Saint Laurent Accuses Dior and Lady Gaga of Plagiarizing Design for Olympic Opening Performance

In the early morning of July 27 (Vietnam time), the opening ceremony of the Paris 2024 Olympics officially took place with a stage stretching 6 kilometers along the Seine River. And just as previously rumored, “Mother Monster” Lady Gaga performed at this special event. Although the 13-time Grammy-winning artist’s performance was considered quite confusing because the audience didn’t understand it, she scored full points for her stunning outfit from Dior. It seemed the story would end there, but just a few hours after the “Bad Romance” hitmaker’s performance, Anthony Vaccarello, Creative Director at Saint Laurent, accused Dior and Lady Gaga of plagiarizing ideas from Yves Saint Laurent, the founder of the brand.

During the Paris Olympic opening ceremony, Lady Gaga performed “Mon truc en plumes,” a hit song associated with French artist Zizi Jeanmaire, a 1960s icon of music and style. This performance was seen as a tribute to Zizi Jeanmaire and French music and culture in general.

“I am very honored to have been asked by the Olympics organizers to sing such a special French song – a song that honors the French people and their great history of art, music, and theater. This song was performed by Zizi Jeanmaire, a French ballerina born in Paris. She made ‘Mon Truc en Plumes’ famous in 1961,” Lady Gaga shared.

The performance outfit featured high-end ostrich feathers dyed in luxurious and glamorous pink and black tones. Lady Gaga collaborated with Dior to create the costume and props for the “Mon Truc en Plumes” performance at the Summer Olympics 2024. This setup was similar to what the original performer, Zizi Jeanmaire, did on stage when performing this song.

Shortly after this performance, Anthony Vaccarello, Creative Director of Saint Laurent, expressed his disappointment and accused Lady Gaga and Dior of copying design ideas from Yves Saint Laurent. It is known that the costumes worn by the late actress Zizi Jeanmaire during her “Mon Truc en Plumes” performances were created by designer Yves Saint Laurent.

Right after posting his “grievance” on his personal page, Anthony Vaccarello quickly deleted the post. However, many managed to capture this dramatic post and spread it widely. Notably, the designer’s accusation against Dior and Lady Gaga sparked controversy among netizens.

Most netizens believe that the two outfits have little in common, perhaps only the gloves. Additionally, the showgirl burlesque image with feather costumes and props has been around for a long time, not initiated by Yves Saint Laurent. Moreover, Lady Gaga and Dior were inspired by Yves Saint Laurent’s designs but made adjustments to create a completely different costume while still maintaining the spirit of Zizi Jeanmaire.

Most comments disagreed with Anthony Vaccarello.

Some notable comments:

• “So now Yves Saint Laurent invented feathers?”
• “Yeah, right, plagiarism… ‘gloves.'”
• “Anthony Vaccarello is just being jealous.”
• “These two designs are completely different, the only common point is ostrich feathers. Maybe Yves Saint Laurent invented ostrich feathers too!”
• “Where’s the copying?”
• “I’ve been staring at this picture for 3 minutes and still haven’t found any plagiarism.”
• “The common point here is that Yves Saint Laurent used to be the Creative Director for Christian Dior?”

Source: K14