Lindsey Hansen’s eyes light up when she talks about a particular pair of jeans.
They’re vintage Levi’s 501s, probably dating back to the ‘80s, that she mended by hand last year to sell at the retail and tailoring shop she owns, The Future Past on Clement Street.
The jeans were in rough shape, Hansen said, but she saw an opportunity to recraft them. She cut the threadbare parts, transplanted denim from a pair of jeans with a similar wash and wear pattern for a visible patch, and embroidered an oval sashiko cross-stitch to reinforce the knee and the thigh.
Arguably the most arresting detail is on the left back pocket. The bottom stitching was worn out and tearing at the seams, so Hansen replaced it with the back pocket from another pair of jeans, creating a stunning duotone effect. The work she put into repairing these jeans, she says, is functional and beautiful.
A customer bought them at the shop on March 3, 2024 for $298.
The jeans were one-of-a-kind; at least, until a few months ago, when Banana Republic released a mass market pair of pants that bore a strong resemblance to the jeans that Hansen had hand-repaired.
The Mid-Rise Barrel Patchwork Ankle Jean was sold by Banana Republic, retailing for $180. The pants feature nearly identical mending in nearly identical locations, including that telltale re-worked left back pocket.
The jeans have been sold since at least early August, based on a Wayback Machine archive dated August 3. They have since been removed from the Banana Republic website. That said, a slightly tweaked men’s version, which boasts the telltale back pocket design and patch placement from Hansen’s jeans, is still available for purchase for $150.
Last Wednesday, Hansen took to Instagram to call out the similarities in their designs. A longtime vintage collector and fashion industry lifer who’s worked with Urban Outfitters, American Eagle, and Forever 21, Hansen started The Future Past as a way to work in the industry without contributing to the wastefulness of the fast fashion industry.
Jenna Guisto, who works at The Future Past, first spotted the big-brand dupe on an Instagram sponsored ad a couple of weeks ago. It was an ad directed to the exact wrong person, Hansen remarked.
Supporters called out Banana Republic on the brand’s social media posts, including on a video made by the brand showing a mood board where a mockup of the jeans is visible. In response to critical comments, a designer for the brand whom the San Francisco Standard’s Sam Mondros identified as Jessica Geesey, stated that the jeans were inspired by a “vintage pair on our travels that we then recreated and paid homage to,” not a replica of the Future Past’s model.
“I’m sorry that you feel like you were ‘copied’ but that definitely wasn’t the case in any way shape or form,” Geesey’s comment continues. “We are simply paying homage to a centuries old Japanese tradition.”
The post and comment have since been deleted, as has an Instagram profile apparently belonging to Geesey. Still, no matter: The allegations (and the company’s response) went viral in the local news circuits, receiving coverage in the Chronicle and Mission Local.
Hansen pointed out the irony of a big-market, fast-fashion brand reproducing a one-of-a-kind pair of upcycled pants for mass consumption when her business was founded on an ethos antithetical to that approach to design and marketing.
“You’ve stolen this thing but you’ve completely missed the point of this thing. You have the opportunity to start your own repair program and learn why these pieces are patched in the way they are, and why they’re reinforced the way they are,” she said. “It felt, to me, hollow.”
It’s not uncommon for larger brands to borrow (read: steal) from smaller businesses. Ultra fast fashion titans Shein and Zara have been repeatedly accused. Even Gap, Banana Republic’s sister brand, was sued in 2022 by Patagonia for allegedly mimicking the outdoorwear brand’s Snap-T pullover. Hansen says that she’s had her designs lifted in the past. This is the first time, however, that she felt able to speak up about it and go up against a fashion titan.
“To have so many people in our community rally around us, and find support and connection, and just have the ability to share our story in the hopes that … big businesses and designers think again before making a decision like that where they’re stealing from small businesses. It just feels like a long time coming,” she said.
Hansen is currently in talks with Gap, Banana Republic’s parent company, but declined to talk about the details of the conversation. Banana Republic did not respond to multiple requests for comment from Gazetteer.
The claim of plagiarism also comes during an upswing for the San Francisco-based legacy brand. Since Zac Posen was appointed creative director of Gap in 2024 (putting him in charge of Old Navy and Banana Republic in addition to the flagship brand), the company seems rejuvenated by high-profile collaborations with the likes of Sandy Liang, a timely brand deal with Katseye, and other successful product launches. As The Strategist put it back in February, the Gapassaince is upon us.
Which makes this incident all the more baffling.
“There’s a lot of excitement around Gap and Gap denim, specifically,” Hansen said, pointing to the mega retailer’s collaboration with local company Holy Stitch as an example.
“I don’t know why this happened,” she added. “They’re really on an upswing and it bums me out.”
