When it comes to WeWoreWhat, it doesn’t really matter who’s wearing it — or who actually came up with it. Yep, we’re once again talking about the fashion brand that refuses to quit, no matter how loudly the internet begs. People love to panic about Cancel Culture, but Danielle Bernstein, founder of WeWoreWhat, is living proof that you can get called out over and over (and over) again and still slide back into your Instagram Stories like it’s business as usual.
So, here’s everything you need to know about Danielle Bernstein and the many, many — like, seriously, more than you’d think — controversies surrounding WeWoreWhat. And obviously, this is all alleged, so please don’t send her lawyers after me.
WeWoreWhat Controversies: A Comprehensive Timeline
Who is Danielle Bernstein?
Danielle Bernstein is a fashion influencer turned entrepreneur best known for founding WeWoreWhat, launching copycat scandals, and somehow always being at the center of Instagram drama. She built her brand by posting OOTDs, pivoted into design (read: “allegedly borrowed” ideas), dropped a questionable credit card, and even released a memoir that mysteriously hit bestseller lists despite no one seeing it in the wild. She’s basically the girlboss who made “doing both” her whole personality — just don’t ask her to wash her face or cite her sources.
May 2018 – Copy-Paste Couture: Lulu DK x WeWoreWhat
In 2018, Danielle teamed up with Lulu de Kwiatkowski for a jewelry collab, citing her own “fine jewelry” collection as the inspo. Unfortunately, the internet disagreed. Diet Prada quickly called her out, posting side-by-side comparisons showing striking similarities between the Lulu DK x WeWoreWhat line and pieces from Retrouvaí, Foundrae, Tiffany & Co., and Bondeye Jewelry.
Beth Bugdaycay, founder of Foundrae (yes, try saying that five times fast), posted a since-deleted Instagram saying, “Tonight I feel crushed,” according to People.
Danielle responded with a teary Instagram Story, insisting the line was inspired by her late grandfather and definitely not other designers. Still, several pieces were removed, and Nordstrom confirmed they’d no longer be selling the “pieces in question.”
January 2020 – Poshmark Drama, But Make It Fashion
Poshmark seller Jade Myers hit the thrift jackpot when she found unreleased WeWoreWhat x Onia swim samples at a charity store. Naturally, she listed them online. But then — plot twist — Danielle slid into her DMs, asking her to take them down, per BuzzFeed News.
Turns out a storeroom manager accidentally donated the pieces. Jade agreed to take them down, but only if Danielle bought them back at her listed price. Danielle initially agreed — screenshots confirm it — but later tried to backtrack, offering just the cost Jade paid.
Jade refused, citing costs like model shoots and employee hours. Danielle escalated quickly, threatening to get her kicked off Poshmark and bringing in a lawyer. Eventually, the two met IRL, reportedly cried it out, and came to an agreement: Jade would receive pieces from WWW’s current collection.
March 2020 – Copycat Charges From Cecilie Bahnsen Fans
Diet Prada wasn’t done. The day after Danielle dropped her Macy’s collection, they accused her of lifting more than just “inspo” from Danish designer Cecilie Bahnsen — specifically, a puff-sleeved, tiered babydoll dress.
Though Danielle didn’t respond, her love for Cecilie’s designs was already well-documented on IG. She previously wore the Danish designer’s garments numerous times and tagged her in posts. The dress is still on Macy’s site, though listed as “currently unavailable.”
Bahnsen never addressed the claims…or did she? In a January interview with Harper’s Bazaar, she opened up about her frustration with fast fashion brands that mimic her designs.
“You have to take it as a compliment and also a challenge to keep moving on and to be innovative,” she said. “It’s always a shame when the high street copies a young brand because you don’t even get to start before a bigger company takes what you do.”
May 2020 – A New York Times Bestseller?
