Oh Uh-Uh: Sephora and Moschino rob The Crayon Case

DietPrada

Another day, another Black creative being robbed by big brands of their unique ideas instead of partnering with them...

For those of you who are unfamiliar with The Crayon Case, it is a beauty brand created by Raynell "Supa-Cent" Steward in 2017 and has experienced an incredible boost of popularity with unique products resembling school supplies. Supa-Cent herself is well known for her comedic videos and takes on popular culture, but her beauty brand has become her passion and it has grown significantly in the past two years for her affordable, quirky, and high-quality beauty products.

Well, they say imitation is the greatest form of flattery. But I say imitation by brands is the most shameful form of robbery. As reported by my personal hero profile, calling out copycats and Kardashians since 2014, Diet Prada, a recent collaboration by Moschino and Sephora yielded a beauty collection eerily similar to The Crayon Case.

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From Franco to Jeremy, the campy surrealism of @moschino is basically the entire DNA of the brand. From bags that look like motorcycle jackets to perfume bottles that resemble Windex cleaner, everything has an undeniable stamp...except their new cosmetics collaboration with @sephora . Although in line with the house codes, the collection bears a suspicious resemblance to @thecrayoncase. Launched in 2017 by entrepreneur @supa_cent, much of the line is school-supplies themed, with restocks of the Crayola-inspired palettes and pencil makeup brushes selling out on the regular. Is it possible that Moschino’s SS19 marker collection birthed the inspiration for this collaboration? Maybe, but it’s hard to fathom with so much overlap. Final grade for their little project if you ask us? B- for execution, F for originality. • #thecrayoncase #supacent #moschino #sephora #jeremyscott #collab #collaboration #beauty #cosmetics #makeup #makeuptutorial #beautybloggers #schoolsupplies #surrealism #markers #sharpie #camp #francomoschino #brushes #highlighter #eyeliner #entrepreneur #femaleownedbusiness #indiemakeup #indiemakeupbrands #supportblackownedbusinesses #indiebrand #wiwt #dietprada

A post shared by Diet Prada ™ (@diet_prada) on Apr 21, 2019 at 8:33am PDT

Don't take my word for it. Check out these "pencil" makeup brushes.

Or these "eraser" sponges.

 

How about this highlighter?

Or this sharpie eyeliner?

Let's face it. Once is a coincidence. But 4? FOUR? Four different products that are almost identical? That is nothing but straight idea theft.

To be honest, I care nothing for Moschino, especially because they are still on my list for how one of their shops routinely treated people of color before being exposed by former employees. But Sephora? I am honestly disheartened and seriously disappointed. Sephora is THE beauty destination for me, so to witness a brand that I routinely support lend its name (and thus it's reputation) to creative thievery is really disappointing.

Again, this would have been a great time to partner. How cool would it have been for Sephora to partner with The Crayon Case? How woke. How progressive. How...right that would have been instead of stealing a brands whole identity, especially a Black brand, especially a Black brand and partnering with another brand that is still reeling from its own racial bias issues.

Sephora needs to do better.