In the cutthroat world of fashion, originality is harder to find than affordable Bay Area housing. Just ask Lindsey Hansen, the creative genius behind Future Past vintage store, who recently caught Banana Republic with its hand in the design cookie jar.

Here’s the tea: Hansen crafted a unique pair of upcycled jeans in spring 2024, meticulously repairing vintage Levi’s 501s with hand-sewn denim patches and traditional Japanese sashiko cross-stitch. Her price tag? A cool $288. Banana Republic’s response? A suspiciously identical design priced at $180.

The Sustainable Fashion Smackdown

When Future Past employee Jenna Giusto spotted the copycat jeans on Instagram, she was furious. “Our whole ethos is slow fashion,” she told the Chronicle. “To see our thoughtfully crafted design mass-produced feels like a slap in the face”.

Corporate Trend Vultures

Hansen’s critique cuts deeper than her precise stitching. She argues that creating artificially distressed clothing misses the point of sustainable fashion. “It’s not a trend,” she emphasized. “We need to repair our clothes because we can’t keep consuming at this rate”.

The Corporate Backpedal

After being called out, Gap Inc quickly pulled the jeans from their website, claiming to “take their concerns seriously”. Translation? They got caught with their design pants down.

In a world where creativity is currency, Hansen’s story is a reminder that originality still matters - even if corporations would prefer to hit ‘copy and paste’ on innovation.