Off to the Courts
July 17th, 2007
So, in recent news its come out that starlet Gwen Stefani is filing a lawsuit against Forever 21. Stefani claims that the chain has stolen design concepts from her L.A.M.B. and Harajuku Lovers collections. Paul Wiltmon representatives have commented on the Grammy-Award winning singer’s behalf, “”We feel that both our L.A.M.B. and Harajuku Lovers designs have been infringed upon by Forever 21 and we plan to vigorously protect our intellectual property.” Stefani’s publicity stunt for putting her lines in the lime light or serious theft on Forever 21’s part; I’m not quite sure I guess we’ll have to wait and see won’t we! Although, Forever 21 is not looking so angelic as of now considering its history with ripping other labels off. The most recent of which is Diane von Furstenberg Studio who filed a suit on the grounds of copyright infringement on its “Cerisier” and “Aubrey” designs. So, from the looks of it Forever 21’s got the stick side of the lollipop! But, on the other hand, there has always been such a thing as designer inspired everything! For example Fendi would then be able to drag Desinger Style For Less into courts for taking its Hobo Bag design and making a similar purse and titling it a Spy Bag.
Designer
V.S.
Designer Inspired
If you were able to sue someone for selling something that looked similar to your own product than everyone in New York selling their knockoffs would be penniless!
Related Posts
Entry Filed under: Handbags and Purses
Off to the Courts
July 17th, 2007
So, in recent news its come out that starlet Gwen Stefani is filing a lawsuit against Forever 21. Stefani claims that the chain has stolen design concepts from her L.A.M.B. and Harajuku Lovers collections. Paul Wiltmon representatives have commented on the Grammy-Award winning singer’s behalf, “”We feel that both our L.A.M.B. and Harajuku Lovers designs have been infringed upon by Forever 21 and we plan to vigorously protect our intellectual property.” Stefani’s publicity stunt for putting her lines in the lime light or serious theft on Forever 21’s part; I’m not quite sure I guess we’ll have to wait and see won’t we! Although, Forever 21 is not looking so angelic as of now considering its history with ripping other labels off. The most recent of which is Diane von Furstenberg Studio who filed a suit on the grounds of copyright infringement on its “Cerisier” and “Aubrey” designs. So, from the looks of it Forever 21’s got the stick side of the lollipop! But, on the other hand, there has always been such a thing as designer inspired everything! For example Fendi would then be able to drag Desinger Style For Less into courts for taking its Hobo Bag design and making a similar purse and titling it a Spy Bag.
Designer
V.S.
Designer Inspired
If you were able to sue someone for selling something that looked similar to your own product than everyone in New York selling their knockoffs would be penniless!
Related Posts
Entry Filed under: Handbags and Purses
1 Comment Add your own
1. Queen of Suburbia Fashion | July 22nd, 2007 at 4:24 am
I hope you don’t mind me commenting, but I have something of an insider perspective on this issue.
There is an expression “there is no such thing as new ideas” and to a certain extent that’s true. Most are a twist on another idea or ideas - that’s our postmodern world for you.
I seem to spend half my life writing cease and desist letters to t-shirt “designers” who have simply lifted my designs and tried to claim them as their own. In those cases I view it as a flagrant attempt to steal food out of mine and my family’s and collegues families mouths.
If somebody takes one of my ideas in a different direction though I consider that highly flattering. And generally other designers I think view it the same way too.
An example - My own “Shoes Life” tee. Its design and concept are clearly derived from and influenced by the classic protest Katherine Hamnett “Choose Life” t-shirt. So I explained to her what we wanted to do, how we intended to do it and the message we were trying to communicate with it. She really liked it and told me she considered it flattering.
I guess what i’m trying to say is, if you can hold your head up high and explain your influences and how you took them on to a different level then you’re probably ok. If you can’t then chances are you’re breaching copyright!
Danni
Head of Design
Queen of Suburbia Fashion.
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