Jason Wu SS09
Designers have been fighting against counterfeit goods for as long as we can remember but it now looks like they have a new battle on their hands against the high street.
KansasCity.com reports that designers are going after mass merchants who copy a piece completely, put their own label on it and sell it for a fraction of the designer's price. Sometimes the items will even arrive in stores before the original after it has been seen on a celebrity.
At the moment in the US copyright laws protect labels but not the designs of the actual dress but designers including Jason Wu, Narciso Rodriguez, Thakoon Panichgul and Maria Cornejo have been lobbying for a change.
Cornejo explained that while she would like to create a cheaper line her small business can't compete on prices with big stores. She said: "The only way we can compete is with our ideas. That’s like my bank."
She is also keen to dispel the belief that designers live a lavish life. She said: "Designing is 5 percent of my time. The rest is fine-tuning, fitting the production samples over and over. There’s a lot of misconception thanks to movies like ‘Sex and the City’ or ‘The Devil Wears Prada.’ People think designers spend all this time swanning around. We don’t do much swanning."
If the laws change in the US there could be a knock on effect here in the UK with British designers challenging the law. So will this spell the end of 'Get the look for less' clothing? We will have to wait and see.
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