Main trend influencer and WeWoreWhat founder Danielle Bernstein vehemently denies claims she copied one more model for her new jewellery line

• Danielle Bernstein is denying claims that she copied one other model’s jewellery design. 
• California retailer Coco Belle mentioned on Instagram that it “appears like” Bernstein copied its necklace.
• A WeWoreWhat rep adamantly denied the claims to Insider, noting the necklace was impressed by an property sale buy.

Danielle Bernstein, the Instagram influencer and entrepreneur behind trend label WeWoreWhat, is once more denying allegations that she copied the work of a smaller designer in launching her first jewellery assortment. 

Bernstein formally introduced the jewellery enterprise final week, alongside a photograph of a necklace, which regarded like an equal-sided cross adorned with beads. However a publish that includes an identical necklace, shared two days prior by the Southern California retailer Coco Belle, fueled hypothesis on-line that Bernstein copied its design.

Bernstein and her group adamantly deny these claims. A lawyer for WeWoreWhat informed Insider that she was impressed by an property sale buy from 2021, and supplied a picture receipt of her carrying it then. Nonetheless, fellow influencers and Reddit snarkers have been fast to forged blame as a result of it is not the primary time Bernstein has been on the heart of comparable controversies.

Hypothesis first began swirling when the model Coco Belle responded to an Instagram remark about whether or not WeWoreWhat copied its jewellery design final Tuesday.

“Sure, appears prefer it. She requested me for a free one final 12 months and I declined as a result of we’re a small enterprise and need to be sure that everybody has a one in all a sort piece,” the corporate wrote.

Since, a number of creators have taken Coco Belle’s facet. New York Metropolis-based way of life Instagrammer Hattie Kolp shared a narrative final week urging followers to purchase the necklace from the smaller retailer as a substitute. TikToker Hannah Stella then shared a viral video alluding to the Bernstein and Coco Belle scandal to clarify why “dupe tradition,” or an even bigger model stealing the designs of a smaller model, is problematic. 

When reached in regards to the allegation, Coco Belle proprietor Pearl Brouillet informed Insider over Instagram DM that she is “very involved about involving myself in any dialogue surrounding Danielle.”

“I am conscious of the latest dialogue surrounding one in all my designs that has since appeared elsewhere,” Brouillet mentioned. “I want to keep up the integrity of our model, and the legacy my father based within the pearl business, by specializing in creating timeless items for purchasers who worth authenticity.”

“We lengthen our help to the proficient small companies creating distinctive and real items, and admire these in positions of affect who use their platform for the great of others,” she added.

Bernstein’s group, nonetheless, is denying any wrongdoing. A lawyer for WeWoreWhat, Robert Salame, informed Insider that the label “didn’t copy, use, or reproduce any paintings belonging to Coco Belle.”

Salame despatched Insider a receipt from the Connecticut property sale the place Bernstein mentioned she sourced the piece in query. The receipt reveals Bernstein paid $5,400 for the merchandise on Could 21, 2021. Salame additionally shared images of Bernstein carrying the necklace in Could 2021.

“Nobody concerned within the design course of, in any means, copied or in any other case drew inspiration for the WeWoreWhat Design from the Coco Belle design,” Salame mentioned in an e mail assertion.

Regardless of her group’s pushback on this occasion, the immense and speedy backlash towards Bernstein on-line is basically on account of the truth that she has been repeatedly accused of copying fellow designers that date again to 2018. 

During the last 5 years, Bernstein has been accused of copying designs for a WeWoreWhat costume and skirt, a COVID-era masks, and a pair of tan shorts. 

Most not too long ago, she was accused of copying a costume from the indie model We Are Kin by that model’s founder, Ngoni Chikwenengere, who additionally claimed that Bernstein had reached out asking for a pattern of the piece. Bernstein denied the allegations.

“I am fed up with this false narrative being unfold about me stealing designs when I’ve time after time confirmed every accusation false,” she wrote on Instagram on the time.