A T-SHIRT has been pulled from Tesco after a Scots fashion student complained her face had been used on the garment without permission.
Shocked Nicola Kirkbride has accused the supermarket giant of lifting the image from her blog and printing it on the girl’s top.
The yellow, long-sleeved top places Nicola’s photo in the middle of a heart-shaped daisy chain.
The words “loves me, love me not” are scrawled underneath.
In the original photograph Nicola, who is studying at Robert Gordon University, Aberdeen, is wearing a daisy chain around her head and is dressed in a floral top and shorts.
The 22-year-old student, who is in her final year of study, was only made aware the image was being used after one of her 5,500 blog followers alerted her.
Nicola said: “I had to start a fashion blog for part of my coursework last year at university and I enjoyed it so much I just kept it on.
“I have managed to build up quite a substantial following and I really enjoyed sharing my views on fashion with similar-minded people.
“So I regularly updated it with photos of myself, which I take with a self timer on my camera, so people can see what pieces I have been recommending.
Alerted
“But I was completely shocked when someone who had been following my blog said she saw one of my photos at her work in Tesco – on a child’s top.”
She added that she was astounded that her image could end up being sold in hundreds of stores across the country without her knowledge.
Nicola said she had previously been approached by High Street chain Zara.
She said: “They asked me if they could use some of my images and I said yes.
“It is very flattering, but Zara said they would send me out a contract to sign if they decided to use my photographs and said they would pay me accordingly.
“The first I knew about my photo being on the Tesco jumper is when the girl alerted me online.”
Nicola even went to a Tesco store to check it was true and was amazed to find the top on the rail.
She has since contacted Tesco to demand answers as her blog states that all artwork on the site belongs to her, unless stated otherwise, and that permission must be sought before using images.
Tesco admitted they had withdrawn the top from their stores.
A spokeswoman for the firm said: “It’s been taken off sale until we have finished investigating.”
She added: “We are looking into this and we are speaking to Nicola Kirkbride.”
