Kylie Jenner. Photo / Getty Images
Vlada Haggerty's artwork is 'everything' to Kylie Jenner - but it took her over a year to admit it.
The 19-year-old finally gave a shout-out to the make-up artist she was accused of ripping off, 13 months after she used one of her pictures without crediting her.
On Friday, the reality star posted a four-way image of melting lips; a concept that is now synonymous with her wildly successful brand... and an image that was conceived by somebody else.
View this post on InstagramA post shared by Vlada Haggerty Makeup Artist (@vladamua) on
"This really is everything," she wrote with an adoring emoji. "Check out the wonderful makeup art of @vladamua!"
It wasn't the first time Kylie posted the image - the only difference this time round was that she credited the original artist.
The KUWTK star first posted the pic to her brand's Instagram account back in December 2015 right before the launch of her cosmetics brand.
It lead many to believe it was one of her impending Lip Kit colours, and Kylie's team did nothing to correct the misconception.
When Vlada was made aware of the 'reproduction', the picture was simply deleted from Kylie's account.
But in November, Vlada threatened to sue Kylie after she posted another image that was 'heavilly inspired' by one of her own, TMZ reported.
Vlada - who is also a California based profesional photographer - to social media last December to point out striking similarities between make-up artwork she shared on Instagram and images shared by Kylie's Cosmetics.
She claimed Kylie's holiday collection included an ad that look nearly identical to a photo shared by Haggerty on Instagram in September.
On September 24, Vlada - who has an Instagram following of more than half-a-million - posted a picture of a make-up look she created on model Britt Rafuson.
View this post on InstagramThanks for 7 million followers on @kyliecosmetics π
A post shared by Kylie π€ (@kyliejenner) on
Shot by Julia Kuzmenko McKim, the image shows and open, pouty mouth with bold red lips, teeth just peeking through. The model's hands are crossed over her eyes and covered in a shiny gold powder. The stunning photo caught the attention of over 22,000 Instagram users.
And at least one of them may have been Kylie or a Kylie Cosmetics employee. Earlier this month, the brand's Instagram account uploaded a new campaign photo for the holiday collection, shot by photographer Marcelo Cantu (who also shot Kylie for campaign images).
This photo also sees a close-up of a model's face, with pouty red lips, teeth just showing, and gold dust-covered hands placed over the eyes.
Fans - and Vlada herself - were quick to notice. Some followers commented on the Kylie Cosmetics image, charging that it was a 'cheap copy'. Many others commented with strings of snake emojis.
The same day, Vlada shared a side-by-side comparison of the photos on Instagram, highlighting their incredible similarities.
"Really @kyliecosmetics? Haven't you gotten enough 'inspiration' from me already?" she wrote bitingly.
The former 'inspiration' Vlada referred to was her image of several pouty mouths dripping with luxe rose gold gloss.
After the snap was picked up my several news outlets, Vlada pointed out that it was really stolen goods.
"And the insanity continues," she wrote, shouting out to Graftobian Makeup Company, which made the products used in the image. "What can we do about it? This is your loose metallic powder in Copper mixed with the clear gloss!"
Soon after, websites started giving Vlada attribution, but Kylie's team never fixed the situation and simply deleted the image altogether.
"Nobody reached out to me before or after the incident. I did message the brand through Instagram on the day of the repost, but there was no response," she told Refinery29 at the time.
"Crediting artists is essential, but this goes beyond that. It's theft; this is our livelihood...I see these things happen too many times to artists. We are all trying to make it, and this business is extremely competitive. I would ask anyone at this level use the proper channels to obtain images."
Kylie has also been accused of taking 'inspiration' for her products themselves, not just the artwork.
πΈβοΈ pic.twitter.com/DiIMUZRuCK
— shaaanxo πΌ (@xoShaaan) July 25, 2016
In July, New Zealand beauty vlogger Shaaanxo posted side-by-side photos of Kylie's then-new eyeshadow palette with her own palette for BH Cosmetics. Once again, the similarities were clear.
Though she added in a subsequent tweet that she wasn't charging that Kylie copied her, the emojis in her initial tweet did seem disappointed by the obvious similarities.
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