Designer Copies Just Aren’t Right

By CC Staff

It’s hard to take a stand on designer copyright.

On one hand, I understand why designers are so angry when their goods are blatantly copied by mass retailers (I’m looking at you Forever 21…), and on the other, I’m incredibly poor and terribly fashionable.

I am torn between what I know is right (not buying copied clothes) and wanting a great piece for a fraction of the price.

I don’t think it is right, but I don’t necessarily do anything to stop the flow of copied goods either. It’s not like I’m buying knock-offs on the street in Chinatown. That, I can’t do, because I can see the faces of small children locked in factories making fake purses for ten cents a day. My soft heart just can’t take it.

For a while this was okay. I couldn’t ever really decide how I felt on the issue. I understand copying an idea: a trend, a hem a silhouette. I understand that designers feel slighted and angry.

Overall, they feel that while unfair, it really just makes the trends end faster. All of a sudden, those with money aren’t the only trendsetters, as trendy items are available at every price range. I get it.

But then, it hit home.

In the last few weeks, I have seen three different versions of my very similar, very pricey bag. If you don’t already know, I love this bag. It’s the one expensive thing I own and WAS somewhat of an underground cult fashionista thing. I am very proud of this bag.

And then, SJP copied the look for her Bitten line at Steve and Barry’s and I’ve seen two cheaper, uglier versions on the street. I paid a lot for this bag. I am pissed.

With the rise of the Internet, designs can be knocked-off in a matter of moments. It’s this woman’s job to do just that. Every look from the runway show is online in hours—minutes—after the models walk the runway.

It isn’t like this is new, though, Allen Schwartz has been copying red carpet dresses and making them less expensive for his ABS line for years. It’s just now that information travels so fast it’s an easier and more widespread epidemic.

While I won’t stop buying pieces inspired by designers and trends, I will now think twice before I buy a piece that’s a blatant copy. I now know there is probably some girl out there, really excited about her expensive purchase she saved so hard to buy.

And that girl deserves to feel just as good as I did.