A few weeks ago, we reported that Nigerian controversial rapper Michael Stephen better known as Ruggedman had re-packaged his 20th September Wear (or T.S.W) with an array of shoes and accessories. Well, there might just be some more controversy for the rapper as allegations of design theft have been thrown at him.The hullabaloo all started on the micro-blogging site Twitter on Friday, September 21, 2011 as a New York based Nigerian lady with the Twitter handle @KingAqua05 accused Ruggedman of stealing an upcoming designer, Natischa Harvey’s shoe designs. @KingAqua05 went on to explain that Ruggedy’s newest collection was jacked from Harvey’s 2010 collection called ‘Fever Shoes by Natischa Harvey’.
@KingAqua05′s tweets read: ‘WOWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWW ruggedman STOLE his ENTIRE shoe collection from Fevershoes…WOW’. ‘WOW @Ruggedybaba you no try at all o. You STOLE your ENTIRE shoe collection from Natischa Harvey’s Fever Shoes… WOW really tho????’
She continued ‘I know Fever shoe are not super popular, but still come on! anh anh. He wasn’t even subtle about it’. ‘He didn’t even change the colour and tweak the design a little’.
Within minutes Ruggedman responded to her tweets: ‘I tot to jst ignore u bt decided to speak to u a bit let u know dat cos u av mouth, doesn’t mean u speak all d time’. ‘pple like u r so quick to jump at a chance to run someone down with the negativity, u fail to reason 1st b4 acting. I know ur type’. ‘I only got one word for you ‘customising’. Try n figure d rest out for urself cos i cnt tell u ma trade secret’.
Investigations made by our reporters show that Ruggedman’s collection strikes a serious resemblance to Natischa Harvey’s 2010 collection. Harvey’s official website www.fevershoes.com showcases a vast collection (which were released in 2010) of the same kind of shoes Ruggedman released a few weeks ago.
However, Ruggedman still insists his designs are not stolen. ‘They were customized for me; I’ve been working with someone outside Nigeria. Those designs are from somewhere else. I’m allowed to customize with my name’, Ruggedy told Nigerian Entertainment Today during a telephone conversation.
And why was the re-launch of T.S.W which was slated for September 25 at The Hub Media Store in Lekki postponed? Ruggedy says he’s still working on a few details. ‘I have also started building from scratch’, he added.
Efforts to reach Natischa Harvey as at the time of this report proved abortive as our E-mails to her have not been replied.
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