Designer Knockoffs and some "Mercy-ful" Justice
May 17th, 2009 | posted by Rachel S | Posted in Features Profiles
Toronto designers Richard Lyle and Jennifer Halchuck have successfully sued Diane Von Furstenburg for copying one of their Spring ’08 pieces. Their suit comes at the same time as US designers are pushing a new “Design Piracy Prohibition Act”, an act which allows designers to register designs (which would include fashion accessories as well) for upto three years – and to sue those who copied them. The Star has the full story here. Ironically, Diane Von Furstenburg herself has been knocked off multiple times by Forever 21 – as seen up above – and has also been a huge supporter of the act. The dress on the left is DVF, and on the right Forever 21′s “Sabrina” dress.
If you want to see more examples of blatant designer knockoff’s and read some insightful editorial , check out Susan Scafidi’s awesome website, Counterfeit Chic. Susan is also the author of a book on the subject, called “Who Owns Culture? – Appropriation and Authenticity in American Law”, which you can find on her website as well.
As for Canadian Designers, we have no such act here at home – maybe it’s time Canadian Designers demanded the same protections that European Designers have had for 25 years?
