brand unfaithfulness

If you've ever stepped foot into Zara, H&M, or any other fast-fashion retailer, you probably noticed a couple of things.

1) The clothes are C-U-T-E. I'm talking straight off the runway cute, in a literal sense. They're trendy, popular, chic, and stylish. Exactly everything you never knew you wanted until right now.

2) The prices are CHEAP. Compared to the real Gucci sweater that looks juuuuust like this one except its 900% more expensive, this is a pretty good deal and most people find it hard to pass up (so much so that Gucci currently has filed a lawsuit against Forever 21 regarding their trademark colors)

If I'm expressing my honest opinion, I frankly don't have a problem with brands like Zara or H&M copying or mimicking designs from major fashion labels. What they're doing here is bringing fashion to the masses and kicking that heightened sense of exclusivity to the curb by offering affordable pieces of clothing to people who wouldn't otherwise have access to them. This impacts our society in a major way. Looking presentable and in fashion resonates with a higher value than most would think. Dressing well and looking nice not only promotes self-confidence, but it triggers an inner motivational force within people that drives them to succeed. Look good, feel good, do good. It also has a real-life measurable impact on your job prospects in the hiring process. Employers are more likely to hire those who dress well, and usually they can't tell if your outfit is "real" or not based on a first glance (unless they're an expert). 55% of the impact of the first impression in an interview comes from the way someone is dressed. One of my teachers always used to say, "dress for the job you want, not the job you have." So on one hand, I say "Brava!" to retailers like these who expand the global reach of fashion.

However, fast-fashion retailers also face a major problem. The fact that their clothes are so cheap can be seen as an asset to the consumer, but the ones who actually make the clothes suffer on the other end. Laborers in countries like China, Taiwan, India, Bangladesh and many others are usually taken advantage of by major companies like these. They endure poor working conditions that are extremely unsafe to their health and well-being while not being paid fair wages.

The clothing that is produced is also not necessarily of good quality, thus creating a negative environmental impact. The documentary The True Cost (currently on Netflix) outlines just how the fashion industry produces such an excess amount of clothing and garments that is detrimental to our Earth.

But still, these are problems that can be fixed, and are improving with time. Over the past few years there's been a heightened focus on eco-friendly fashion through organizations like Fashion Revolution and others alike, which helps bring about real changes to the industry. This organization continually promotes their workers rights campaign that encourages consumers to ask brands the tough question, "Who made my clothes?" Not only does this put the brand on the spot by calling attention to their labor practices, but it also demands an answer. Some have even been met with proper responses, demonstrating the campaign's success.

My major issue with brands, either fast-fashion or high-fashion, is when they blatantly steal and copy designs from small, independent designers and labels. This is exploitation at its finest. Stealing someone's intellectual property and creative ideas when they have limited sufficient resources to fund their company is degrading and insulting. It frankly shows nothing but disrespect to that individual and only exposes the company as being shallow and not caring about the person who the idea actually came from. It happens too often and is a classist structure that is embedded into the fashion industry far too deeply.

Kylie Jenner is a serial copier. She's a thief of creativity and has no imagination for her brands. Recently, she's been accused of copying swimsuit designs from the independent brand PluggedNYC made by independent designer Tizita Balemlay. The camouflage looks closely resemble each other and have several similarities silhouette and structure wise. There have even been claims that Kylie Jenner had asked for a sampling of merchandise from PluggedNYC shortly before her nearly identical designs were released.

Khloe Kardashian is also no stranger to copying independent designers. She was accused of buying merchandise from dbleudazzled made by independent designer Destiney Bleu including bedazzled bodysuits, jerseys, and intimates in an attempt to rip them off for her brand Good American. Khloe sent Destiney Bleu a cease & desist, which was only met with proof that the Good American team had actually been in touch with Ms. Bleu since November of 2016. Khloe's assistant Alexa Okyle reached out to ask for a lookbook. Shortly after, Kardashian ordered a pair of fishnet tights and a custom jersey. Within the next few months, she ordered additional items including a $925 order for 12 items and another $1,560 order for 16 items — including a pair of briefs bedazzled with “Tristan Thompson”). The correspondence also shows that Kardashian's former stylist Monica Rose contacted Destiney Bleu in order to borrow black & nude bodysuits and bras, which were later knocked off by Good American.

Maison Margiela is also a member of this notorious group. They have directly copied the makeup looks of independent makeup artist Alina Zamanova for their Spring/Summer 2017 collection. There have also been claims that one of their most legendary dresses that featured a silhouette of a face from that show was a design copied from a fashion student.

Fashion students are often victims of crimes like these, and with little to no resources for a lawsuit against these huge brands, they are often left stuck and powerless in situations like this, and solely rely on the help of social media. A student at the Parsons School of Design had a similar experience with Viktor & Rolf. Take a look at his designs that he created for an internship application with Viktor & Rolf (left), compared to their actual collection (right).

Zara and Forever 21 aren't innocent when it comes to this either. They've been accused on numerous occasions of copying independent designers. Last summer, Zara was proven to copy Los Angeles designer Tuesday Bassen's pin designs. Bassen uploaded a photo on Instagram comparing the two, which shows the outright similarities between them all.

A few weeks ago, I received a direct message on Instagram from a brand called Paola Vilas saying that Verge Girl had stolen a few of their jewelry designs. They had decided to reach out to me because I had commented on Verge Girl's picture of the jewelry in question. Being a smaller brand, they were doing what they could on a personal basis to reach out to potential customers to salvage their intellectual property.

When brands make the decision to copy designers or companies who are larger than them or make more money than them, they aren't doing a disservice to the industry or anyone personally because the larger brand has the money, resources, and back stock of other creative ideas to still remain successful, not to mention lawyers in case they decide to sue. They provide more of a disadvantage to smaller brands when independent designers are copied. In many cases, this might be their main source of income. They have less employees, less money and less resources compared to large companies. It is completely unfair to exploit independent designers and fashion students in this way. Creativity in fashion quite literally comes from the bottom up, and these cases prove that.