#owership

Review on TED talk: ‘Lessons from fashion’s free culture’ by Johanna Blakley 

https://www.ted.com/talks/johanna_blakley_lessons_from_fashion_s_free_culture?utm_campaign=tedspread--a&utm_medium=referral&utm_source=tedcomshare

“I heard this amazing story about Miuccia Prada. She's an Italian fashion designer. She goes to this vintage store in Paris with a friend of hers. She's rooting around, she finds this one jacket by Balenciaga -- she loves it. She's turning it inside out. She's looking at the seams. She's looking at the construction.Her friend says, "Buy it already." She said, "I'll buy it, but I'm also going to replicate it." Now, the academics in this audience may think, "Well, that sounds like plagiarism." But to a fashionista, what it really is is a sign of Prada's genius: that she can root through the history of fashion and pick the one jacket that doesn't need to be changed by one iota, and to be current and to be now.“

Everyone is saying that I am unique, I am different from everyone. Actually, they want to be like that. However, the jackets which are worn by celebrities are always sold out and even copied one is made rapidly. If we meet a person worn the same coat with me, someone might think it is ashamed but simultaneously the old-fashioned coat is kept in the closet as others do not wear it. 

Why people have this conflicting emotion as to the intrinsic elements of their identity?

How people have composed their identities? 

What they are using in order to show and confirm their existence

Yup, this is getting printed as we speak.

Spreading the love and the word.

I don't really talk about fashion that much here. I mean, yes. I reblog a great fashion or style photo every once in a while. But, just because I don't talk about doesn't mean I don't have anything to say. 

This post is about fashion and not glittery things or bows or girls in cute dresses. That's not fashion. Omg. Four sentences in and I'm already sounding pretentious. 

Ok. Let's start with some figures. 

Figure 1

Splurge (top row)

Dolce Gabbana floral print skirt, $520

Givenchy knee length pencil skirt, £879

Dries Van Noten silk skirt, $830

Dolce Gabbana elastic waist skirt, $480

Givenchy cotton skirt, £835

Steal (bottom row)

Floral skirt, £10

Elastic waist skirt, $45

Vintage skirt, £88

Cotton skirt, £28

Dorothy Perkins floral skirt, $29

You can get a floral skirt for $1000+ or you can get a $20 because there's no exclusive rights in fashion. Unlike music, art, or literature where plagiarism is the worst possible crime, in fashion, designers plagiarize all the time. There's no intellectual property in the fashion industry. They didn't want designers to own the building blocks of apparel such as a collar or a sleeve.The only thing that can't be copied is a brand trademark. The reason that it can't be copyrighted is because courts mandated that apparel is too utilitarian for copyright protection.

"Without ownership, there is no incentive to innovate." - Johanna Blakely (Watch her Ted talk)

That's why the same concept - a floral skirt can be offered in two extremes of a price. So why would anyone buy the $1000+ skirt when they can buy essentially the same skirt for about 2% of that? 

Because they target different demographics. 

The person that would buy the Givenchy skirt wouldn't buy the skirt from Wet Seal. (Wet Seal skirt not pictured) The shoppers of Givenchy has different goals and ideasl than the shoppers at Wet Seal. Givenchy wants to provide quality and innovation. Wet Seal wants to provide inclusion and affordability. The shoppers at Wet Seal don't care about the fabric quality or designer loyalty. They're teenagers who just want to look cute. Or 40-somethings with midlife crisis.