Ugly fashion:
Showcasing fashion-theft.
Trends come and go, and ugly fashion is something that has major power in today’s fashion world. For some reason, the trend has brought up and shown to the world some very obvious copying of clothing, but how was it that ugly fashion was the thing to do exactly this?
Ugly fashion has been making headlines in every newspaper that considers themselves even somewhat competent within the fashion world. This has made the world of ugly fashion even more appealing to the masses. It has of course also made this a whole lot more appealing to the designers, which is something that might be even more important than the fact that people that care.
What has been happening for a while is that many designers are jumping on this trend. The question that becomes clear is if it is for pure artistic integrity or the fact that it is obvious that this trend is making money.
With no doubt I can say that some of the fashion outlets that release ugly clothing are definitely doing it out of a want to experiment with an idea. Some people may do it to further boost their reputation as a forward-thinking fashion icon. But in the same vain that there are people out there experimenting with these concepts, there are also people out there trying to purely capitalize on the trend.
The Off-White belt has been widely copied, as well as influencing many.
What is easy to tell is when someone is completely, shamelessly, un-apologetically jumping on the ugly fashion trend for the pure reason of making as much money as possible on the trend. This has been seen again and again. What usually is the most obvious telltale sign of when this happens are the times when big brands step in. They leverage their wide commercial appeal and make something reminiscent of the original product, which is then marketed to a much wider audience. This has led to people not being able to afford these luxury items buying them. The problem is not that they are also jumping on the trend, the problem comes to light when it is painstakingly obvious that the two items are pretty much one and the same except for the name on the shoe. This whole copying not the style, but the actual look of a piece of clothing has been something that has been going on the last few years, and it is very obvious. Zara made a knockoff of the Balenciaga Triple S, H&M rips of things regularly, and there are several other examples of big brands doing this. But why is this a problem?
The Balenciaga Triple S is a very recognizeable and copied shoe.
Taking inspiration from other things has always been common occurrence. Musicians sampling, visual artist collaging, graphic designers using other vectors, etc. But this whole fashion trend has become something that has the fashion world up in arms. Because of why some countries, especially the United States, consider clothing, this has been a major issue for designers that tend to produce pieces that the public loves, or loves to hate. This is because the US specifically identifies fashion as a necessity, and not as “art”. What this means is that there technically are not any repercussions if you steal the design of an item of clothing, change some small details, and then put it out for sale by yourself. Direct fakes are not allowed in any way, but as long as you change the name and the logo you will be allowed to copy the original product very similarly.
The reason for this evolution in fashion is not just attributed to ugly fashion. The whole culture around hype, and that one cool piece of clothing has to be something beloved by many, or “hype”, to be cool has been around for a while. Levis had it going earlier, now it seems that streetwear and luxury brands have taken over the regular consumer base in what is regarded as “hype”. Sneaker culture has made shoe copying a whole lot more normal. But the reason that this can be attributed to ugly fashion is the fact that other times there have been excuses. If you copy Off-White´s striped pattern signature look then you can get off the hook by saying “Well, they´re just stripes”. This is where copies of a shoe like the Balenciaga Triple S are very obvious, because it hasn´t been done in that particular way before and because it is so particular, the copying is harder to call a coincidence.
The fashion giant Zara have models strikingly similar to some of the more high-end Adidas models.
Does this really tell us anything new about the fashion industry? Maybe not. But the fact of the matter that a trend that everyone has deemed ugly has actually led to people copying being easier to call out is maybe something that everyone should be thankful of. After all, no one likes a bad knockoff.
Ugly fashion:
Showcasing fashion-theft.
Trends come and go, and ugly fashion is something that has major power in today’s fashion world. For some reason, the trend has brought up and shown to the world some very obvious copying of clothing, but how was it that ugly fashion was the thing to do exactly this?
Ugly fashion has been making headlines in every newspaper that considers themselves even somewhat competent within the fashion world. This has made the world of ugly fashion even more appealing to the masses. It has of course also made this a whole lot more appealing to the designers, which is something that might be even more important than the fact that people that care.
What has been happening for a while is that many designers are jumping on this trend. The question that becomes clear is if it is for pure artistic integrity or the fact that it is obvious that this trend is making money.
The Off-White belt has been widely copied, as well as influencing many.
With no doubt I can say that some of the fashion outlets that release ugly clothing are definitely doing it out of a want to experiment with an idea. Some people may do it to further boost their reputation as a forward-thinking fashion icon. But in the same vain that there are people out there experimenting with these concepts, there are also people out there trying to purely capitalize on the trend.
What is easy to tell is when someone is completely, shamelessly, un-apologetically jumping on the ugly fashion trend for the pure reason of making as much money as possible on the trend. This has been seen again and again. What usually is the most obvious telltale sign of when this happens are the times when big brands step in. They leverage their wide commercial appeal and make something reminiscent of the original product, which is then marketed to a much wider audience. This has led to people not being able to afford these luxury items buying them. The problem is not that they are also jumping on the trend, the problem comes to light when it is painstakingly obvious that the two items are pretty much one and the same except for the name on the shoe. This whole copying not the style, but the actual look of a piece of clothing has been something that has been going on the last few years, and it is very obvious. Zara made a knockoff of the Balenciaga Triple S, H&M rips of things regularly, and there are several other examples of big brands doing this. But why is this a problem?
The Balenciaga Triple S is a very recognizeable and copied shoe.
Taking inspiration from other things has always been common occurrence. Musicians sampling, visual artist collaging, graphic designers using other vectors, etc. But this whole fashion trend has become something that has the fashion world up in arms. Because of why some countries, especially the United States, consider clothing, this has been a major issue for designers that tend to produce pieces that the public loves, or loves to hate. This is because the US specifically identifies fashion as a necessity, and not as “art”. What this means is that there technically are not any repercussions if you steal the design of an item of clothing, change some small details, and then put it out for sale by yourself. Direct fakes are not allowed in any way, but as long as you change the name and the logo you will be allowed to copy the original product very similarly.
The fashion giant Zara have models strikingly similar to some of the more high-end Adidas models.
The reason for this evolution in fashion is not just attributed to ugly fashion. The whole culture around hype, and that one cool piece of clothing has to be something beloved by many, or “hype”, to be cool has been around for a while. Levis had it going earlier, now it seems that streetwear and luxury brands have taken over the regular consumer base in what is regarded as “hype”. Sneaker culture has made shoe copying a whole lot more normal. But the reason that this can be attributed to ugly fashion is the fact that other times there have been excuses. If you copy Off-White´s striped pattern signature look then you can get off the hook by saying “Well, they´re just stripes”. This is where copies of a shoe like the Balenciaga Triple S are very obvious, because it hasn´t been done in that particular way before and because it is so particular, the copying is harder to call a coincidence.
Does this really tell us anything new about the fashion industry? Maybe not. But the fact of the matter that a trend that everyone has deemed ugly has actually led to people copying being easier to call out is maybe something that everyone should be thankful of. After all, no one likes a bad knockoff.