Is imitation really the highest form of flattery? Boy George certainly seems to think so. This past weekend, the British singer-songwriter called out fashion designer Rick Owens for copying Leigh Bowery's famous human backpack in Owens' SS16 runway show during Paris Fashion Week.

Related: Boy George Asks For Madonna's For Forgiveness Wishes They Could Have Been Friends

Owens last made headlines during his Fall/Winter 2015 show in January when he sent pantless male models down the runway with their penises exposed. Keeping on brand with his headline-generating shows, Owens this time decided to send his models down the runway wearing one another.

For those who may not be familiar, Bowery was a fashion designer, club promoter and performance artis who is widely considered one of the most influential figures of the 1980s London fashion scene. He was also the proprietor of London's once-famous nightclub, Taboo. Though he passed away in the early 90s, his influence is still felt throughout the industry, from everyone to Alexander McQueen to Lady Gaga and now Rick Owens, evidently.

Owens admitted in an interview with Dazed that he sought inspiration from Bowery when crafting the looks.

There was an image of Leigh Bowery carrying his wife Nicola in a harness they would use for a birthing performance that I always loved. It was transgressive and sweet at the same time. I thought doing it with women would be a nice interpretation and developed other poses from there.

This is hardly the first time there has been an outcry of "copying" someone else within the fashion sphere. There was the infamous Tom Ford/Zara scandal back in 2009, in which Ford told Daily Mail Online:

A lot of the things I did - it's not going to sound anything but egotistical - if I’m lucky and I did the right thing, they will be at Zara way before I can get them in the store, and I don’t like that.

But there are those who feel that "copying in fashion" isn't necessarily a negative thing. In an article entitled "Piracy Fuels the Fashion Industry", the New York Times cited Oprah Winfrey's famous interview with designer Ralph Lauren after she asked him, "How do you keep reinventing?" Mr. Lauren replied to Winfrey by saying, “You copy... Forty-five years of copying, that’s why I’m here."

Through the outcries of "piracy" and "stealing designs," the fashion industry has managed to survive, and even thrive. Owens was clearly taking a page from the late Bowery when he sent his models down that runway last week. But at what moment does inspiration stop being a way to pay homage to someone else's work, and turn into outright stealing their idea?

Update: Boy George posted the following message on Twitter clarifying his remarks.