Fashion: The Seedier Side of the Industry

U.K. supermarket chain Asda is launching a cheap knock-off version of the Balmain mini-dress worn by Kate Moss. By knock-off, I mean quite literally a seam-for-seam copy rather than the typical "homage" piece or "re-interpretation". The usual argument invoked to defend this blatant rip-off of intellectual property is to suggest that the target customer (high street consumer) is not the typical Balmain customer and therefore Balmain doesn't lose sales and incurs no harm. I find this argument unpersuasive and intellectually dishonest.

The real argument is that Asda will most likely reap a huge financial gain from exploiting a design that does not belong to it. The design is the fruit of Christophe Decarnin's labor and therefore the property of his employer, Balmain. The fact that high-street chains can so brazenly profit from the designs of fashion houses sends the message that fashion design is less worthy of intellectual property protection than industrial design or technology. I find this a sad commentary on the value of fashion as an industry.

Sincerely,

The Luxe Chronicles

Comments

[Helene]

Thanks Chad G. - I agree. The irony wasn't lost on me either. I find the whole Kate Moss/Topshop relationship incredibly cynical and its mass appeal is completely lost on me.

Helene

[Chad g.]

I find it HIGHLY ironic that a dress worn by Kate Moss (she of the oft-plagiarizing TopShop/TopMan retail chain) is once again embroiled in a controversial knock-off allegation. A rather heated tete a tete over the deleterious effects of counterfeit couture should include ANYONE but Kate Moss, whose H&M doppelganger rips off high-end labels with wreckless abandon...
Just my opinion...

[Helene]

Yes, you're right Willowblue. No one is likely to mistake the Asda knock-off for the real deal. Also, I highly doubt Balmain will lose any sales of the dress in question as the target customers for each are distinctly separate.

However, Asda will nonetheless profit handsomely from a design that does not belong to it and this I believe is the real issue. The supermarket chain is even marketing the dress with reference to Kate Moss who made all the tabloids wearing the authentic Balmain version. Call me idealistic but I don't think this should be tolerated.

As always, thank you for your thoughtful comment.

Helene

[willowblue]

But, as said about the Saint Laurent Mondrian dress, no-one who ever copied it got the squares correct. Same thing with the Balmain copy...looks cheap, tacky. Any gal with a passing acquaintance with the Balmain name wouldn't wear it anyway. I'd rather shop H&M

[Debra Healy]

You are absolutely correct. There are many ways to attract the typical High street costumer who would not otherwise shop at Balmain.
At least H&M has the savvy to joint venture with the designers
co-branding the collections to their great profit, not just knocking off pieces for short term gain.