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Tesco Topshop Claire's Accessories

Fashion faux-pas: from spelling errors to plagiarism, a look at some recent PR disasters from the fashion world

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By Ishbel Macleod | PR and social media consultant

March 9, 2012 | 2 min read

There are a few fashion brands whose PRs are currently thinking ‘Thank God it’s Friday’, for reasons such as plagiarism, bad spelling or a sexist comment.

We take a look at some of these fashion PR faux-pas which have happened recently.

Tesco: Used image of student on clothes without asking

Tesco came under fire this week after it was discovered to have stolen an image from Scottish fashion student Nicola Kirkbride’s blog on a jumper.The photo of Kirkbridge, wearing a daisy chain around her head, was used on a yellow jumper with the words “loves me, love me not” written underneath, surrounded by a heart-shaped daisy chain.The student was informed about the jumper via a tweet from a follower of her blog, and Tesco has reportedly said it has no idea how the mistake happened.

Topshop: Shakespeare spelling error

Topshop this week found that more attention should have been paid in English classes at school, when it spelt Shakespeare without the ‘a’ on a t-shirt.The Daily Mail has said that on being informed about the error, a Topshop spokesperson responded: 'Oh my God'.

Madhouse: ‘Give it to your woman’ to wash label

Tongue-in-cheek joke or PR stunt? Madhouse’s ‘Give it to your woman, it’s her job’ line under the washing instructions on a pair of chinos led to some outrage on Twitter.However, others couldn’t see what the fuss was about.

Claire’s Accessories: The Tatty Devine debacle

It’s a few weeks old but definitely caused a ruckus: Claire’s Accessories was accused of copying designs from independent jewellers Tatty Devine.Instead of responding when the complaints came in on Facebook, Claire’s did the ultimate social media no-no: deleting comments.

Tesco Topshop Claire's Accessories

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