Swedish fashion brand Acne Studios has stopped sales of a pair of its sandals following allegations they were copied from a shoe designed for children in developing countries.
The concerns were raised by online news outlet Vice when it ran a piece detailing the resemblance between the Swedish brand's "African-inspired" sandal and a design patented by charity The Shoe That Grows.
The Shoe That Grows is made up of strips of anti-bacterial synthetic material connected by a combination of metal poppers and Velcro
The Shoe That Grows is an American charity founded in 2008 by Kenton Lee. After working in a Nairobi orphanage, Lee noticed how small the children's shoes were for their feet and the problems this was causing.
In response, he created an adjustable sandal that can expand up to five shoe sizes to accommodate growing feet. The shoes, which launched in 2013, are made up of strips of anti-bacterial synthetic material connected by a combination of metal punch holes and Velcro.
Since then, the company has donated thousands of pairs to children in developing countries and has also made the shoe available to the public, with each pair bought online paying for two further pairs to be donated.
Acne sent models down the catwalk wearing sandals that Vice described as "almost identical"
Three years later, as part of its pre-fall 2016 show, Acne sent models down the catwalk wearing $400 (£320) shoes it later described on its website as "African inspired"...