David Yurman Claims Kate Moss Copied Campaign

David Yurman isn't too happy with its former campaign girl, Kate Moss. The supermodel has been promoting her jewelry line for Fred stores in France, and the ad-campaign feature a number of photos that David Yurman is claiming are copies of Peter Lindbergh's shots for their campaign from the previous year. While no legal action has been taken, a David Yurman representative has publicly stated that “The Fred campaign is embarrassingly similar to the one David Yurman ran a year ago. When you are a leader in your category, you get used to people copying you. We are confident consumers know the difference.” 

Fred Ad (Above) vs. David Yurman Ad (Below)

While we see the similarity in Kate Moss's bed-head hairstyle and body positions, we're not too convinced that this was a direct copy of the David Yurman campaign. What makes the David Yurman ad campaigns distinctive are the soft, black-and-white shots. The style of photography in the Fred ad campaign is completely different and the differences between the images are significant enough to indicate that no one would confuse the two campaigns. Based off these photographs, what do you think?

David Yurman ad (left) vs. Fred ad (right)

David Yurman ad (left) vs. Fred ad (right)

Comments

[Teryn]

My personal experience in the fashion industry, as a model, but also now interning as a photographer's assistant (I intend to work as a fashion photographer), I can state -only from my own personal experiences- that once a model has worked extensibly, you know what works for you to give the best of yourself; more specifically, you know what are your best angles & how best to utilize light to suit yourself.
Kate knows very well what will work best for the outcome as she knows her angles & light.
Also, photographers often are VERY, say, egotistical. This may be not thhe best descriptive, but I believe it expresses my meaning.
When you have a model of Kate's stature in the industry, you have a model who will get your product sold: period.
The pictures, in my opinion, are reflective of a seasoned model giving great photos based on her knowledge of what works best for her; To my eye, these are in no way "copies". They are simply poses that Kate knows work & a photographer whose ego is perhaps bruised due to the loss of his star selling point: not the product, rather the model promoting it.

[Sheba Sheikh]

Thanks for your expertise Teryn! Always value industry insights on our posts and I totally agree with your points.