How the fashion industry impacts designers

One impact of the fast fashion industry which is rarely spoken about is the impact that it has on designers. This of course isn't a lasting change on the environment or a social issue which is leaving many in poverty, but it is jeopardising many livelihoods in developed nations and diminishing their creativity.

Last year Kim Kardashian herself was subject to this, with the fast fashion brand Missguided copying a designer dress she had posted on Instagram, pretty much overnight. In the Instagram caption, Kim Kardashian even wrote "P.S. fast fashion brands, can you please wait until I wear this in real life before you knock it off?" - ultimately, they didn't listen which led to a $2.8 million lawsuit. This is an example of how quick fast fashion brands are working, so you can only imagine the overtime the garment workers in developing countries are having to work to produce these products overnight.

Source: The Verge

Now, let's put this into perspective in terms of designers. Where do we think that fast fashion brands get their creative inspiration and ideas for new designs from? They get them straight from the runway... the Instagram runway. When there is a fashion show or new season launch, pictures are inevitably going to be taken and uploaded to the internet. From here, fast fashion companies will pick the images with the most likes and quickly produce them in mass bulk and sell them at a fraction of the runway cost. Fashion designers can spend months sourcing materials, creating, designing and manufacturing a unique garment, for it to be then cheaply made in an unsustainable way - in some cases their careers can be killed there and then (extreme I know, but it can happen).

Source: Fashionista

Kylie Jenner wore the above Kim Shui design which was quickly copied by Fashion Nova. Shui has accused Fashion Nova of ripping off 2 of her designs (source above).

What does this mean for designers?

Many designers see this coming, and understand in the new age of technology and the internet, there is not a lot they can do. Some may not even show the final collection until it is ready to bought, as that means fast fashion brands can't sell the item cheaply before them. This also means that many fast fashion brands are making huge profits based on the hard work an independent designer has put into a project.

What's worse is that when a fast fashion brand doesn't sell all of the items they have bulk manufactured, they end up slashing the prices further or binning them and sending them to landfill. Disgusting right?

Source: Business Insider

The jacket shown on the left was designed by Acne and retailed for $2,700 and the Zara copy on the right retailed for $149.

What can designers do?

Fast fashion brands are always looking for what is "on trend", so here is a few things that designers do to fight fast fashion.

• Designers can trademark ideas like slogans and quotes onto their t-shirts so that fast fashion brands can't steal the design - or if they do, they can create a lawsuit against them.

• Brands can register their designs as a trade dress - this means that consumers associate a design with a specific brand as it is recognisable. For example, everyone associates red soles on heels with Chrisitan Louboutin.

• It is handy for designers to have a look into copyright laws and see what parts of the design process are covered by law. I have attached a link here for extra guidance and information about this.

• If a brand was to have their design copied by a fast fashion brand, social media can then be a good tool to call them out. Even small independent designers can take to the likes of Twitter and Instagram - enough angry comments and emails from consumers is enough for a brand to remove the item. After all, a fast fashion brand is nothing without its consumers. But then where does the item go? It's a vicious cycle.

• Designers can write to law makers and demand change in copyright law. This is complicated to explain as some parts of design are covered under this, but not all. For example, individual sketches by a designer is covered, but the idea itself is not protected - someone could actually create a garment based around the idea of a sketch.

Source: Business Insider

The Gucci jacket on the left retailed at $3,400 and the Forever 21 copy on the left retailed for $34.90.

There are hundreds of cases of fast fashion brands stealing designs and ideas from independent designers, and there will be hundreds more in years to come. Without proper laws and protection in place for these designers, nothing is going to change and it will be difficult for new brands to step into the market. Vox have lots of examples of "fashion's copycat problem", click here to read more.

If you ever find yourself in a position of deciding between buying a garment from the original designer or buying it cheaper from a fast fashion brand, just remember what has been sacrificed for the garment to be cheaper (workers rights, pay, designers creativity, the environment etc..)

It is completely understandable that sometimes the original item is a lot more expensive, but take that little bit of time to check that the garment hasn't been stolen from another designer!

Recommendation: Treeapp - (Completely unrelated to this blog topic, but completely necessary). Did you know the average carbon footprint of a UK citizen is approximately 10.5 tonnes. Treeapp allows you to answer 3 questions a day to plant a tree in return. They also show you "My Impact" including your % of carbon emissions which have been absorbed each month.