Fashion and Copyright: A Thin Line Between Inspiration and Imitation
Every designer across the globe is implementing the same game plan when it comes to designing clothes: the same colours, the same textiles, and the same shapes. It is how they assemble each aspect into one piece that makes them diverse from one another. However, regardless of the outcome, it is the similarities whether small or big that make us resemble these pieces to past or already-existing ones and in turn, brings up one question: does originality actually exist? To put it simply, the answer is no. But that doesn’t have to be a bad thing.
As Mark Twain once wrote: “There is no such thing as a new idea. It is impossible. We simply take a lot of old ideas and put them into a sort of mental kaleidoscope. We give them a turn and they make new and curious combinations. We keep on turning and making new combinations indefinitely; but they are the same old pieces of coloured glass that have been in use through all the ages.” Despite the fact that Twain was likely touching on the topic of writing here, his words can, without a doubt, apply to a multitude of activities.
Fashion is an industry that is ever revolving around creativity and inspiration, but unfortunately, many brands lack such skills, especially in fast fashion, or in some cases, even in luxury brands who use their power and dominance to thieve off young and upcoming designers. Plagiarism in fashion has been an ongoing problem for decades, and with the emergence of more and more fast fashion brands, it is an issue that seems to be getting worse. Colossal companies of fast fashion such as SHEIN or Boohoo or H&M are able to produce new pieces in under two weeks. And given that manufacturing authentic designs isn’t something that comes cheap, nor can it be done in that short of a timeframe, they rip off already existing design ideas in order to produce large quantities of clothing quickly and at a low cost. Luxury brands, whose designs are appropriated by fast fashion companies, perhaps have the upper hand of being able to use their strong reputation and wealth in winning a court case, but for small, independent businesses or designers who suffer most at the hands of design theft, how can they avoid being taken advantage of by bigger brands?
Here are some examples:
Bottega Veneta vs. Niccolò Pasqualetti
In 2019, recent MA graduate from Central Saint Martins, Niccolò Pasqualetti, sent his portfolio to Bottega Veneta’s recruitment team in hopes of acquiring a position to work with them, but was refused. Later, in 2020, Bottega Veneta unveiled their Resort 2021 collection with what appeared to be a replica of Pasqualetti’s designs. Pasqualetti took to Instagram to address the situation, posting a statement of what had happened, followed by images of his own pieces beside Bottega’s Resort collection. The infamous Instagram critic known as @diet_prada also expressed its opinion on the social media platform (as seen in the above image), defending Pasqualetti in a post that read: “Have been thinking about @bottegaveneta ’s copy/paste jewelry “designs” a lot since Central Saint Martins graduate @niccolopasqualetti ’s post which alleged that the brand replicated his work after sending in his portfolio along with receipts of his contact with them. Honestly, this one is a tough call. Macramé stones have been done before, from hippie Etsy sellers to high end jewelers… notably Elsa Peretti for @tiffanyandco , which Bottega has blatantly copied before. So, did they copy Pasqualetti or did he simply spark the initial idea? We’ll leave you with some slides of Bottega’s track record to help you decide. Dieters, what are your thoughts on this one?” Bottega Veneta has since not responded to these allegations and no legal action was taken against them. At most, the young designer could simply raise awareness of plagiarism in fashion prompted by his own personal experience with it.
Chet Lo vs. H&M
This year, Chet Lo accused H&M of stealing his designs after the fast fashion brand released products that were strikingly similar to his signature spiky knitwear designs. Lo took to Instagram to call out “a certain fast fashion company” which has plagiarised his work, asserting that “as a small brand and queer POC independent designer, I have worked incredibly hard to produce something that was based off my own heritage. I have always based my designs around my own personal experiences and I feel that it can be seen in my work. These fast fashion companies consistently replicate works of smaller and more creative designers, but at the end of the day, authenticity, originality, and creativity can never be reproduced.” While Lo never actually named the accused fast fashion brand, Diet Prada once again stepped in for support, juxtaposing pieces from H&M’s new “Cherish Waste” collection with some of the young designer’s clothes for comparison (shown above).
Founder of The Fashion Law, Julie Zerbo, believes that the matter in question of inspiration versus imitation has been around for as long as fashion itself. “There needs to be some level of inspiration to enable fashion to exist and continue. However, there is a line between inspiration and imitation depending on the type of law that we’re talking about. That line is judged in different ways and by different standards.” But where can we draw the line between the two? Fashion plagiarism problem will likely never disappear, but small brands and designers can certainly keep calling out this issue, and campaigning for more constructive laws and protections in an effort to be given a fairer chance in the industry. And with issues of sustainability becoming more and more prevalent, the prospects of fast fashion will begin to see a change, allowing better principles for small, independent brands.
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