Thank Goodness for justice in the world. This is a fight back to those who violently disagreed to my stand on fake goods.
(Words in bold are from the magazine article)
In the November 2007 issue of Harper’s Bazaar (Singapore), there’s an article called “The Designers Fight Back”. The little bloop of the article is “It’s a fashion crisis: High Street copycats have a stranglehold on the fashion elite; knock-offs arrive at shops months before the originals, and copyright laws are obsolete.”
Anna Sui is really pissed off. She gave “every guest at the Anna Sui show a parchment-coloured T-shirt with a frontier-style “Wanted” poster calling for the capture – with a rerward of $21,000 – of “Don Cassidy and the Sundance Jin”. More than just a gift, this simple T-shirt was a statment against the high street copycats who continue to rip off both her – and others’ – designs.”
The lawsuit between Anna Sui and Forever21’s owners Don and Chang Jin is still being fought out in court. Anna Sui isn’t the only designer who has done this. “Diane von Furstenberg, the president of the Council of Fashion Designers of America (CFDA), was so angered by a bright yellow wallpaper-print silk dress in a high street store – an obvious copy of the one from her spring/summer 2007 collection – that she sent out missivess to stop its sale.” The dresses were eventually destroyed. This has been seen in the lawsuit between Chloe and Topshop as well. “In July, [Topshop] paid out £12,000 to Chloe in a settlement of a suit over a yellow mini dungaree.”.
Gwen Stefani and Jimmy Choo have followed this new take on high street brands ripping off their designs as well. I mean, come on. Think about it. If you were a designer, and you spent months coming up with a collection, would you be pissed if another store rips your designs off??
Imitation and speed is also a deadly combination when it came to Rouland Mouret’s design of the Moondress (a dress that my favourite bag site –bagsnob.com as hosted be Tina and Kelly have featured – I think Tina bought the gray version). “Just weeks after Victoria Beckham wore a pre-store release Roland Mouret comeback Moon Dress when she first arrived in LA, copies were spotted on the high street racks – it’s name cheekily changed to “the Victoria“.
Anna Sui also stated that “These copies are hitting the market before the original versions do“. “Presient of the Chambre Syndicale, the fasihon collective for haute couture and ready-to-wear in France, Didier Grumbach, issued the first warning about Fast Fashion as early as 2004. He called for a reschedule of Paris Fashion Week because he felt that the designers were committing “collective suicide”. Case in point, Close to 5000 pieces of “the Victoria” were sold amost four months before the original Moon Dress would ever reach the actual boutiques.
“In the US, senators, too, have taken up arms in the battle against copies – they’re campaigning for a change in the laws so as to ensure fashion designers are granted intellectual property rights. The current law only forbids copying if the original designer label is affixed to it – in other words, it isn’t illegal to copy wholesale and slap on a different brand name inside. “The lack of strong laws in the US has made it a haven for piracy,” says Diane von Furstenberg. And under her leadership, the CFDA has made this issue the number one priority. It is estimated that copies represent 5% of the US$18 billion apparel industry in America. A bevy of designers and senators are lobbying the congress to pass a bill that allows for copyright protection of fashion for up to 3 years and fines copycats US$250,000.”
“One of Fast Fashion’s continued attraction is its prices. Diane von Furstenberg’s “Cerisier” dress cost US$325, but its high street version was a mere US$32. And it does this mostly by using extremely cheap labour, such as those in Mauritius and India. The UK Times revealed that workers who made hundreds of £12 T-shirts a day were paid only 10 times more – £112 – a month. China Blue, a documentary about the garment industry in China, uncovered the horrendous work hours – 8am to 2am, seven days a week – of 17 year old factory worker Jasmine. It’s not unusual to find that the workers who make Fast Fashion live below the poverty line. Customers realise that some things are not right, in the same way that people are starting to understand global warming is real.”
Well, after reading this article, I think this gives those who believe in fake, ripped off goods a good slap across their faces. It’s not only me who is taking this stand, obviously. Darlings, even big name designers are taking action!! Of course, there are celebrities who use fake goods – such as Britney Spears who was pictured carrying a fake white Chanel 2.55 and a fake crocodile Hermes Kelly, and Courtney Love who unkonwingly wore a fake Chanel Couture dress that was given to her by her stylist (whom she promptly fired, and she wrote an apology letter to Kaiser Karl.).
So..whether you agree to the article or not, I know there are loads who will agree to it. Holler!
[vogue] 