Is Pamela McCoy a Copycat?

Louis Dell'Olio, designer of the Linea fashion line on QVC, is in his own words "livid!"

Why?

Well, it seems as though a certain host/designer at ShopNBC has stolen his design.

Take a look at this Linea jacket from the front:

From the back:

And close up:

Now let's move onto Exhibit B, shall we?

Once again, take a look at this particular Pamela McCoy jacket from the front:


From the back:


And close up:



So, what do you think?


Here's what Louis had to say about it on his QVC blog:

To my amazement and DISGUST....I saw MY JACKET, copied to a "T" by Ms. Pamela McCoy. Let me assure you, the design is MINE and she copied it. I was under the impression Ms. McCoy was a host....at best a host/stylist....not a designer. My jacket was first introduced Oct. of 07 in black and red. It was reordered and we introduced "Purple" as the new color this year. This particular jacket, A74432, was part of a series of what I called my "Leather and Stud" embellished suede jackets, [A14945, A1284, A37843]. .....I CAN TELL YOU WHERE Ms. McCoy got her idea from.....shame on her! If you should ever run into that lady again you can proudly tell her she got ripped off.....You have the original...she has the copy.....and she paid $48 more for it to boot!.....Monday morning I will have a conversation with my manufacturer and my buyer at QVC to see if anything can be done about this blatant copy. Unfortunately, in this country, there are no laws against it. I am on the board of directors of the CFDA [Council of Fashion Designers of America], and we are having meetings right now, in Congress, on copy rite laws protecting clothing and accessory design. I thank you for bringing this to my attention and be assured you have the ORIGINAL!


Louis Dell'Olio was so upset by the stolen design that he had his lawyer write a letter to the CEO of ShopNBC to complain about the design infringement. Unfortunately for Mr. Dell'Olio, ShopNBC is on the verge of total anarchy and collapse, so they probably don't care very much about a jacket. Plus, their CEO gets all kinds of scathing letters. This is just another one to throw onto the pile.


So far, here's what's come of the letter to newly-crowned ShopNBC CEO, Mr. Buck:

A last word on the Pamela McCoy incident. As I mentioned, my lawyer sent a letter, on my behalf, to the CEO of Shop NBC. We received no response..........their silence.......speaks volumns.


In case you didn't already know, Louis Dell'Olio knows a thing or two about the fashion industry. According to the Council of Fashion Designers of America:

Louis Dell'Olio attended Parsons School of Design, and from there moved on to work as a major designer at Anne Klein for nearly 20 years, receiving numerous prestigious industry awards including an induction into the COTY Hall of Fame in 1984. In 1995, Mr. Dell'Olio became a consultant to Marzotto USA to assist in the design and merchandising of its Accento bridge collection of women's apparel. Also in 1995, in a position unprecedented in the fashion industry, Mr. Dell'Olio was engaged by a joint venture among Bergdorf Goodman, Neiman Marcus, and Holt Renfrew as design director for a unique designer collection of women's apparel. Since 1995, Mr. Dell'Olio has been designing a line of furs and shearlings under his own label for the Le Gar Company, which retails in Saks Fifth Avenue, Bloomingdale's, Marshall Fields, Neiman Marcus, and boutiques across the country. He also designs women's and men's shoes and men's suits. In 2000, he entered into an agreement with QVC to design an exclusive line of sportswear under the label LINE A by Louis Dell'Olio, which was so successful during its first year that Mr. Dell'Olio won QVC's prestigious Q Star Award for Product Concept of the Year.