In today’s fast pace fashion industry, high-end designers are starting to question the longevity and safety of their brand. The Council of Fashion Designers of America [CFDA] believe designers need more copyright protection due to the blatant ripping off of their brands in quick fashion stores such as Forever21, H&M, and Zara. That’s why they are pushing for the Design Piracy Prohibition Act (hr2196), which would create a special, limited three-year copyright in fashion designs, with penalties of $250,000 or $5 per copy for violations. At the same time, are stricter copyright laws in fashion hypocritical? Julian Sanchez, contributing editor for Reason.com believes that copyright protection is contradictory in fashion since the majority of designs produced are “paying homage” or “inspired” by other peoples work”. Sanchez states that giving copyright protection to fashion designers would end the copying that drives trends and the demand for new styles. That’s a point, but here’s my take on this issue.

Recently, Hermès International gave props to French police for breaking up an international crime ring that was manufacturing counterfeit versions of their bags. According to Women’s Wear Daily, the operation concluded after one year of investigations based on complaints and clues of abnormal behavior identified by their in house monitoring system. It’s said that the bags were sold through parallel distribution networks in Europe, U.S, and Asia. Knock-off crime rings have been a thorn in the high-end retailer’s side for a while now. There are already laws in place for copyrighting material, but are they working? Think about this; eighty percent of products sold under the Hermès name online are knock-offs! If I were a designer, I would feel a way if people where blatantly copying my products, and maybe even risking my brands exclusivity by making it accessible to everyone. High-end retailers rely on their exclusivity. With certain knock-offs, you can’t tell their fake by just looking at them. If everyone has access to a real Hermes bag, then ultimately it won’t be special anymore and therefore lose its appeal.

For some cases I do agree with Julian Sanchez. A while back when Gwen Stefani sued Forever21 for allegedly copying her brands logo, it didn’t fly. Forever21 argued that Gwen’s line is a knock-off in itself by imitating Harajuku style in Tokyo Japan. It’s a whole pot calling the kettle black situation. Let’s face it people, trends recycle. Honestly, did anyone think for a minute color blocking was new? The industry started that in the 60’s. The only people who have a problem with quick-fashion or knock-off merchandise are the designers affected by it. Since people are cutting back due to the slow economy, they’ll settle for anything just as good. Quick fashion retail stores are thriving because of this. I for one appreciate quality in design, so nothing less than the real thing will do. Do you care if your fashion is a knock-off, or does quality rule your fashion world?

Sound off below and tell me what you think ;)