Fashion Designers Take Themselves Too Seriously, Congress Caves
Posted February 20th, 2008 in All, Basement Fashion, Beauty Wars, Legal and Politics
If designers get their wish, affordable knockoffs (like the dress on the right) will be a thing of the past.
Here we are, scant months away from the November elections, and congress has its hands full with proposals, bills, and committees - the stuff that makes our great nation run; their desks are overflowing with paperwork, their aides are dodging come-ons, and their votes are deciding the future of major issues like healthcare, war maneuvers, the economy, and … fashion?
That’s right folks. While your house is being repossessed because of a little clause in that sub-prime mortgage the bank foisted off on you, your senators are working hard to make sure that Prada and Gucci can still find new and insidious ways to vacuum up whatever dollars you have left to spend on luxury items like, well, clothing. The Council of Fashion Designers of America (no, WalMart employees can’t organize, but heaven forbid we restrict the rights of Park Avenue fashionistas) have managed to get congress to introduce and push a bill called H.R. 5505, which would “amend Title 17 of the United States Code to provide [copyright] protection for fashion designs.” In other words, high-end designers want to be able to register their designs so that stores you can actually afford to shop in are no longer free to sell less expensive, similar versions of the current fashion trends.
As it currently stands, the bill would allow fashion designers to register their designs for copyright protection for a period of three years, and offenders (stores selling knockoffs) would be assessed a penalty which would range from $250,000 to $5 per copy, whichever is more. Remember, as laws stand right now, knockoff clothing can only be sold as that - a knockoff. The less expensive items are already barred from carrying designer labels or designer logos, which are currently protected under copyright. Now the high-end designers also want to restrict mass fashion houses from selling designs which look like theirs as well.
Vogue designer house Van Cleef & Arpels recently filed a lawsuit against Heidi Klum’s more affordable jewelry line for selling a necklace with a clover pendant. A clover. According to the suit, the clover (which is not the designers’ registered trademark) was too reminiscent of their brand among fashion mavens, and therefore violated their rights and impugned their “reputation.” No word yet on who owns the rights to the orange stars, pink hearts, purple horseshoes, or blue diamonds.
As if the issue weren’t silly enough to begin with, one has only to cast forward a few years to realize that tightening restrictions against affordable fashion will only hurt an economy which cannot afford the loss of mass revenue. The expense of fashion is already a major class issue, especially among women. But if designers do manage to further alienate their own market, they may find that the greater loss belongs to them. Only the labels which already make a killing off of their exclusivity stand to benefit much from this new law; less established designers are generally more than happy to see their designs launch a new, mass desirable (and marketable) trend. As ever, the haves are grasping greedily to keep their place exclusive of the have-nots (or have-not-yets), despite the fact that they clearly already have enough money to buy themselves a shiny new law. They would do better to follow the path of some designers like Vera Wang, who have chosen the more reasonable (and in the long run probably more lucrative) avenue of creating an affordable line under their own labels, rather than fighting to make their designs even more exclusive. Wang seems to understand what more self-impressed designers fail to grasp; the fact that with the economy on a downslide and the dollar losing steam, fashion is not likely to be the number one issue in the minds (or wallets) of American consumers. So why is it occupying the time and attention of congress?
