stylist’s decision to “keep using knock offs” has sparked a heated debate.

Some argued that there are no similarities to assume that Go Won’s dresses are knock offs…

  • “I don’t know, man… That style of dress is pretty common. I can’t really say the two have all that many similarities either.”
  • “But that’s such an easy-to-find kind of a dress.”
  • “Please. That design must have been around since the 18th century or something.”
  • “Why is this even a big deal in the first place?”

… while others argued that there is “a fundamental problem with artists using knock offs because they, of all people, should know how invaluable copyright is.”

  • “I don’t believe this…? Those of you saying it is okay for an idol to wear a knock off outfit in public… What do you even mean? Where is your sense of copyright?”
  • “If the stylist made Go Won wear that particular brand’s knock offs twice, I highly doubt the stylist didn’t know about what was happening.”
  • “To call this a common dress design is really stretching it. The color, the texture, the details are all copied. Everything is replicated, how is this not a knock off?”
  • “Shouldn’t stylists be the most sensitive people who get nit-picky about this stuff?”

LOONA’s stylist is yet to respond to the growing criticism, but Korean netizens remain frustrated with the staff and/or the agency’s “lack of decency“.

I’m baffled by how some of you are saying it is okay to copy because no one knows about it anyway. So what, if a writer isn’t famous enough, it would be okay to use his words in a song? Whether anyone else knows about it or not doesn’t play into this at all. Copying is bad because it takes advantage of the original artist’s time and effort.

— Netizen

Source: THEQOO and Twitter (1) and (2)

Idols Done Dirty