Counterfeit Chic
http://www.counterfeitchic.com/
by Susan Scaffidi
The history of fashion is a tale of innovation, but also of imitation. Trendsetters create and embrace new styles, but without copycats there would be no trends. This paradox lies at the heart of Counterfeit Chic.
Long before the digital revolution enabled the downloading of music and movies, the industrial revolution enabled the rapid copying of couture garments - and provoked similar public debates. U.S. intellectual property law, however, has traditionally been reluctant to engage the world of fashion. While large luxury retailers have begun to test the power of law enforcement personnel and the courts against blatant counterfeiters, these high profile handbag wars are only part of the story.
This site is about the culture of the copy within the multi-billion dollar global clothing and textile industry. It's about New York's Canal Street and Beijing's Silk Alley, but also about the cognitive and sociological reasons that make us want to buy or reject knock-offs in the first place. It's about political and legal developments, but also about why both technological efforts and the social norms of the fashion industry continue to be more effective than law in supporting creativity. It's about the centuries-long, arguably productive battle between designers and copyists, and also about why the modern world threatens to upset that balance. It's about the universal phenomenon of copying, and about the law's limited response.
Counterfeit Chic is a multivalent concept. Does it imply a false claim of elegance, assert a defiant redefinition of style, or make some other social/legal statement? Rather than begin with an answer, let's start a conversation.