Danielle released her autobiography in May 2020, This is Not a Fashion Story: Taking Chances, Breaking Rules, and Being a Boss in the Big City. The book chronicled her rise to fame, her life as an influencer, and more — marketed almost like the next Sex and the City (though let’s be honest, even Carrie Bradshaw doesn’t deserve that comparison). Danielle proudly celebrated when the book hit the bestseller list, which came as a surprise to many, considering it wasn’t exactly flying off shelves or lighting up book club discussions.
However, the New York Times later added a “dagger” symbol next to the title on the list — an indication that the book’s placement may have been influenced by bulk purchases. This symbol is reserved for books whose sales appear suspicious, potentially involving large orders designed to game the system. The Times has strict rules to prevent manipulation like this, and their little dagger is essentially the literary version of a raised eyebrow. So… yeah, they’re definitely sus of her.
July 2020 – Etsy Shorts That Weren’t So Vintage
It is hard to report this one with a straight face, but I’ll try my best.
On July 15, Danielle posted about “vintage gym shorts from the ’90s” she’d remake for WeWoreWhat. The caption declared that she had received sooooo many comments about them that she would remake them for her WeWoreWhat line. “I randomly really love them too and am always inspired by vintage pieces I’ve collected over the years!”
Except… they weren’t vintage at all. They were made-to-order shorts from Aussie Etsy store Art Garments. Once again, the glorious whistleblower was Diet Prada.
Owner Grace Corby found out when fans tagged her in Danielle’s post. Some sleuthing soon revealed that Danielle bought two pairs from Art Garments in November 2019.
Eventually, Danielle amended her Instagram caption and said, “I totally thought they were vintage, but they are made to order,” and blamed the mistake on a team member. In an Instagram highlight posted in August, she said she “sincerely thought that they were vintage as the shop I got them from primarily sells vintage items.”
July 2020 – Mask-Gate: The Second Wind Debacle
Thankfully, Diet Prada will never stop chasing Danielle’s many ALLEGED copyright infringements.
While the world was hoarding toilet paper and binging Tiger King, Danielle dropped linen masks with safety chains. Cute idea — except the small Latina-owned brand Second Wind had already done it. Diet Prada pointed out, “You’d think @weworewhat would have learned not to leave a paper trail by now.”
These masks were EXTREMELY similar to those created by a small Latina-founded business, Second Wind. Coincidence? Founder Karen Perez had the receipts. Danielle reached out to Second Wind and its creator Karen Perez on Instagram and asked for samples on June 29, and then again on July 2 to say she was also releasing masks with detachable chains.
Karen told Refinery29 that the incident nearly made her shut down. She had never expected to find herself a victim of the fast fashion machine so quickly.
After multiple media outlets picked up the story, Danielle took to Instagram to defend herself, stating that the accusations were “false.” She added that she would donate her own masks and an additional 5,000 surgical masks to healthcare workers. In the aftermath, she quietly deleted all photos of the chained face masks from her feed.
Still, it’s genuinely baffling how she thought this one would fly under the radar. Why ask the brand directly for samples? Why not just have an assistant quietly purchase one to reverse-engineer like a less traceable villain? That would’ve at least been harder to prove. And for some added irony, let’s not forget — by this point, she was already a founding member of the American Influencer Council.
July 2020 – No Mask In The Hamptons
Despite designing masks, Danielle was allegedly spotted partying in the Hamptons, mask-free, with 35–40 people in the summer of 2020. IG watchdog @wedonttakecovidseriouslywhat called her out.
This controversy would return to the media in September when Danielle shared with her followers that she and her boyfriend had both tested positive for COVID-19.
”Woke up without my sense of taste and smell,” she said. “My body is extremely sore, particularly my hips and legs … trying to stay hydrated and just take Tylenol.”
August 2020 – The Cellulite Carousel
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Busy summer for Danielle as she soon found herself in another drama. She posted side-by-side pics: one in flattering backlight, the other in harsh sunlight.
“The first has the sun behind me, so I’m backlit, and it’s more flattering. The second is direct sunlight, which shows my cellulite,” Danielle wrote.
