'Another day, another rip': Kanye West is accused of stealing someone else's work AGAIN after new Yeezy campaign is compared to a VERY similar 2015 photo series by artist Rita Minissi

  • Instagram account Diet Prada has found striking similarities between Kanye's latest Yeezy campaign and the Belgian artist's work, published three years ago
  • Rita's original series was created as a way for her to deal with an assault
  • Kanye was accused of stealing from a different artist in April and is in the midst of a lawsuit with another clothing brand
  • The rapper has defended himself in the past by saying 'too much emphasis is put on originality,' and 'all great artists take and update'

Kanye West has been accused to ripping off yet another artist, this time in shooting his latest Yeezy fashion campaign.

Last week, images were released to promote his new Yeezy Season 6 collection. In most of the photos, models posed naked or nearly naked — save for some sneakers — and struck provocative, hyper-sexualized poses.

But while the images were already considered controversial due to their risque nature, they're proving even more of an issue since one Instagram account pointed out that they're not actually all that original, either.

Kanye's a copycate? West has been accused of ripping off someone else's work yet again (top photo: Rita Minissi, bottom photo: Yeezy)

So familiar... Diet Prada pointed out that his new Yeezy campaign (bottom) looks strikingly similar to images by artist Rita Minissi (top)

More nudity: Kanye's images are nearly identical, only a bit more sexualized (top: Rita Minissi, bottom: Yeezy)

Inspo: Diet Prada shared several comparisons, saying they were from Minissi's 2015 series

Inspo: Diet Prada shared several comparisons, saying they were from Minissi's 2015 series

Diet Prada, an Instagram account that spotlights 'knocking each other off' in fashion, seems to be the first to have discovered that the new Yeezy campaign overlaps quite a bit with another artist's work.

'Another day, another Kanye rip,' the account wrote on Sunday. 

It went on to point out that the Season 6 campaign, which came out last week and was shot by Eli Russell Linnetz, looks incredibly similar to a project by artist Rita Minissi — from way back in 2015.

And sure enough, side-by-side comparisons of images from Minissi's series and Yeezy's new campaign look almost indistinguishable.

Models in both sets of images are near naked, with the only clothes coming in neutral and nude tones. Faces are obscured in most of the photos, and the models all contort into similar poses.

And while one set of similar shots could be chalked up to being a coincidence, the Yeezy campaign contains quite a few photos that could have easily come from Minissi's series. 

Colors: Kanye's images (right), like Minissi's (left) feature clothes in nude and neutral tones

She sees it, too: Minissi (top) also shared the comparisons on Instagram

Hmm... Commenting on the Yeezy campaign (bottom), she mostly let the photos do the talking

Hmm... Commenting on the Yeezy campaign (bottom), she mostly let the photos do the talking

Heavy matter: Minissi said her own series came out of her trying to process a violent assault

Heavy matter: Minissi said her own series came out of her trying to process a violent assault

'It's pretty messed up when you consider the original work by Rita Minissi explores identity and was inspired by dealing with personal trauma and a resulting desire to reconnect with her own body,' added Diet Prada.

'Will Kanye own up to it this time, or will he be blaming others like he did with the Tony Spackman sketch not so long ago?'

Minissi, who is based in Belgium, has noticed the similarities, too. She uploaded several comparisons between her work and the Yeezy campaign to her Instagram stories, and also saved them to her story highlights, giving them the title 'Why meezy?' 

She also shared the somber meaning behind the series, which was clearly lost on Kanye when he decided to recreate it.

'The series reflects on my own processing of an event that took place thirteen years ago and consequently altered everything about who I was as a person,' she wrote. 'At age sixteen, I was the unfortunate subject of a violent physical assault which continued for three days and ended more horrifically than how it began.

'The combined trauma of both the event and my own reactionary self defense felt so overwhelming,' wrote Minissi

'The combined trauma of both the event and my own reactionary self defense felt so overwhelming,' wrote Minissi

'I was unable to share what happened with anyone for over a year,' she said

'I was unable to share what happened with anyone for over a year,' she said

 She went on: 'I chose to create this difficult and sensitive project now as a necessary last step in my own healing'

 She went on: 'I chose to create this difficult and sensitive project now as a necessary last step in my own healing'

Not cool: Commenters have found the comparisons quite damning, too, with many calling out Kanye to respond

Not cool: Commenters have found the comparisons quite damning, too, with many calling out Kanye to respond

Getting our attention: Kanye's sexualized shoot was already controversial when it was released last week

Getting our attention: Kanye's sexualized shoot was already controversial when it was released last week

Most commenters have come to Minissi's defense, though she has also received rude comments from fans of Kanye

Most commenters have come to Minissi's defense, though she has also received rude comments from fans of Kanye

'In the aftermath, the combined trauma of both the event and my own reactionary self defense felt so overwhelming, I was unable to share what happened with anyone for over a year.

