36 responses to “At what cost cheap fashion? (Or) A license to steal? BbB”

1. 

   Chris Miller December 9th, 2009 at 09:04

   as with any industry, there will always be imitators. although it may be ethically wrong, as long as the imitators change some minute detail, I’m pretty sure there’s no legal remedy available to the original designer…

2. 

   Karlis Jansons December 9th, 2009 at 09:44

   I agree with Chris, every industry tries copying what is working. The thing I don’t understand is why people like these knockoffs? Do they like the fashion or do they simply like that is can be mistaken,from a distance, for the more expensive brand.

3. 

   Micajah Green December 9th, 2009 at 10:16

   When something is “in” there is an abundance of it. Different designers put their own twist to it, but it is basically the same piece. This is normal; however, for someone to go to a fashion show for the simple reason of taking designs, this is wrong. Stealing someone else’s work will never be an ethical practice; although I feel as if this is simply a part of the fashion industry currently because there are no protection laws in place.

   Something else to question is how much do these knockoffs actually hurt the designers? When you think about it, the people who purchase knockoffs probably would never be able to afford the the designer price ticket. Either way, I think the designer is going to lose money.

4. 

   Lyndsey S. December 9th, 2009 at 10:21

   It’s always going to happen, it’s just unavoidable. I do think, however, that some laws should stand in place to protect designers for at least a small period of time or something. I do not know about the fashion world to really say much, but I do know that most industries also have laws to protect a person’s work. I know that I have shopped at F21 and I really like the store BUT that doesn’t mean I don’t think it’s cheap. Things can fall apart before they go out of fashion. For example, I bought a flannel shirt there earlier this semester, washed it and let it hang dry – guess what! It got 3 holes in it already. Just saying….

5. 

   Jennifer Cook December 9th, 2009 at 11:04

   I agree that this problem is unavoidable. There are way too many clothing designers out there to protect a line’s designs. Almost every girl I know has something in their closet from Forever21 and from what I’ve seen most of their clothing follows the current trends – which I’m sure they didn’t come up with on their own. I don’t really like shopping their personally. The store is extremely unorganized and their clothes do fall apart quickly.

6. 

   Greg Forney December 9th, 2009 at 11:19

   I mean this is obviously unavoidable, if you come up with a good idea someone out there will try to rip it off.

7. 

   Chris Cookley December 9th, 2009 at 12:42

   Well thats a great success story for the owners of the store. It’s unfortunate that they take other designers styles and copy it. I wonder why they can’t hire some designers of their own fresh out of college and pay them a decent salary but retain the trademarks to the designs these designers create?

8. 

   Andrew Rodriguez December 9th, 2009 at 12:42

   That is interesting that “John 3:16″ is written on all the bags! Wow.

9. 

   Marisa Strupp December 9th, 2009 at 12:55

   I agree with Andrew about the bible numbers written. Another store uses that as well. It is a weird decision that they steal designs though.

10. 

    Christina Jacobs December 9th, 2009 at 13:54

    I really like this store! It is cheap and some do not like it because the appearl falls apart, but it’s CHEAP! Which is usually more important to me than the brand. I can see why other company’s are upset with the stealing of their ideas, but it’s fashion… Everyone is going to create similar products.

11. 

    Shawn Tomlinson December 9th, 2009 at 15:13

    In economics you learn that the protection of mental property stimulates innovation and development of new ideas. This sort of thing becoming wide spread could have an effect on the number of people willing to go into fashion design.

12. 

    Katelyne Moody December 9th, 2009 at 16:54

    I feel like no fashion is original. All fashon stems from older fashions, and other fashions. Customers are the reason the fashion industry are so successful, and therefor the customers need to be satisfied first. Forever 21 is keeping their business going by satisfying the people that are going to keep them in business: the customer.

    If designers charged a more reasonable price, then they would not have to worry about bargin places like Forever 21. If the coat by Diane Von Furstenberg cost $325 and the same coat coast $32 at Forver 21..DUH! people are going to buy the cheaper choice.

