“Single’s Inferno” Song Ji A’s Agency Clarifies She Had No Intentions Of Passing Off Her Imitation Luxury Goods As Real

It has been a busy week for Single’s Inferno star, Song Ji A. As a beauty creator and fashion influencer, Song Ji A was swept up into controversy when netizens began accusing her of using imitation luxury goods. It was highlighted especially that she wore multiple imitation pieces on Single’s Inferno itself. Most famously, the knit top she wore with the Chanel logo was called out.

Although Ji A uploaded a handwritten apology, the controversy has not yet come to an end. With each passing day, netizens uncover more and more instances where she used imitation goods and tried to pass them off as real. Recently, it was found that she had shown off imitation Chanel goods in a fashion haul and claimed them to be real.

Her agency CEO, Kim Hyo Won of Hyowon CNC stepped up to clarify the matter through a phone interview with Newsis. She claimed that Ji A had no malicious intentions.

I also did not know at first that Ji A had been wearing imitations. I think we would have felt less upset about the situation if she had truly had the malicious intent to make it look like they were genuine goods. I asked her where she bought them and she said if she passes by the items on the streets and thought they were pretty, she would buy them from the street store or if she was shopping online and found something pretty, she would just buy it.

— Kim Hyo Won

She continued to explain that Ji A has never tried to pass off imitation goods as real to her viewers. She also stated that they were in the midst of dealing with the video content and would be deleting videos where products which are design copies of luxury goods appear.

People think that there are many fake products she has but there’s just many photos and videos where the same product appears so we are continuing to delete them. We also are deleting content where she purchased the good from an online store but the material is tweed or the design is slightly similar to that of a luxury product. We will continue to deal with the videos where products are even the least bit ambiguously alike in design too.

— Kim Hyo Won

More recently, Song Ji A was called out for using a fake Dior Lady medium sized bag in a paid advertisement for Dior Beauty. Netizens found the hardware and stitching a little off. Kim Hyo Won confirmed that the bag was indeed a fake.

The Dior Lady back is indeed fake. She had no malicious intent. She bought it from a street store during her college days as she found it pretty. Ji A has never tried hard to make imitations look like genuine goods by purchasing A grade imitations from overseas or anything. Most of the time, she didn’t know it was a copy of a luxury good and just bought items from online because they were pretty. There were many instances where she later found out it was a design from a luxury brand.

— Kim Hyo Won

Kim Hyo Won admitted that Ji A’s use of imitation goods on broadcast were indeed problematic and that she found Ji A ignorant towards the idea that design copies violated designers’ hard work and rights. However, she stressed that Ji A never had malicious intent and purely bought the items for aesthetics.

On the other hand, she confirmed that the luxury goods Ji A purchased for her parents were real items, such as the Louis Vuitton sneakers she bought for her dad as a birthday gift. A netizen had claimed the sneakers were in a purple shade that was only available in France. However, she had taken a video of her shopping in the Korean store and presented the shoes to her father as if she bought it on that day itself.

The Louis Vuittion sneakers are real. The video was taken down because of an accessory she was wearing. We need to check if they were bought in Korea or not though.

— Kim Hyo Won

Hyowon C&C is also currently seeking understanding from the luxury brands themselves and they are in the midst of deleting advertisement posts if imitation or copy products were worn together in the shot. Lastly, she emphasizes that no effort was made to market Ji A as a rich girl, like many netizens have been accusing.

Ji A has never tried to appear like a rich person who only buys luxury goods. The company has also never tried to make her look like a rich person. Ji A has never tried to introduce fake goods as real. Currently, the videos and photos remaining are all of real goods. We can prove it all.

— Kim Hyo Won

Although her already recorded schedules from Knowing Bros and The Omniscient Point of View will be aired as promised, the rest of Ji A’s schedules and advertisements have been put on hold for the time being. The company will also be legally dealing with slander, personal attacks and malicious posts.