“Both are beautiful,” she added, but she wanted to show that “a quick 180 can dramatically change the look.”
People were disappointed that an influencer with millions of young followers would teach others to “hide” their flaws. Although others argued that she was normalizing cellulite, so you be the judge.
Danielle chose not to respond to the criticism but has spoken out previously about her struggles with body image and editing her photos.
October 2020 – The Great Eros Vs. WeWoreWhat
This time, it was The Great Eros who accused WeWoreWhat of copyright infringement. The Brooklyn lingerie brand claimed Danielle copied the design of their signature tissue paper for a collection in the WeWoreWhat x Onia line.
Danielle clapped back with a lawsuit, claiming the nude sketches were Matisse-inspired and totally original, stating “generally ubiquitous concepts, such as silhouettes of the human form,” are not exclusive to any one individual or company.
“I want to clarify that I am ABSOLUTELY NOT seeking financial gain, what we are doing is simply asking the courts to confirm that we did not infringe on an alleged copyright,” Danielle clarified on her Instagram Stories.
The brand responded online, “Danielle, you have become a bully… You just drove 100 mph into a brick wall because your bullshit stops here and now.”
On November 11, The Great Eros filed its own lawsuit against Danielle and WeWoreWhat. They alleged that WWW copied the pattern of female nudes featured on Eros’ tissue paper and sold merchandise with the stolen design. They also included retailers like Onia, Saks Fifth Avenue, Shopbop, and Carbon 38, who the suit alleges sold the copied designs. I gotta say they do look HELLA SIMILAR.
Spoiler: they later received copyright registration.
November 2020 – Is Grayscale On Macy’s Naughty List?
In early November, Danielle shared previews of her upcoming Macy’s holiday collection on Instagram, including a corset-style leather skirt.
Hundreds of miles away, Khala Whitney started receiving messages urging her to check out the collection, as the skirt was shockingly similar to her signature corset skirt design, which had been worn by the likes of Cardi B and Doja Cat.
Danielle had supposedly bought one of the skirts from Grayscale, Whitney’s brand, back in 2017 and worn it to Paris Fashion Week. Whitney claimed the skirt was visible in one of Danielle’s Instagram posts and a YouTube video. Both are no longer available, but Whitney has the receipts.
“She’s got some explaining to do,” Whitney said. “It crosses the line.”
WeWoreWhat and Macy’s didn’t comment, but it’s worth noting that Grayscale was later stocked at Macy’s.
January 2021 – Business Insider Drops a Bomb
Diet Prada wasn’t the only one breathing down Danielle’s neck. In early 2021, Business Insider entered the chat with its own investigation — and what they uncovered were three more cases of alleged theft.
According to a designer from the swimwear brand Onia, Danielle allegedly showed up in 2019 with a piece of Dolce & Gabbana fabric in hand, asking the team to design something similar. The designer claimed they tried to change the print, but Danielle kept rejecting new ideas and pointing to the Dolce & Gabbana print, saying, “No, I want this.”
Then, in 2020, the founders of indie activewear label Live The Process claimed they had sent Danielle a set of ribbed, long-sleeved collared tops and matching shorts — at her request. A few months later, WeWoreWhat dropped an eerily similar look.
To top it off, two former Onia employees said that Danielle had also brought in a cotton top from Are You Am I, the line created by influencer and designer Rumi Neely, and asked the team to rework it into a swimwear design.
In response, a spokesperson for Danielle issued a statement denying everything: “The accusations that are being described by Business Insider, detailing ‘interviews’ that former or current Onia employees allegedly gave, are categorically false,” they said. “This article, designed to paint Onia and Danielle Bernstein in an abhorrent way, is antithetical to what Onia and WeWoreWhat stand for.”
March 2021 – A Very Familiar Silk Strappy Maxi Dress
Ngoni Chikwenengere, founder of We Are Kin, said Danielle copied her Silk Strappy Maxi dress after requesting a sample in June. Friends warned her to be cautious, given Danielle’s rep, but she hoped for a collab.
