Don’t let the name fool you—there’s nothing skimpy about straight-talking Instagram account Diet Prada, or its mission.
The feed, which counts supermodel Naomi Campbell among its 180k followers, calls out designers whose creations outright copy—or borrow heavily from—fashion, jewelry, and accessory designs already in existence.
The feed is authored by two fashion-literate content creators who’ve chosen to remain anonymous. This makes sense—their anonymity allows them to write honestly about injustices in the fashion sphere, without fear of reprisal or damage to their professional reputations (or access).
After all, fashion’s top brands and PR firms don’t always have a stellar sense of humor about such things, and a seasoned fashion writer could easily imagine themselves slipping from front row status to standing room only for spotlighting the unabashed “borrowing” that happens too often in the industry.
There’s more clothing than jewelry on Diet Prada, but the authors do occasionally bust jewelry copycats. They’ve recently called out Valentino for grifting designs from indie jewelry houses, including Jessie V E.’s distinctive number rings.
https://www.instagram.com/p/BYioA9CFZC_/?hl=en&taken-by=diet_prada
Man Repeller recently interviewed one of the feed’s founders, who said she and her partner “never went into it anonymously to protect ourselves or because we wanted to post stuff we were scared to say,” adding, “When we started, all our friends knew it was us. It was a workplace thing. Another part of why we started anonymous and have stayed anonymous is because we could be anybody this way. There’s a weird validity to what we say because, as anonymous posters, we don’t have any motive. It’s like Gossip Girl. It makes it more interesting to others. Maybe they see themselves in it.”
https://www.instagram.com/p/BcGUoOrlASA/?hl=en&taken-by=diet_prada
The author detailed the parameters she and her partner look to when gauging the egregiousness of fashion copycats: “Our touchstone is always, ‘Is this done from a place of love? Is it an homage?’ and ‘Are they learning about [the designer] and gaining a new perspective, or are they reissuing a Yohji Yamamoto skirt for no reason, without [recognizing] its roots?'”
The writers don’t call out fast-fashion houses, she said, because, “there’s no surprise to it; that’s their business model,” and says a lot of vintage design is fair game if you’re updating old forms and putting a new spin on a classic look.
But, she added, “if you’re looking to a Céline runway show from two years ago, and you can see the proven success there, what are you adding that’s new?”
(Top image: A Diet Prada Instagram post showing Céline earrings and an, er, homage by Australia’s Reliquia Jewellery; via: @dietprada)
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