War of words as designer Katherine Londono claims a rival copied her dress design

Tongues were wagging after model and fashion designer Katherine Londono took to her Instagram to claim another fashion label copied her design. See the pictures and judge for yourself.

It’s been dubbed “dressgate” and it’s the talk of the eastern suburbs social set: one designer taking to Instagram claiming another has copied their design.

Tongues were wagging after model and fashion designer Katherine Londono posted a frustrated rant on Instagram claiming another fashion label had copied a design from her swimwear and resortwear Line La Mar.

However, the accused designer has rubbished the claims, saying: “It goes against the core of what we do and who we are to rip off a small designer.”

It all started when the owner of Double Bay cult fashion store Girls With Gems shared a photo of a white mini dress to Instagram.

The soon-to-be released Sophia Mini Dress is from Sneaky Link and will retail for $259.

La Mar’s Verano dress.

The Sophia Mini Dress.

Fans of Londono weighed in, claiming the dress was similar to La Mar’s white mini-dress, the Verano, which was released in October and retails for $420.

On Thursday evening, Londono took to her Instagram to repost a photo someone had sent with the dresses side-by-side.

Katherine Londono vented her frustration on Instagram. Picture: Instagram

Londono said she’d been “blown away” by the number of DMs she’d received from people pointing out the dress was similar to hers — although she didn’t name the rival boutique or designer.

In the next post, Londono detailed to her followers “what it really takes to create a dress from scratch”. She said it took over a year perfecting the design.

“So yes, seeing a big brand copying our work is frustrating. It takes so much time, effort, and money to bring a new piece to life,” Londono said.

Girls With Gems owner Lia Georgantis rubbished the claims, telling Confidential the Sophia dress had been in the making for eight months.

“Our designer used the shape and material of our best-selling item (a mini skirt),” Georgantis said.

“The dress is by no means revolutionary and … cross over is inevitable with so many designers pulling references and inspiration from trends, Pinterest etc.

“Ultimately, we are all about championing women and their brands.

“We house so many small female founded brands so it would go against the core of what we do and who we are to rip off a small designer.”

Londono declined to comment.

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