Note: The content of this blog will span various topics comprising copyright, fashion, and design. Hopefully, something here will catch your eye.
Note #2: This article is old! But I had to start practicing on my blogging skills somewhere. 
In this day and age everyone wants the latest look but doesn’t want to pay the latest price to get it. Enter the knockoff. The New York Times reports that the American apparel knockoff industry is at least a 9 billion dollar business. Wowza!
While the illegality of knockoffs is apparent, the indiscriminate consumer loves them because of the fractional cost compared to authentic merchandise. Another view is that knock offs have a positive influence on the fashion industry by forcing designers to constantly create innovative styles to stay ahead of the knockoff “competition”.
Simonia Fashions, a $20 million dollar business creates designs “inspired” by market trends and sells these “inspired” designs for a fraction of the original’s cost. Simonia has employed computer programs capable of scanning an image of a garment to be recreated, computing the appropriate sewing dimensions, and actually sewing a finished article. Programs such as these allow “inspired” business to place a garment on the market with little to no lag time from the time the original garment was exposed to the public. As expected, such practices deprive the original designer from capitalizing on their fashion expression.
Designers lament that if knockoffs continue unchecked and run rampant, their businesses will be in jeopardy.
1 response so far ↓
blaterer // August 8, 2008 at 2:17 am |
I don’t think knockoffs are going to drive designers out of business. People buy knockoffs because they can’t afford to buy the originals… if the knockoffs weren’t available it’s not as though those folks would be buying the overpriced originals anyway.