Not On The High Street founder Holly Tucker has accused Asda and New Look of ‘stealing’ a t-shirt design from a small British family-run brand.
The entrepreneur, 43, from London, took to their Instagram page this week to criticise the retailers as she shared pictures of a t-shirt for sale on their websites, alongside a design for sale from independent shop The Annual Store.
The tops appear almost identical and bear the words Home S’cool emblazoned on the t-shirt in a bold black font.
Sharing the post, Holly said: ‘Copying is not okay! Annual Store is an eco-friendly, design-led, independent family store creating and curating the best designs and today they discovered that their original designs have been STOLEN by Asda and New Look.’
Asda told MailOnline: ‘We have immediately removed this item from sale while we investigate this issue with the brand.’
A spokesperson for Noisy May, who supplied the t-shirts to Asda and New Look, said: ‘At NOISY MAY we are in the process of investigating the matter and we have reached out directly to the designer in question in order to further clarify the circumstances of the case. While investigating we have initiated a process to take the product of the market.’
MailOnline has contacted Annual Store and New Look for comment.
Not on the High Street founder Holly Tucker, 43, from London, has accused Asda and New Look of ‘stealing’ a t-shirt design from a small British family-run brand Annual Store (pictured, Annual Store’s t-shirts)
Sharing the accusations online on their own Instagram page, Faye Isaac, owner of Annual Store, shared a screengrab of the t-shirt on the Asda website.
She posted: ‘I realise by putting this t-shirt on my feed it is promoting this product. This is not my product. I didn’t work with in collaboration, I am not earning a single penny, most definitely losing family income because of it.
‘They never approached me to ask if they could support me and work together. Sadly, I know this happens all the time.
‘Thank you to all the lovely people who have taken time to message me about this, your support means the world.’
Holly shared a screengrab of the George at Asda website, with a similar t-shirt emblazoned with the words Home S’cool across the chest
She continued: ‘Home S’Cool is not just words, I coined this specific phrase nearly a year ago now.
‘By turning a familiar phrase into a positive one. This phrase has supported our family through this pandemic and I hope, in turn, supported in some way or brought joy to so many families during these challenging times. A positive school uniform for the whole family and for our incredible teachers too.’
She added: ‘I hand print every t shirt and have done since the beginning, with help from my wonderful friend when it was safe to do so.
‘With the hours, days and nights I’ve put into this product and design to provide the best I can for my customers, I don’t want people to think this underpriced product is my own.
Meanwhile Annual Store’s founder Faye Isaac shared an image encouraging brands to ‘consider the family that designs feed’ before ‘copying’
‘I’ve worked hard over the past year to work towards printing on organic fabrics and I’m just about to move everything over to our high quality, eco friendly garments.’
She went on to thank others who had messaged her about the product, adding: ‘We need to address big corporations taking the talent from creatives and using it to their lucrative advantage. They have the resources and staff to ensure this doesn’t happen. I’m not staying silent about this one.’
Meanwhile she went on to share a similar t-shirt for sale on the New Look website, writing: ‘Not only Asda but New Look have taken my design too.
‘It’s available for £9. NINE POUNDS.’
The Not On The High Street founder threw her weight behind the independent store, suggesting the original designs had been ‘stolen’
Faye went on share a second picture, which featured the text: ‘Before copying someone else’s design, please consider the family that design feeds.’
The Annual Store t-shirts retail for £18 and come in an array of colours on their website.
Online, the garments are described as 100 per cent cotton and hand printed premium flock vinyl.
The description continues: ‘We believe education begins at home and that’s cool; learning through play, learning from parents, carers, siblings or elders, learning from daily rituals and routines but most of all learning from love.’
The entrepreneur shared a screengrab of the New Look website, which carried a similar t-shirt with the same phrase printed on the front
Holly launched Not On The High Street in 2006 – a website where small businesses can sell their products. At that time, it was the only online marketplace in the world apart from Amazon and Ebay.
Holly had told local newspapers about her venture and created a countdown to opening, with 16,000 people trying to access the site on the first day.
In 2012 Holly made her first million and moved from a two-bedroom terrace house in Chiswick to a four-bedroom house in St Margaret’s in Richmond upon Thames.
Within a decade Holly, who has been awarded MBEs for their achievements, was running a multimillion-pound enterprise, employing more than 200 people, with around 200 of the tens of thousands of small businesses signed up hitting an annual turnover of £1 million.