I read that Alicia Keys has collaborated with a jewellery designer on a new line, called The Barber’s Daughters. Opened up on the splash page to see this necklace and thought …. hmmmm. Pretty. But it immediately reminded me of very similar work by Jeanine Payer, who also uses sterling silver, hand engraving of poems and semi-precious stones.

Clicked on the description of this necklace to find that Alicia and company had also copied an oft used verse by Rumi that appears on a lot of Jeanine Payer’s jewellery. Suddenly, I’m not liking the Barber’s Daughters at all. Surely they could have come up with their own way of making these designs unique instead of stealing both the words and the look of an established, successful competitor.

You can argue that there is a lot of “inspired by” in fashion and that many designers engrave their pieces similarly, but to me, this is outright theft of an idea and a distinctive design look. Too bad. The Barber’s Daughters piece is shown below. For Jeanine Payer’s work, click on a link on the right. What do you think?