    No one has the money to spend on expensive clothes they can get for cheap. As long as I’m in style for a cheap price, I’m not worried about “stealing” of fashion ideas.

    –katelyne–

13. 

    Allison Weilbaker December 9th, 2009 at 16:57

    I know that they are imitating and what not but what I first look at when I see this is at what cost are they imitating, I mean to make such trendy but poorly made clothes just makes me think of how they are producing them. I’m not an expert on fashion and I don’t anything except sunglasses from this store but I can bet that these clothes are made from a developing country at a not so ethical factory either.

    This website has nothing to do with this but it was being advertised on Facebook and I thought I should post it. I laughed when I saw it but am kind of willing to try.

    http://www.drankbeverage.com/

14. 

    Ankit Buti December 9th, 2009 at 17:39

    Good story. Yes its a fact that copyright violation occurs in almost every type of industry right from music to clothes and designs via texts. There is little that can be done about it, but in this we don’t even know if its absolutely true or not and if the allegations were proven. Never the less they are good till the time their business is good.

15. 

    Alex Lewis December 9th, 2009 at 18:24

    This is an issue that will always exist. Even if the designer labels do win this case someone else will step right in and copy whatever the design is. I wouldn’t mind seeing just how similar the designs are though, so I could be the judge if it was copied or not.

16. 

    Phillip Jenkins December 9th, 2009 at 18:41

    Seems like a business that wouldn’t last very long at first. 1984, wow!

    The idea behind intellectual property and copyright is a very tricky place to tread. I mean: Droid versus iPhone, Apple versus Microsoft, Wii versus Xbox…there is no way to prevent someone form using a similar idea. As an artist myself, I frown on stealing art, modifying it, and making a profit or claiming it as self-done. However, design is different. Unless you take the actual property/blueprints(whatever) then it is not stealing unless its actual theft.

    Remember the little evolution fish with legs versus the christian fish? Its a no-brainer that the evolution one was released second, but did it infringe on the fish design? No. That’s like saying I can’t draw a Batman picture, slap it on a mug, and sell it. You can as long as you don’t steal it.

17. 

    Xi Wu December 9th, 2009 at 19:20

    Copyright and plagiarism are all serious things, but many people do not care about it. It is indeed a little bit hard to always create one’s own idea without thinking of others’. However, we really need to be aware of the copyright if we want a healthy and dynamic environment of creation.

18. 

    Theresa Reinhart December 9th, 2009 at 19:26

    I don’t mind that they might be ideas that are “stolen.” I’m a broke college student and even though I can see the designers point by the infringement of their creativity, but its not going to stop me from buying knock-offs.

19. 

    Olivia Freeman December 9th, 2009 at 19:59

    I would say even though there styles may be stolen straight off the runway. Any girl will tell you Forever 21 although amazing is cheap. There clothes fall apart, zippers never work…etc. Although some designers may get upset, they have the real deal. Just look at the fake designer purse trend. I mean I think it is obvious to a certain extent to what is fake and what is real. The real deal, will fit right, and last. The fake is good for maybe going out on the town one night. Forever 21 is all about weighing your options–1) do you want something you are willing to use wear over and over agian aka investing in more high quality apparel 2) do you want something that will look nice but is all in all wear and tear, a throw-a-way outfit

20. 

    Rohan Thakkar December 9th, 2009 at 20:57

    morally it is wrong, but it is hard to prevent and who is going stop other companies from stealing designs of the runway, such companies as H&M do the same thing as Forever 21 and people know what they are getting when they shop at those stores, for now it works but in the future who knows laws might be passed to prevent such things

21. 

    Erica Lied December 9th, 2009 at 21:25

    I think that forever 21 is a great store. Yes, they do have knock-offs of designer brands, but the people that buy the designer brands typically do not shop at forever 21. I do not feel that they are truly stealing anyone’s market. As for fashion, it is a form of art so I do believe that laws protecting ones work need to be updated. One thing to think about ABS dress company prides themselves off making amazing knock-offs and get very little scrutiny. Any dress that had a great red carpet debut, shows up on their racks 2 weeks later!

