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| Alexis Bittar earrings are on the left and earrings from Kim Kardashian's Belle Noelle jewelry line. Photo credit: Stylelite |
Alexis Bittar doesn’t come out and say it but the jewelry designer does note that there is an uncanny similarity between his jewelry and the recently released Kim Kardashian Belle Nolle jewelry line.
Bittar told the New York Post he was walking past the Kardashians Dash store in Manhattan and noticed that her jewelry line is similar to his pieces. The award-winning designer has loaned jewelry to Kardashian in the past but that has now stopped. However, he said he isn’t going to sue.
“You have to be very careful to pick and choose your battles,” Bittar told the Post. “I haven’t talked to Kim about it, the truth is she might not even know. She might be so far removed from it (the design process), and her designers just go shopping and knock things off. But we are definitely not lending to Kim any more, she has been barred.”
A pair of earrings posted on the Styleite blog (pictured) from Bittar and Belle Nolle is pretty compelling evidence. Other examples from Stylelite and New York Magazine are not as persuasive. The designers of Belle Nolle definitely used Bittar’s work as inspiration, but at what point does it constitute stealing?
I can see why Bittar won’t sue. I can also see why he won’t be lending Kardashian his jewelry anymore.
This isn’t the first time the Kardashians have been accused of stealing other designs. In August, the Botkier company issued a cease and desist order, accusing the reality TV family of knocking off one its handbags, the Clyde bag, and selling it under its Kardashian Kollection brand.