A few days ago, Ment Nelson tweeted about how his cow print designed shoes, which he designed with a sharpie, had been stolen by the shoe company Vans. Recently, a TikTok has been becoming extremely popular detailing the story. The person who shared the TikTok became inspired after a different incident involving Converse taking credit for a design that was submitted in a similar way.
@shaquille.0atmilk pay up @vans // artist: @mentnelson // #fyp #designersspeakup #stolenartwork // story inspo: @ceci.monge
In 2017, Nelson tweeted a photo of the cow print vans, captioning it “Moooo-d.” He later posted it in 2018, where Vans acknowledged the tweet of the shoes twice. In 2018 as well, Vans announced cow print shoes as a part of a collection they were releasing.
Moooo-d pic.twitter.com/g0t6fdrqDn
— ment (@mentnelson) April 6, 2017
How This Affects the Creator
Nelson entered his cow print shoes in 2019, where he did not win. Some have mentioned that entering the contest could be why Vans took his idea, as the rules for the contest include giving up all rights in order to enter the contest. He notes that Vans had copied his idea before he entered the contest. And though Nelson acknowledges that cow print is not an idea that is new, he feels as if Vans takes credit for his idea. He notes that the timing feels too coincidental, as Vans had acknowledged the design and its popularity it gained on Twitter shortly before they announced their own design. On the website where they announced their cow print shoes, it included the phrase “a whole Moo-d,” which relates to the caption Nelson used in his original tweet. Nelson writes that “Vans stole my concept. They couldn’t stand the fact that a Black man marketed this design so well.”
Vans stole my concept. They couldn’t stand the fact a Black man marketed this design so well. Plus my version looked better than the ones they released https://t.co/6DRrYHpIf1
— ment (@mentnelson) May 28, 2021
Now, the TikTok posted on Nelson’s behalf by TikTok user @tooturnt_tuna has received twenty-one thousand likes. Nelson also posted on Twitter about how he feels about the situation, which has received thirty thousand retweets with over one hundred thousand likes.
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Van’s Response
Vans had been called out by several people on Twitter, as some were demanding Vans apologizes and paid the 25,000 they believed he won in compensation, as people believed he clearly won the contest. Vans wrote that their design did not come from Nelson, but instead a design from 1991.
Hey there Ment. We just had to fact check ourselves on this one and we apologize we made a mistake in our last response. We dipped way back into the archives, our new customs and the 2018 shoe were inspired by this 1991 cow print. https://t.co/jt6y0u6QZ1
— Vans (@Vans) January 8, 2021
