Cecilia Monge Claims Converse Stole Her Shoe Designs
Yiiikes: 22-Year-Old Design Intern Blasts Converse On TikTok For Allegedly Stealing THIS Sneaker Concept [Video]
These companies ain’t Isht.
Source: VCG / Getty
In a viral TikTok with now more than 10 million views, an aspiring shoe designer named Cecilia Monge alleged sneaker company Converse swiped her designs without credit and didn’t even hire her! The young woman showed two shoes she created based on natural landmarks in the US, which she shared with the billion-dollar company in hopes of scoring an internship.
Instead, she found out months later that they released two sneakers to honor The Grand Canyon that had striking similarities to the designs she submitted with the same exact theme and color palette concepts.
“So, I was watching that TikTok and I was struck, because two years ago I applied to a design internship with Converse, and I got really excited about it, I really wanted the internship,” she explains in the video.
“So I went above and beyond and kind of made a pitch slide-deck within my portfolio that I sent them for the application… and this is what I designed.”
In the video, Monge displayed a side-by-side comparison with her original Grand Canyon concept and Converse’s newly released Unisex Converse Chuck 70 National Parks High Top in Red Bark. Both designs share striking similarities from everything down to the colors and zig-zag patterns. Oddly enough, Converse also claims that their new High Top-line was “inspired by vistas of national parks.”
Sounds familiar huh?
“Um, it is essentially the same,” Cecilia claimed. “Didn’t get the internship, never heard back from them. And then saw this on the internet.”
Hit play to see the evidence.
The Post reached out to the shoe giant for an explanation on their alleged shoe theft and the brand shared the following in a statement:
“In November 2019, the candidate did apply to a Converse internship for 2020 summer program – a highly competitive program, which receives thousands of applications each year. She was not hired or screened for any roles. The application did not include a request for, nor did Converse solicit design portfolios/samples to be submitted. As a matter of standard legal policy, we do not share unsolicited portfolios of job applicants across the business.”
Reps for Converse continued in their statement:
“In October 2020, we released a Chuck 70 design, which took inspiration from the map patterns of Nor’easter storms. It was first concepted and designed in April 2019. Due to the popularity of the style, we continued it in 2021 under our design concept “Hybrid World,” which explores original design concepts informed by the physical and digital realities of modern lives. The Great Outdoors and specifically, National Parks served as inspiration for various color palettes, which were applied across a number of executions across the Chuck 70, Chuck Taylor All Star and Apparel.”
Although the 22-year-old designer is frustrated with Converse for seemingly biting her designs, Monge said that she hopes her story sheds light on the larger issue of big brands ripping off burgeoning artists and independent creators.
“I’m hoping for more people to care about large companies stepping on the little guy, and to learn more about how often large companies are powered by the creativity of people they didn’t even give the time of day,” she said.
Do YOU think this is just an eerie coincidence or should Converse pay up?
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