Instead, she became (in her own words), “The latest victim of @weworewhat and Danielle Bernstein’s crusade against small designers.”
Danielle denied it again. “There will always be something people can say looks similar,” she wrote. “I’ve proven each accusation false.”
“Why am I sharing this now? … Because I’m fed up with this false narrative being spread about me stealing designs when I have time after time proven each accusation false,” Danielle wrote in an Instagram Story.
Around this time, Danielle decided to take her brand out of Macy’s and handle sales in-house.
“I made the decision to bring Danielle Bernstein in-house in order to have more quality control, more direct access to my customers and customer service, to really bring both my brands under one roof and to introduce Danielle Bernstein to more retailers,” Danielle told Forbes in regards to terminating the partnership. “My goal has always been to just create great work, have great working relationships with my team, and to give credit where credit is due.”
February 2022 – Bikini Pics for Ukraine, Apparently
While the rest of us were doomscrolling news about Russia invading Ukraine, Danielle was posting bikini pics with the caption, “When I say you can do both, I truly mean it.” Translation: You can care about war and self-promo at the same time! Revolutionary.
Naturally, the internet went feral. People were like, “Babe… read the room.” After the backlash, she edited the caption to say that proceeds from her swimsuit line would go toward relief efforts, but the damage was already done.
April 2022 – Sure, Trust Her With Your Money
Danielle teamed up with fintech brand Imprint to launch the WeWoreWhat Rewards Visa® Card—a shiny little piece of plastic that lets you earn rewards on her brand and some other “curated” shops. Cute, until you realize the cashback can’t be cashed out. You can only spend it back on more WeWoreWhat stuff. So… store credit disguised as a credit card?
People online were not having it. “Billy McFarland who?” one person tweeted. “Talk about predatory lending,” said another.
One account, Fashion Without Trashin, absolutely dragged the card: “This preys on young people who will be encouraged to overspend.”
“Teach your young impressionable followers where to overspend on crap they will wear once and then it will ruin their credit because you don’t check it to get the card but you will certainly report late payments and non payment to the credit agencies.”
Fashion Without Trashin belongs to none other than Jade Myers from SwimsuitGate 2020! Full-circle moment, truly.
June 2023 – An ABsolute Menace
It seems Danielle wanted some Gracie Abrams-level abs, and she wanted them pronto.
Danielle suddenly started posting gym thirst traps with suspiciously perfect abs. Like, alarmingly symmetrical, AI-generated-looking abs. The internet noticed. Quickly.
She denied editing the pics and blamed “lighting and angles” (aka the classic excuse). But followers pointed out the weird shadows, blurry backgrounds, and accidental morphing—so either her abs are defying physics, or the Facetune app was working overtime.
October 2023 – Supporting Israel
After the October 7 Hamas attacks, Danielle signed the No Hostage Left Behind letter and went all-in with her pro-Israel stance on Instagram, calling violence against Israel “unjustifiable” no matter the context and history. She didn’t acknowledge the ongoing suffering in Gaza.
Then, in November, she was among the TikTokers calling for the censorship of pro-Palestinian content on TikTok and comparing criticism of Israel’s war on Gaza to COVID-19 misinformation.
October 2024 – Clean Girl Aesthetic, Dirty Girl Routine
During an appearance on The Skinny Confidential Him & Her podcast, Danielle revealed that she does not wash her face regularly, opting instead to use Neutrogena makeup wipes and occasionally splashing water.
“I use a Neutrogena makeup wipe, which I know is, like, a no-no, but there are some people that just naturally have good skin, I don’t really use that many skincare products,” she explained.
This revelation surprised many, as Danielle’s clear complexion led followers to assume she follows a twelve-step program like the rest of us. Some people were disgusted. Some were inspired. All of us were confused. But I guess she just has NATURALLY GOOD SKIN.
