This just in: even small-time designers have their hard work shamelessly stolen.
Rebecca Pearcy, owner and founder of Queen Bee Creations, was recently shocked to discover a pair of Robeez toddler shoes with a blatant copy of her popular “Chirp” bird on the vamps. Robeez, which is owned by Payless Shoes’ parent company (Payless is not a company known for coming up with its own designs…yet another way to cut corners), must really have no shame to steal a design from an artist with bills to pay…egad, can’t these people come up with their own work and let independent designers make the money they deserve off their creations?
I’ve ranted before about designer knockoffs being inherently unethical, but buying anything with a stolen design is wrong, even if it is not necessarily made in sweatshops or financed by terrorist groups. Robeez wouldn’t get a cent out of me anyway (their goods are not vegan), but I’ve got half a mind to forward the story to every Robeez retailer in the area. Who do these people think they are?