22. 

    Alex Conkright December 9th, 2009 at 23:42

    I have never nor plan to shop at forever 21. I think that companies should have some sort of legal oversight to stop people from making identical copies of their product. Most fashion companies are inspired by competitor trends and produce a ton of retro clothes. I think that all companies are guilty of using ideas from industry competitors.

23. 

    Clement Mak December 10th, 2009 at 00:07

    Sometimes people do something that is morally wrong just to make money.

24. 

    Eugene December 10th, 2009 at 00:35

    This is a topic that I always find interesting, what is the perfect balance between protecting intellectual property and stunting growth/encouraging monopoly. On one hand, If you don’t put strict restrictions in place to protect the designers, their products are not as profitable, on the other hand if the restrictions are too stunt, the industry becomes stagnant and a few have a monopoly. I guess the only answer to this question is for designers to stay innovative and smart about their decisions…. I don’t really know.

25. 

    Kyle Chen December 10th, 2009 at 02:21

    People do attempt to copy what seems to be working. And that is why we had a lecture on the intellectual property. However, people do copy business model and that is hard to prevent.

26. 

    Amber Illig December 10th, 2009 at 09:16

    I love Forever 21! I see why designers get upset, but most of the customers who shop at Forever are college students and people who can’t afford items such as a $400 plain t-shirt anyways.

27. 

    Ashley Grice December 10th, 2009 at 10:26

    I shop there at no shame! Why should clothes be rediculously expensive!?

28. 

    Bin Lin December 10th, 2009 at 12:29

    From a seller’s perspective, it’s ok to just sell the products, because the profit is the most important thing that will determine if the business can be continued or not. However, from the law perspective, the copyright made it not OK to just copy other designers idea and make profit from it without giving the citation. So, in conclusion, play with the rules in the business field.

29. 

    Marisa Nakajima December 10th, 2009 at 12:33

    People are always in a competition, and there are even reverse engineers hired to take apart technology and make it better for a competing company. This is one of those jobs located in the gray area of right and wrong. As with the fashion industry, there are always people imitating and recreating the same product to appeal to the customer. If it’s cheaper than the real thing, of course the general public is going to pick up on that and want it. That doesn’t necessarily mean it’s right, but people will continue to do it if they are successful such as Forever 21 is.

30. 

    Alex Selby December 10th, 2009 at 13:50

    You can buy it when it’s cheap and put it away for when it becomes retro, I can’t say I’de shop at forever21 being a guy and all but I’ve def. seen the business they attract at the mall back home.

31. 

    Zhiheng Liu December 10th, 2009 at 18:46

    The customers that buys the $32 dress won’t ever buy the $325, and customers that buys the $325 dress won’t be likely to buy the $32 one as well.

    The two prices are targeted toward two different markets.

    If every cloth is the $325, that’s designer stealing customers money. Rich people have rich people’s clothes, poor people have poor people’s choices, what’s wrong with that?

    Problem with right and wrong here, does anybody think charging $325 for a cloth that really worth only $32 right?

32. 

    David Uhlenhake December 10th, 2009 at 20:29

    I feel that stealing someone’s idea is morally wrong but currently there are no efficient ways of preventing people from stealing other people’s idea. If they do take the idea then all they have to do is change a minor detail to save themselves.

33. 

    Alex Conkright December 10th, 2009 at 21:10

    A second thought i had is basic market demand would suggest that the company that can produce a substitute product for almost $300 less should be more likely to succeed.

34. 

    Steve Shih December 10th, 2009 at 21:41

    I have never heard of Forever 21 Inc before, but the way that they stole someone’s idea is nothing new especially when it deals with making money.

35. 

    Zheng Wang December 10th, 2009 at 23:46

    Forever 21 is a brand that I usually go and search for clothes, never thought it had such an impressive story.

36. 

    Josh Johnson December 15th, 2009 at 13:06

    It is a tough break and unfortunate that they are getting their idea taken by others trying to profit from it.