Major high street retailer Oliver Bonas has been accused of stealing the work of a Dundee artist.
Zoe Gibson believes her unique designs were lifted “almost wholesale” and used on a range of homeware items.
Oliver Bonas did not respond to repeated attempts made by The Courier when approached for comment about the allegations.
The Dundee University graduate sold her distinctive Solstice designs to London-based company CommonRoom in 2023.
CommonRoom is a small company which makes wallpapers and fabrics using independent artists.
They sold a range of products, including wallpapers and fabrics featuring Zoe’s designs, with the appropriate credit given.
But she says a recent range launched by Oliver Bonas is the spitting image of her work.
Zoe and CommonRoom claim they have been “completely ignored” by the high street giant after company director Kate Hawkins brought it to their attention.
The fashion firm posted pre-tax profits of more than £6.8 million and enjoyed sales of more than £138m in 2023-24.
Dundee artist’s Oliver Bonas claims
Zoe graduated from Dundee University’s prestigious Duncan of Jordanstone college of art in 2017, before completing a masters last year.
She uses lots of colour and pattern in her work, themes which featured prominently in her Solstice designs.
“The designs on Oliver Bonas’ website are very, very similar,” Zoe said.
“Too much so to just be a coincidence.
“The designs are for a series I did first in 2021, which appeared at Dundee’s Generator Projects.(art space).
“And they were sold to a London company, CommonRoom in 2023.
“It was Kate from the company who got in touch to say it was my design Oliver Bonas is using.
“You do hear about this sort of thing happening.
“Instead of hiring actual artists and designers, they have just lifted mine.
“It’s disappointing. And we’ve not had any response from Oliver Bonas when we have gone to them.”
‘Equivalent to shoplifting’
Oliver Bonas still have the products available for sale on their website.
A cushion cover is selling for £32.50, while a lampshade retails for £20.
Kate Hawkins, director and founder of CommonRoom, is calling for Oliver Bonas to compensate Zoe.
She has made multiple attempts to communicate with the company, to no avail.
Kate claims: “The only correspondence we’ve had from Oliver Bonas was someone telling us ‘the designer involved no longer works for the company’.
“But that doesn’t answer any of the questions we had or explain why they did what they did.
“They haven’t even bothered to change the colours. It’s really obvious that it’s Zoe’s design.
“And this is a really big problem for artists.
“I’m not generally one for public shaming, but in this case we felt really awful for Zoe.
“And Oliver Bonas would quite rightly be very upset if someone stole something off the shelf.
“This is what it feels like, it’s the equivalent of shoplifting.
“Credit is not only a basic courtesy, it matters because it’s a sign of respect and recognition of someone’s hard work.
“Most importantly it’s an acknowledgement of value. The goods being sold disregard Zoe’s, and in the process, our value.”
Conversation