• Influencer Danielle Bernstein is facing criticism over a July 15 Instagram post that showed her wearing what she called “vintage gym shorts from the 90s.”
  • In the post, she said she would be “remaking” them for her clothing brand WeWoreWhat.
  • A Diet Prada Instagram post from Thursday said the shorts were not vintage, however, and were originally designed by Etsy shop Art Garments.
  • Bernstein later updated her original caption to say she was mistaken and the shorts were from Etsy. She also said she wouldn’t be remaking them.
  • Visit Insider’s homepage for more stories.

Influencer Danielle Bernstein is facing backlash over a string of incidents involving small businesses.

On July 15, the fashion mogul took to Instagram with a photo of herself wearing a blue button-up shirt tucked into marigold shorts. At the time, she said the latter garment was a pair of “vintage gym shorts from the 90s,” and that she’d be “remaking them” for her online shop, WeWoreWhat.

The shorts, however, were actually designed by an Australian Etsy shop called Art Garments, according to Diet Prada.

The shop’s owner Grace Corby told the fashion-themed Instagram account that she came across Bernstein’s photo after fans began to tag her shop in comments, which led her to search through past orders. It was then that she realized Bernstein had purchased two pairs of the shorts from Art Garments on November 11, 2019, according to Diet Prada.

After Diet Prada's Instagram post, Bernstein added this statement to her Instagram caption: "CORRECTION - these are from Etsy and I totally thought they were vintage but they are made to order - someone on my team ordered them for me a while back - I will not be making them!"

Speaking to Diet Prada, Corby added that her shorts were inspired by an inexpensive pair she purchased at a Berlin flea market, and later wore until they were stretched out. Corby told the Instagram account that she took the worn-out shorts to a seamstress who made some changes to the garment, giving the pair wider and longer legs and a more flexible waistband.

"We all know fashion often references vintage, so I'm not sure why my pairs were chosen as a template and not a true '90s gym short," Corby told Diet Prada.

Representatives for Danielle Bernstein and Art Garments did not immediately respond to Insider's requests for comment.

This is the second time in recent weeks that Bernstein has been called out for her interactions with online brands

On July 20, Diet Prada pointed out that Bernstein's line of chain-embellished face masks, which are no longer available to buy, looked a lot like ones sold by online shop SecondWind.

As seen in screenshots shared by Diet Prada, Bernstein appears to have asked SecondWind for face-mask samples at the end of June over Instagram. By early July, she had sent another message letting the brand know that she'd soon be selling similar face coverings with detachable chains. Critics have said photos of the two masks show that the designs were almost identical.

Representatives for SecondWind did not immediately respond to Insider's request for comment.

As Insider's Celia Fernandez previously reported, Bernstein also found herself embroiled in a public feud with Poshmark seller Jade Myers in January.

At the time, Bernstein noticed that items from her unreleased swimwear line were listed on Myers' online shop.

The two began to publicly argue over the garments after Myers said she'd sell the pieces back to Bernstein, but only if the influencer paid the resale value. Eventually, the two came to an agreement, with Bernstein agreeing to pay Myers extra costs for removing the items from her Poshmark store, while also giving Myers new clothing to sell.

It appears that Myers wasn't aware that the items were unreleased, and it remains unclear how they ended up in Myers' hands. Myers said in an Instagram exchange with Bernstein at the time that she gets her clothing through "donation based charities and clothing recyclers."

Myers and representatives for Bernstein did not respond to Insider's requests for comment at the time.

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