18 In My Designs Archive

Zara: Pure copy or simple coincidence…?

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Yesterday evening I discovered that I either had an extremely good eye for new trends or that Zara really appreciate one of my designs… In any case I admit it is quite flattering!

Now the question is… do you see any similarities between the two dresses or am I just another victim of the “pretentious fashion designer paranoia syndrome” ? (when the patient believes that everyone is copying his style)

 

The first dress on the left is from the new Zara 2011 spring summer collection, 100% polyester and sold for 79,95 euro.

 

The second dress on the right is the one I designed last year. It is made of silk and leather… I wore it for my photo shoot with the Belgian Elle magazine in November after which I did a post about it’s creation process (here).

 

Of course we all know that Zara’s only life purpose is to suck out ideas from famous brands such as Celine (here) and more recently Prada (here). They also became famous last year for a blatant act of copy/paste with a picture from famous blogger Betty Autier “Le blog de Betty“.

 

Unfortunately this is how the fashion world works, everybody gets inspired by each other and everything gets renewed. But my issue is that even though copying is a widely performed act in the fashion industry, there is still a difference between copying a big brand and a small emerging designer. Not that one is better than the other but…

 

While Prada might be upset seeing all their stripped sombreros and skirts in the windows of the Zara boutiques. The Prada client is more likely to remain loyal to the brand as what he is looking for, in addition to a fashionable piece, is quality, durability and also maybe to own a little piece of the history linked to the brand/designer.

 

When you rip off a small designer, you’re taking away from him a client base that he didn’t even had time to build or secure. And more importantly you are taking away from him serious money  ($$;) that he will definitely need to grow his business further. And when you start, let me tell you that every cent counts. Obviously this also applies to big names such as Louis Vuitton for example, but when you know that last year the LVMH group did 3.032 billions of profit, suddenly, you get less worried for them… (Yes yes you read well… billions not millions!).

 

So to conclude I would only say this:

 

Dear Zara,
Thanks for visiting my blog, but please do forward me the address of your copy, hum I mean, design studio. So next time I can send you my sketches directly… it will save you some time 😉

Warm regards…

V.

 

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  • yifie
    5 April 2011 at 9 h 26 min

    a good read. you are a very talented designer!

  • The Fashionalists
    5 April 2011 at 10 h 55 min

    Talented designer!. great!

  • Kam
    5 April 2011 at 11 h 03 min

    Talented designer, talented writer! La rançon du succès! :-s

  • veronica calamandrei
    5 April 2011 at 12 h 53 min

    you had a great idea… i love this dress!

  • SAFIA
    5 April 2011 at 13 h 01 min

    Tu es trés trés douée ! `je ne sais pas quoi en penser, mais parfois Zara abuse :s

  • Cheap Week
    5 April 2011 at 14 h 39 min

    C'est juste scandaleux…Mais qui copie apprécie!

  • featherfactor
    7 April 2011 at 4 h 06 min

    Good work…the two look extremely similar. Yours is far lovelier, regardless!

    http://www.featherfactor.com

  • Anonymous
    8 April 2011 at 22 h 27 min

    Zara n'a pas utilisé que Betty comme "modèle" pour ses t-shirts, mais également Andy Torres et Louise Ebel… Alors simple coincidence??? Je pense plutôt que les blogs sont devenus leur nouvelle source d'"inspiration"… Très jolie robe et très joli blog en tout cas 🙂

  • valentine
    12 April 2011 at 16 h 44 min

    J'adore ce que tu as fais 🙂 Bravo Valentine !
    J'adore ton blog !
    Bises Valentine 13 ans
    xxx

    http://inthestreetofmode.wordpress.com/

  • Angela
    14 April 2011 at 18 h 14 min

    Super! Wow!:)

  • Anonymous
    16 April 2011 at 11 h 45 min

    moi je pense que c'est un coïncidence, le modèle de zara est assez basic et c'est du déjà vu…avec un tissu un peu plus original comme pour ta robe je me serai posé plus de question mais ce modèle là j'ai l'impression de l'avoir déjà vu 100x!

  • Michelle Lee
    24 April 2011 at 15 h 25 min

    love your posts

    your newest follower here 🙂
    http://pinklemonincrystal.blogspot.com

  • Valentine
    4 May 2011 at 1 h 05 min

    Thank you all!
    xxx

  • Rosy
    18 June 2011 at 6 h 47 min

    Strait to the point, good job!

  • anne
    11 July 2011 at 21 h 03 min

    c'est une copie, c'est évident!
    ta robe est très belle d'ailleurs

  • WendyB
    2 May 2012 at 21 h 11 min

    I’m amazed they didn’t go with your original print! I guess they have SOME shame. Still, the resemblance is clear though your work is a thousand times better. Also they’ve shown a pattern of behavior in knocking off looks from higher-end designers, so I don’t think you’re suffering from “pretentious fashion designer paranoia syndrome” — there’s no reason to give them the benefit of the doubt.

    • Valentine
      2 May 2012 at 21 h 28 min

      Hi Wendy!
      Thanks a lot for your comment! I am really glad that you could solve your copyright issue with Top Shop. I guess they have more ethic than Zara… It might be the first step to the recognition of smaller designer by the mega groups. The internet opens a lot of doors for us but at the same time can be our worst enemy as it is equally the open door to inspiration thieves. In my case with Zara I guess the print was maybe too expensive for them… Who knows.
      Anyway… I wish you all the best of luck in your work! Your jewellery is really cool!

      Valentine
      xx

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