Kylie Jenner dropped her latest collection of clothes not a week ago and it's already been shrouded in controversy.
The camoflage-printed two-piece looks were teased by Jenner on her Instagram and then arrived on her online store on the 8th of June.
And it wasn't long until the people of Twitter were accusing her of cultural appropriation.
They argued that Kylie did not 'make the camo trend', since it was Destiny's Child who famously danced, shipwrecked on an island for their hit single 'Survivor' in camo two-pieces.
We can't help feeling some of these accusations were somewhat in jest, though. However, it was another clothing brand who has thrown the more serious allegations at the Forbes 100 teenage mogul Jenner.
Tizita Balemlay is the CEO of a New York-based clothing brand called PluggedNYC.
Balemlay posted photos of her own camo two-piece collection with a caption suggesting that she was the one to reinvigorate the camo trend, and the only person making this style of clothing.
She captioned it:
Them: Did you invent Camo? Me: Nope, but I sure as hell brought it back to life and pushed the two piece Camo movement. I can't remember one BRAND that sold matching Camo two pieces that weren't generic tees with cargo for ladies before my brand, unless it was custom. But hey... money is power smh I started my brand with pennies funny how someone can just take a whole movement bc of how much money and power they have.
The next day, she posted another photo which was a composite of her own designs, next to Kylie in her new collection. In this she suggested that even the styling was the same.
She captioned it:
When you really Pablo... I am the influence *drops mic. Copy & Paste down to the shoes I used on my models 😂😭 The kardashains will take your n**** & brand I stamp lmfaooo #WeAreTheCulture
The Plugged Instagram account posted a picture back in April that insinuated that Kylie was wearing on of their designs, however it wasn't from the camo collection, it was instead a knitted crop top from a different collection all together.
There is also a Tweet, though not from Tizita Balemlay's account, that claims it has emails between Balemlay and Kylie Jenner, suggesting that the brand Plugged was in contact with Jenner and her people, though it is unclear what collection the top, two piece and 'swim care package' are from.
The caption reads:
The black owned company that Kylie stole her camo clothes idea from is posting the receipts of when Kylie ordered from them and I'm LIVING'.
According to Buzzfeed, Balemlay has confirmed to them that Kylie Jenner's stylist reached out to her months ago, and Kylie was, in fact, the first person ever to receive a PluggedNYC camo set.
Balemlay only saw Kylie's similar line after 'hundreds' of people tagged her in the photos.
She told the website, 'At the end of the day money equals power and the Kardashians have that power. This is a prime example. I don't have the buzz she does or the money for billboards.'
There doesn't seem to be any evidence that Kylie (or her designing team) had seen any of the PluggedNYC designs and who knows where the line is when it comes to camoflage print being used in different designs.
We suppose we will have to wait and see.
We have reached out to Kylie Jenner for a response.
Daisy Murray is the Digital Fashion Editor at ELLE UK, spotlighting emerging designers, sustainable shopping, and celebrity style. Since joining in 2016 as an editorial intern, Daisy has run the gamut of fashion journalism - interviewing Molly Goddard backstage at London Fashion Week, investigating the power of androgynous dressing and celebrating the joys of vintage shopping.
