UPDATE: 3.1 Phillip Lim Issues Apology to Verdy
After Verdy publicly stated that he felt tees from 3.1 Phillip Lim’s SS25 collection copied his Girls Don’t Cry brand’s designs.
Update: 3.1 Phillip Lim has issued its own statement on Instagram Stories, issuing an apology to Verdy’s team and noting that it’s in direct contact with Verdy to resolve the issue. The statement also notes that the design in question was created as a homage to “Don’t Cry Tonight,” a song featured in the 3.1 Phillip Lim SS25 runway show. See the Phillip Lim team’s statement below.
As part of our Spring 25 NYFW runway collection, we showcased a t-shirt which featured the words “Don’t Cry Tonight” on it. The inspiration was vintage slogan T-shirts and a nod to a song featured in our runway show ‘Don’t Cry Tonight.’ Today, fellow artist Verdy, alerted us that he believes we have plagiarized his project’s [sic] “Girls Don’t Cry” design. We take this statement very seriously and are in direct contact with the Verdy team to resolve.
As an immediate action, we have paused all marketing of this T-shirt and are committed to resolving it together. Our communication with Verdy is open.
We respect their point of view and sincerely apologize.
Original Story:3.1 Phillip Lim celebrated its 20th anniversary at New York Fashion Week on Monday, September 9, with its Spring/Summer 2025 runway. Although the collection’s “joyful” themes were mostly well-received, there was at least one notable dissenting voice: Verdy, who took umbrage with a selection of T-shirts that he felt hewed too closely to the signature wordmarks and semibold italic font of his Girls Don’t Cry label.
Verdy founded Girls Don’t Cry in 2017 as a tribute to his wife. Shortly thereafter, its familiar font graphic became one of the most recognizable wordmarks in streetwear, thanks to the brand’s own in-line efforts and collaborations with A-listers like Nike SB and Human Made.
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Somewhere/3.1 Phillip Lim
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Somewhere/3.1 Phillip Lim
As seen in the side-by-side gallery of Girls Don’t Cry and 3.1 Phillip Lim designs, the fonts bear more than a few similarities. The messaging on the Lim creations — particularly the “Don’t Cry Tonight” shirt — offer a similar “emotional” vibe as well. Verdy addressed the “copies” in a message on his Instagram Stories:
“@31philliplim @therealphiliplim COPIED MY WORK IN HIS SPRING 25 COLLECTION. I DIDN’T DESIGN THIS NOR THIS IS [sic] AN OFFICIAL COLLABORATION WITH ME. I DON’T WANT MY FANS TO GET CONFUSE [sic] IF YOU TRUTLY [sic] SUPPORT PLEASE GO COMMENT ON THEIR PAGE TO LET THEM KNOW THIS IS NOT OK.
I’M VERY ANGRY AND SAD BECAUSE GIRLS DON’T CRY IS VERY SPECIAL TO ME, A LOT OF PEOPLE DON’T KNOW THIS BUT GDC IT’S [sic] ACTUALLY A GIFT FOR MY WIFE. I STARTED IT WHEN SHE WASN’T AT HER BEST TO REMIND HER THAT SHE’S A STRONG POSITIVE WOMEN [sic].
TO SEE A DESIGNER AT THIS SCALE BE SO UNCREATIVE AND LAZY IS SO DISAPPOINTING.
At the time of writing, 3.1 Phillip Lim has yet to respond to Verdy’s accusations, though in 2018 founder Phillip Lim called out Off-White™️ for copying one of his brand’s handbag designs, and in 2017 called out both Gucci and Topshop for the same reason.
