The Concept Of Copying Designs

Based off of my last journal about the fashion industry and how it has an economic impact. Recently a friend of mine opened up a fashion boutique in a mall. He has always been into fashion probably the most fashion intellectual person I know. In the boutique my friend has inventory ranging from shoes, hoodies, jeans, accessories, etc. All the inventory are clothes or shoes that are either hard to find or sold out due to the demand of the product being higher than the supply. The shoe prices range from $200-$2000 depending on what shoe you are looking at. The prices of clothes are practically the same price range as the shoes. One of the clothing brands that are probably in my opinion the grail items in the boutique is the collection of clothes

In her 2010 TED talk, titled “Lessons from fashion’s free culture”, Johanna Blakely describes how the fashion industry’s lack of copyright and patent protection has allowed it to thrive in the economic market. This is mainly because designers have been able to recycle the same building blocks of fashion to create innovate, utilitarian designs into what we regard as art to adorn ourselves. In this talk, she urges other creative industries to adopt this concept.

This expansion demonstrates how the luxury industry is now run by massive corporations whose focus is only on growth, visibility, brand awareness, advertising, and most importantly, PROFITS! With growth and expansion, has come a decrease in quality and rarity. The luxury garments produced are mostly not handmade but are even outsourced to large factories in places such as China and Turkey. Also, to meet quarterly turnover projections, “designers churn(ed) out increasingly trendy collections of clothes, handbags, and shoes.” (Thomas, Pg. 246) With hundreds of new stores around the globe the surplus of designer labeled merchandise is immense hence, the proliferation of outlet malls.

Remember that, the next time that you buy that imitation, knock-off pair of sneakers or handbag.

For years, Louis Vuitton enjoyed high profit margins from the luxury market in Japan until other competitors such as Prada and Gucci entered the market. Counterfeiting also became a threat to the firm’s brand by satisfying consumer demand at lower prices. Other external global environmental problems included highly priced products, limited availability in stores only, and a heavy dependency on the Japanese market (Pearce & Robinson, 2013, p. 14-18). Moreover, “the after-shocks of the global recession were a threat to Louis Vuitton’s luxury business in Japan”, and Japanese women became less interested in the brand’s products (Pearce & Robinson, 2013, p. 14-18). Alternatively, Louis Vuitton could “reinvent itself and regain what used to be its well-attested

Meanwhile, some consumers were also attracted by the counterfeit products, which have the same design and considerable quality. The situation of LV in Japan seems to be fierce, however, with effective solutions, LV can also seize the opportunity to sustain profitability in Japanese market rather than just survive. As it is stated in the case that Japanese consumers had been holding the desire for inexpensive luxury products from Louis Vuitton. Therefore, to solve this problem and attract more customers, LV should strive to make “inexpensive” products by increasing the value of products, lowering the costs and prices, and finally creating high value for the consumers. As the scandal of counterfeit sold on the websites in 2008 led to a decline in the sales of Louis Vuitton products, it can be viewed as a valued opportunity for Louis Vuitton to establish its own business online since it can both add selling channels and empower the company to fight with counterfeiting.

“Aleah, that is so ugly,” my friends exclaimed as I eagerly pulled out my brand new pants from their perfectly packaged shipping box. “But they’re Michael Kors!” I argued, as though it increased their appeal. The truth was, the price tag read $78.00, and they were completely see through. Within society, there are numerous people who spend thousands of dollars on designer clothing that is not considered attractive street fashion or good quality. Often, the reason clothing is priced highly is because it includes a logo to advertise the brand and proclaim that it is “the cool thing to wear” while pressuring surrounding people to buy from the same designer as an attempt to become cool as well.

