Lisa’s ‘star-shaped top’ in ‘Rockstar’ sparks controversy in China
Beijing-based fashion designer’s accusation of plagiarism opens the door to heated debate on Chinese social media platforms
Thailand’s K-pop princess, Lalisa “Lisa” Manobal, found herself at the centre of a social-media storm recently after a fashion designer claimed Lisa was wearing a copy of her design.
Beijing-based Yang Yue, a makeup artist and fashion designer, claimed on social-media platform Xiaohongshu that Lisa wore a star-shaped top in her latest music video that closely resembled her design, the South China Morning Post reported on Saturday.
The newspaper added that this controversy gained more traction on Chinese social media platforms, especially Weibo, where it attracted over 130 million views.
“Not only did they copy it, the cut is also awful. It’s exhausting. Stylist, please stop embarrassing yourself,” Yang’s post on Xiaohongshu said.
To substantiate her claim, Yang posted photos of her original star-shaped top that she had created while studying fashion at the University of Arts London. However, observers noted that her top was connected to a skirt, while Lisa was wearing trousers,
Observers also noted that the apology from the star’s PR team posted on Xiaohongshu said that Lisa had chosen the outfit simply because “star shape is her favourite'' and the recommendation for this outfit had come from her fan base, not her management company, LLOUD.
This incident has divided Chinese netizens, with some accusing Yang of targetting Lisa to be noticed, while others put it down to the mediocrity of her current management company.
Despite the controversy, Lisa’s latest single “Rockstar” crossed the 1 million views mark on YouTube in less than half an hour after its release on Friday. As of press time on Monday, the views had exceeded 55 million.
