(Left: Fendi, 2008. Right: Kim Kardashian in Bebe, 2010. Photo via CocoPerez.com)As originality (or lack thereof) is an important issue in today's world, it is, to me, rather shocking that there are countless people and companies which continue to make money by largely copying aka ripping off (except for like, the color or a button here and there) the artistic property of the more prevalent fashion designers and houses. And I'm not just talking about the counterfeit goods you can find in places like Greenhills; even some of the more upscale stores and labels found in malls have designs "inspired" by some of the latest looks coming down the runway (called fast-fashion retailers, which you can read more about here).
(Some of the most prevalent sources of "inspiration" for fast fashion industries today are fashion houses like Balmain and Prada. Photos via Style.com and FashionToast.com)To gain more insight as to why knocking off fashion is legal, counterfeit experts and law professors Kal Raustiala and Chris Sprigman explain:
"Law does not protect most fashion designs. Copyright law views fashion designs not primarily as artistic works, but rather as “useful articles,” and useful things are not granted copyright protection. This rule reflects the fact that useful things are supposed to be the domain of patent law. But clothing designs virtually never qualify for patent protection, because they are almost never “novel” – i.e., truly new – in the way patent law requires."
"Copying helps to create trends. It then helps to destroy them: as more and more designers hop on to a trend, the look becomes overdone, and the most fashion-forward consumers hop off. Copying, in other words, accelerates the fashion cycle."
The two also, however, present an important insight into the issue:
"Copying helps to create trends. It then helps to destroy them: as more and more designers hop on to a trend, the look becomes overdone, and the most fashion-forward consumers hop off. Copying, in other words, accelerates the fashion cycle."
Being a student not earning actual money and having to live off monthly allowance, I think that fast fashion is actually a good thing. From the consumer's point of view, allowing this to continue means that trends and great designs become more accessible, in that one can get the look for a fraction of the price that designers charge. And consumers are what keep the powers-that-be in the fashion industry, well, in power.
On the other hand, if I found myself in the position of these designers having people not only copy and rip off my designs, but actually make money from them, I would be outraged (then again, that kind of power to dictate what's in and what isn't could be appealing to some, and being victim of legal plagiarism could be the price of that).
There is also, I believe, a deep underlying issue of morality here, in the mentality that "If everyone's doing it, it isn't wrong." Having so many manufacturers copy designs, is it even plausible to monitor it? And how fine is the line between plagiarism and jumping on the trend bandwagon?
At the end of it all, one cannot deny that the two sides to this issue both present valid points. To put it in a way a model would understand it: Copying is bad because it is stealing. But copying helps the fashion industry operate. So is copying really that bad?
What are your thoughts on this?
On the other hand, if I found myself in the position of these designers having people not only copy and rip off my designs, but actually make money from them, I would be outraged (then again, that kind of power to dictate what's in and what isn't could be appealing to some, and being victim of legal plagiarism could be the price of that).
There is also, I believe, a deep underlying issue of morality here, in the mentality that "If everyone's doing it, it isn't wrong." Having so many manufacturers copy designs, is it even plausible to monitor it? And how fine is the line between plagiarism and jumping on the trend bandwagon?
At the end of it all, one cannot deny that the two sides to this issue both present valid points. To put it in a way a model would understand it: Copying is bad because it is stealing. But copying helps the fashion industry operate. So is copying really that bad?
What are your thoughts on this?
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