We had on odd tip waiting in our inbox this morning and it went like this:

“A store across from Ben Sherman at Spring and Mercer took one of Lanvin’s drawings and put it on one of their hoodies. The funny part is that it still says Lanvin.”

We were confused and very curious, so we headed straight down to the medium-sized store, Unpomela.

After several minutes of unsuccessful searching, we decided to consult the shopkeeper. We tried to explain to the sweet but confused girl how Lanvin is spelled and exactly who Alber Elbaz is. We thought we must have landed in an alternate universe.

But then there it was, a funny looking tee with a very familiar drawing printed on the front; a drawing that is an exact replica of the image that appears on Lanvin’s own new line of tees.

But wait, what? How did this happen? Doesn’t copyright infringement apply to frumpy, red hoodie-shirts? Does Alber know his face is smiling on the front of an imposter?

And who copies Lanvin anyway?

—AUDREY SMITH

Designer Allen Schwartz of A.B.S. was recently asked about his copycat style by The LA Times - if you didn’t buy an A.B.S. prom gown, then you may remember Schwartz as the guy who goes on The Today Show every year to explain how to buy knockoff Oscar gowns.

Except Schwartz told writer Emili Vesilind that “Words like ‘copying’ and ‘knockoff’ do not exist in my life… When you talk about this, it hits a nerve for me. It’s based on such an elitist attitude.”

Um, okay Allen.

But what about this find by reader Cindy, who pulls her own Tory Burch dress from the closet - then sticks it next to a recent A.B.S. offering from Macy’s? Tory’s print may be a smudge more complicated, but it’s the same dress - two seasons late and under $100.

On the upside, at least he’s not copying those Tory ballet flats, which seem to multiply faster than private school applications on the Upper East Side…