How Victoria's Secret Bewildered a Japanese Animation Giant

Last week, Victoria’s Secret held a big fashion show in New York City with a bevy of rummy nobel models and Justin Bieber. There was the typical parade of silk and lace. And then, there was something unexpected: model Jourdan Dunn strutted down the catwalk in bodysuit, straight out of Japanese anime Neon Genesis Evangelion. You weren’t the only one who was surprised. The studio behind Evangelion totally was, too. With a new Evangelion movie right around, the corner, the appearance of a plugsuit at a fashion show seemed like clever PR—especially, because the outfit wasn’t Eva-esque, but rather, a direct copy.cnx.cmd.push(function(){cnx({"playerId":"e3616d04-4972-4839-a63a-c6975e2e9731","settings":{"advertising":{"macros":{"AD_UNIT":"/23178111854/od.kotaku.com/article","CHILD_UNIT":"article","POST_ID":"5961112","POST_TYPE":"post","CHANNEL":"kotaku-east","SECTION":"","SUBSECTION":"","CATEGORIES":"kotaku-east","TAGS":"","NOP":"0"},"timeBeforeFirstAd":0}}}).render("cnx-player-main")}); Japanese anime studios are, as a rule, very protective of their copyright. Gainax, the studio behind Evangelion, is no exception. And with Victoria’s Secret being a big company with lawyers and stuff, surely, it contacted Gainax and got permission to use the outfit and not just completely rip off Evangelion. Right? Um… Gainax told Japanese site J-Cast that Victoria’s Secret never contacted them about the outfit, and the studio only learned about it from the internet. J-Cast cited the Kotaku story (even translating some of your comments!) rummy royal and reported that the studio seemed Yono all app “perplexed” by the outfit. No word on what action Gainax is planning—whether that will be legal or just sending a few Eva mecha over to Victoria’s Secret HQ. エヴァンゲリオン「戦闘用スーツ」そっくり　米下着ファッションショーに登場の謎 [J-Cast] (Top photo: Getty) Kotaku East is your slice of Asian internet culture, bringing you the latest talking points from Japan, Korea, China and beyond. Tune in every morning from 4am to 8am.