Australian designer who accused Kylie Jenner of 'ripping off' her designs ... trends now
An Australian designer who accused Kylie Jenner of 'ripping off' her fashion line is demanding an apology from the 'morally corrupt' star who once wore her designs.
Jessica Johansen Bell, 28, launched Johansen in 2015 and was 'flattered' when Jenner, 27, started wearing her pieces and posing in them online.
But she was left in utter disbelief earlier this year when the reality star-turned-businesswoman dropped her fourth collection from her new brand Khy - which featured twisted straps similar to those designed by Johansen Bell five years ago.
She addressed the apparent similarity's between her collection and that of the reality star in March in a now-viral TikTok video, sharing a slideshow of her dresses side-by-side with Jenner's new line.
Kylie Jenner, 28 (pictured in a white Khy dress) has been accused of 'ripping off' fashion designs for her new label Khy from Australian fashion designer Jessica Johansen Bell, 28
Johansen Bell (pictured in a screenshot from a TikTok video in which she accused Jenner of ripping off her entire collection) told DailyMail.com that Jenner is 'morally corrupt'
Jenner (wearing a Khy dress with a twisted shoulder strap) has worn several of Johansen Bell's dresses after being gifted them in 2018
Johansen Bell insists that the twisted shoulder strap (seen here in a dress worn by a model for Johansen) is the signature mark of her clothing line and that Jenner knew this
She is now calling on the star to apologize, and said the multihyphenate needs to be 'put in her place' in an exclusive interview with DailyMail.com.
'I reached out to the Khy company when I saw this,' she said. 'I was like, "Take this down. My customers are just getting confused." And it was getting worse by the day. It started to stress me out.
'It just seems so morally corrupt for such a large-scale company to rip off such a small brand and sell it for such a small amount of money. It devalues the whole brand.
'Her team responded and said: "We innovated these designs." I told them: "You did not. This is crazy." And that is when they ghosted me. Completely.'
The designer described how she had sent dresses to Jenner in 2018, which she wore in pictures posted to her social media accounts. She claimed Jenner's stylist also reached out ahead of the star's 21st birthday and Johansen Bell sent dresses which Jenner also modeled on her big day.
'In 2018, we sent a few styles to her house, and she wore my dresses in 50 or so videos... I was fresh in my business,' she said. 'At the time I was not sending that kind of stock overseas because that was huge expense for me. But I saw the opportunity and I just took it on.
'So we just continued sending her stylists clothes. We sent her a box in 2019 of the whole collection, so it had all the twisted strap styles that you see in her current collection.'
She continued: 'When she dropped this latest collection I was getting all these DMs. I just thought it was old content because we get tagged in her old stuff all the time.
Johansen Bell told DailyMail.com that she sent Jenner dozens of dresses in 2018 - many of which were worn by the reality star at the time
'I sent her forty or more dresses over the years, and they would send some back. I didn't keep records of back then,' Johansen Bell said
'I saw it and I just thought it was one of my dresses. This is when I first realized. I went on her website, and I was just so shocked.
'At first I was flattered by her wearing my clothing. She was the first celebrity that really wore my stuff like I had other celebrities but she was the first big celebrity. It was big for me.
'But then when she ripped off my whole collection – I stopped feeling flattered.'
Jenner launched her latest Khy collection in February which features black, white and beige mini and midi dresses featuring twisted straps like those designed by Johansen Bell.
Jenner's dresses retail at $78 and $98, while Johansen Bell's start at $190 (AUS $289).
Speaking about her decision to go public on TikTok, she said: 'I thought that maybe if I
