Courtney Love has hit out at a fashion label whose recent runway collection appears to have ripped off a shirt once worn by her late husband, Kurt Cobain.
Throughout his all-too short career, Kurt Cobain was known to speak up for what he believed in.
While he made a prominent stand towards homophobia, racism, and sexism at his concerts, the Nirvana frontman was also known to make his sentiments about consumerism and corporate America known as well.
In 1992, Nirvana were featured on the front cover of Rolling Stone’s April issue, with the group’s iconic look on full display. Cobain though, was photographed wearing a cardigan, along with a white shirt that bore the message, “corporate magazines still suck”.
The image itself went on to become of the most famous images of Nirvana, and turned into one of their most reproduced photos.
However, as NME notes, Cobain’s widow, Courtney Love, has hit out at designer Demna Gvasalia, whose clothing brand, Vetements, appears to have blatantly ripped off the shirt made famous in the original photoshoot.
Commenting an image of a runway model wearing a shirt that bears the phrase “corporate magazines still suck – a lot!”, Love took to Instagram to chastise the brand for their design.
“You guys WHAT the FUCK?” she wrote. “I hate being put in this position. You should know better!”
While Demna Gvasalia appears to have drawn inspiration from a lot of famous brands, styles, and looks over the years, commenters on the Instagram post appear to be taking Courtney Love’s side, expressing their shock at how blatant the shirt’s design is.
Although Vetements haven’t responded publicly to Courtney Love’s complaint, this isn’t the first shirt-related debacle Love has been involved in recently.
Late last year, the music world was somewhat surprised to learn of a new item by the Marc Jacobs fashion label. Part of their ‘Bootleg Redux Grunge’ collection, the shirt featured a seemingly-reworked image of Nirvana’s classic logo.
The band’s logo, which first appeared in September of 1991, is famed for its simple design. Featuring an almost intoxicated-looking smiley face, the logo is paired with the bold iconography of the band’s name.
Shirts released by the group also featured the words “Flower Sniffin, Kitty Pettin, Baby Kissin, Corporate Rock Whores” plastered onto the rear.
However, instead of ‘Nirvana’, the now-unavailable shirt released by Marc Jacobs says ‘Heaven’, and in place of the smiley-face’s eyes are the initials MJ. Likewise, the rear text has been altered to read “Redux Grunge Collection 1993/2018 Marc Jacobs”.
While Marc Jacobs later claimed that a lawsuit made against his brand should be dropped, the likes of Courtney Love and other members of Nirvana have been reportedly called to serve as witnesses in regards to the aforementioned lawsuit.
Check out ‘Smells Like Teen Spirit’ by Nirvana:
