Aria Valentina

At first glance, “fashion brand” Aria Valentina seems like a legitimate company selling legitimate products.

For example, the Aria Valentina website, where the company says it strives to “craft experiences that resonate with the soul of the wearer, embracing and enhancing their true self,” looks professional, with images of models posing in front of stone sculptures. Here’s one:

Also on the website, consumers can sign up to “become a VIP and get 10% off your first order.”

Meanwhile, Aria Valentina says it is hiring, with job openings for a number of positions, including “Social Media Marketing Specialist,” “Supply Chain Manager” and “Graphic Designer.”

But looks can be deceiving.

Up until TINA.org’s investigation and communications with the company last week, several of the dresses pictured on the company’s website, despite being advertised as “exclusively designed for Aria Valentina,” were dupes.

Among the dupe dresses on the Aria Valentina website was the Natalia dress seen below.

The actual dress – Carmen – belongs to House of CB, a womenswear brand based in London. And the actual price is $225, not $41.

And according to a YouTuber’s recent investigation into House of CB knockoffs and independently verified by TINA.org, the name of the model wasn’t Maria, as Aria Valentina had identified her (“Maria is 175cm tall and wears a size S”), but Rona Mahal.

In total, TINA.org found the Aria Valentina website using images of seven House of CB dresses to advertise its knockoffs. We also found images of shoes that seemed to be stolen from the fashion retailer Mango’s website. See examples below.

In addition to using House of CB’s photos, we found dress descriptions on the Aria Valentina website that were very similar to those on the House of CB website. For example, the Aria Valentina website described its Valerie dress as such:

‘Valeria’ is your perfect Spring & Summer one and done dress. Cut from a breathable fabric, it’s boned through the bodice to cinch the waist and has a sweetheart neckline with underwired cups and barely there straps. Suitable for: Romantic date nights, stylish dinner dates, champagne with the girls, garden parties, vacations.

The description of the Samaria dress on House of CB’s website:

Samaria’ is your late-Summer one and done dress. Cut from a breathable twill fabric, it’s boned through the bodice to cinch the waist and has a sweetheart neckline with underwired cups. The barely there straps adjust for the perfect fit and we love how the gathering adds pretty volume to the midi skirt. …WHERE TO WEAR: Romantic date nights, stytlish [sic] dinner dates, champagne with the girls, garden parties, vacays.

And there were additional red flags, such as the fact that the company’s TikTok and Instagram accounts combined for just 68 followers (with 67 of those followers on Instagram), despite the claim that Aria Valentina is “a revolution in the fashion industry.”

When TINA.org contacted Aria Valentina for comment on the dupes, the company swiftly removed all its product pages – for dresses, shoes and accessories – from its website.

“The images on our website are intended to reflect the exact items that we sell, including dresses and shoes,” the company said in response to TINA.org’s inquiry. “We take your query seriously and are currently reviewing our website content to ensure that our visual representation aligns with our products in stock.”

On Tuesday, TINA.org filed a comment with the FTC in support of its proposed amendments to an impersonation rule that, among other things, would ban the misuse of a person’s identifying information, including their likeness. As TINA.org explained in its comment, this could help reduce the use of dupes.

Find more of our coverage on knockoffs here.