Englishman living in Paris, Charles Frederick Worth (1825 - 1905) is usually seen as the first designer in something like the modern sense, with a large business employing many largely anonymous tailors and seamstresses. A former draper, Worth's success was such that he was able to dictate to his customers what they should wear. Launched into the spotlight as the Empress Eugénie's primary designer, Worth used his royal connections to gain recognition and clients. The proclamation on February 1, 1853 by Napolón III that no visitors would be received to his court without formal dress meant that the popularity of Worth style gowns was overwhelming. Ornately decorated and constructed in the finest materials, Worth's gowns are well known for their

Plagiarism is using someone else’s work, words, production, researches and ideas without the approval or the acknowledgment of the writer or producer, and claiming the credit for himself. Many reasons and factors are attributed for the use of plagiarism and could be cultural, historical, linguistic, environmental and educational background. Plagiarism is a form of an academic dishonesty, academic misconduct, and a digital cheating. It is declared to be an unacceptable legal act and institutional regulations. And universities, schools, and instructors do not only need to decrease plagiarism, but they must also affect positively on students writings, increase the understanding of how to use digital technology to facilitate their academic writing.

To those who are not familiar with the processes within the fashion industry, this world of style is characterized by a peaceful coexistence between all the stakeholders. To those in the know however, this is far from the truth with the fashion industry. The value of the United Kingdom fashion industry is large contributing to about 20 billion pounds into the country’s economy on an annual basis. To have a better understanding, the contribution made by the fashion industry to the country’s Gross Domestic Product is almost twice that being brought in by car manufacturers which is valued at 10.1 billion so fashion is no doubt a major business and clothing designs one of the core assets. In considering this, it is therefore a surprise that businesses that are operating within this industry within this industry are not given the opportunity to do more to protect the designs that they have. This paper puts forward the assertion that based on the case law of J Choo(Jersey) Limited v Towerstone Limited and Others, the system of intellectual property protection available in United Kingdom law is not fit for use in the fashion industry in its present condition.

One of the biggest driving forces in the fashion industry nowadays is the continuous introduction of new trends and the opportunity for designers to display their creativity. So, when that individuality is stolen or copied from a designer, it can produce uneasy consequences. Known as “design piracy”, this widespread reproduction of designs has actually been around for decades. Not much has been done at a federal level to prevent the moral and economic repercussions that stem from it. However, despite the fact that designers lose both independent recognition and profit for their work, in the long run, fashion piracy actually helps grow the industry by swiftly moving styles through society to make way for the next line of innovative

Finally, LVMH must protect its brand against counterfeit and dilution. With the recent expansion of the internet and globalization, availability of products has grown to new heights. In order to keep the brand management that LVMH desires, it must tightly control the availability so not to dilute the market and lower the perception of their brand. Also with the increased knowledge and resources of counterfeiting, LVMH needs to keep a grasp on illegal goods. Not only are the goods becoming increasingly difficult to distinguish real from fake, but the channels of distribution of counterfeit products have increased. Europe customs believe that 75% of counterfeit luxury goods originated in China or Hong Kong. Online stores such as EBay also have seen a large amount

When Burberry brand became licensed across a range of categories, the price,design,and quality of products were not being looked at anymore. In Asia, wholesalers sold the products to unauthorized distributors, who then sold the products at prices, channels, and locations without respect to the brand image and because of that Burberry started to

On the other hand, the large market potential has drawn a host of luxury-goods companies to enter the China market, which makes the competition fiercer and fiercer. And it is troublesome for LV that there are plenty of fake goods imitating LV’s style prevailing in China, which are actually not likely to reduce LV’s high-end consumers, but would exert negative influences on consumers’ impression and awareness of LV.

Some consumers purchase counterfeit luxury brands for their social-adjustive function (e.g. to express themselves and/or to fit in) (Wilcox, Kim &Sen, 2009). If the social group the consumer desires to be a part of, disapproves of such consumption, the perceived social risk involved in the purchase of counterfeit product reduces consumer intention to purchase counterfeits. Consumers might refrain from using such goods because they might be afraid of the embarrassment they will have to face if it is detected that their belonging is not original (Chaudhry&Stumpf, 2011). Here, the consumption or purchase of the counterfeit will cause the individual to lose social capital from peers or society. When risk is activated consumers are more motivated to avoid negative consequences than to maximize utility (Mandel, 2003). However, Sinha and Mandel (2008) found that rising social risks and/or consequences of such utilization may not work for consumers who have high tolerance for risk (i.e. high optimal stimulation