'In all, it took me almost five years to be able to verbalize the entire experience. I chose to create this difficult and sensitive project now as a necessary last step in my own healing.' 

Commenters have found the comparisons quite damning, too, with many calling out Kanye to respond. 

'Woah now this is f***ed,' wrote one. 'He doesn’t do a single original thing,' added another.

'Why not hire photographer whose original work he liked?' asked one. 'This is what gets me the most. All of these people and this industry is saturated by them, ripping talented people off instead of honoring them by giving them damn work.'  

Philosophy: Kanye has tweeted in the past that people care too much about being 'original' and SHOULD 'take ideas'

Philosophy: Kanye has tweeted in the past that people care too much about being 'original' and SHOULD 'take ideas'

Not denying: He has repeatedly defended himself against accusations that he copies other artists 

Not denying: He has repeatedly defended himself against accusations that he copies other artists 

'Borrowing': Kanye has been the subject of multiple accusations of stealing

'Borrowing': Kanye has been the subject of multiple accusations of stealing

'Your pictures are stunning with such gear artistic skill. What the yeezy campgain did was beyond gross. Love your work!' one person wrote to Minissi. 

Unfortunately, she has also been on the receiving end of some hatred and vitriol. On Instagram, she recounted how one person said she must have a 'death wish' to be messing with Kanye. 

It seems unlikely that Kanye will respond, except perhaps to defend himself — as the rapper has tweeted several times in the past that he doesn't believe there is anything wrong with copying someone. 

'Too much emphasis is put on originality,' he wrote on April 18. 'Feel free to take ideas and update them at your will all great artist take and update.'

'I find myself getting stuck in the idea of originality and letting my ego push me to say things like "this person stole this from me" and the funny thing is it'll be a reference I took from somewhere,' he said in another tweet.

This is also the second such accusation for Kanye in the span of a few weeks. On April 30, the rapper shared a picture of several sketches of a leg, implying that it was created by the design team for his fashion brand, Yeezy.

Inspo: In April, Kanye tweeted this sketch and said it was where a Yeezy design starts

Inspo: In April, Kanye tweeted this sketch and said it was where a Yeezy design starts

Damning evidence: The Diet Prada Instagram pointed out that the sketch was actually done for Nike by a designer named Tony Spackman

Damning evidence: The Diet Prada Instagram pointed out that the sketch was actually done for Nike by a designer named Tony Spackman

Uh-oh: Diet Prada noted that the title featuring the name of the collection was edited out of Kanye's picture

Uh-oh: Diet Prada noted that the title featuring the name of the collection was edited out of Kanye's picture

Yet according to the Diet Prada, the sketch is actually by a Givenchy employee who has nothing to do with Yeezy.

Between jumbled tweets about avoiding repetition and being the 'Disney or Apple of apparel,' Kanye fired off a few words on Monday about the creative process behind Yeezy.

'This is where a YEEZY study for base layer starts,' he wrote after some fire emojis. 'I'm so excited about our new design team. Yeezy is no longer a fashion company we should be referred to as apparel or clothing or simply YEEZY.'

He attached a picture, seemingly taken using a phone aimed at a laptop computer screen.

In the image is a sketch of three partial legs titled 'Athlete Comfort Studies.' Arrows point to various parts of the legs, with informative comments about designing athleticwear like 'quadriceps may require support.'

Though Kanye did not explicitly say that it was drawn by someone who works at Yeezy, he did say the team was using it, implicitly conveying the art belong to them. 

Connection: Spackman has worked for several years at Givenchy, a brand Kanye is a fan of (pictured with former creative director Riccardo Tisci)

Connection: Spackman has worked for several years at Givenchy, a brand Kanye is a fan of (pictured with former creative director Riccardo Tisci)

Yikes: Despite his connection to Givenchy and Tisci, it does not seen that Kanye asked permission for the image

Yikes: Despite his connection to Givenchy and Tisci, it does not seen that Kanye asked permission for the image

However, according to Diet Prada, the sketch is actually by Tony Spackman, a designer who used to work for Nike but has been at Givenchy for several years. 

The Instagram account managed to find what it says is the original sketch, which is identical — except it also has a title in the left-hand corner that reads 'Living Apparel Fall '05.'

In Kanye's post, that title appears to have been cut out.

'Photoshopping out the title of the sketch in the top left corner is pretty much a dead giveaway,' Diet Prada wrote, adding that the original sketch eventually evolved into Nike React, a running collection.

According to HybeBeast, Spackman himself commented on the incident, quipping, 'When Kanye rips your 10 year old Nike sketch and claims it.'  The original sketch can also be found on his website

Though Kanye has connections to Givenchy — he and his wife have frequently worn the brand, and Kanye is good friends with former creative director Riccardo Tisci — it does not seem as if he asked permission to use the image. 

Kanye is also currently being sued by Jordan Outdoor Enterprises, which says that the West stole a camouflage print from its Realtree collection. 

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Kanye West accused of stealing from artist Rita Minissi

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