Rip it off and start again

Thanks to the rise of social media platforms, high street giants and high-end fashion designers are being influenced by street style and independent designers more than ever before. For an independent designer to inspire a big fashion brand, it can be an achievement or an honour. But what happens if that fashion giant thinks it’s OK to just take your designs for themselves and mass produce it?

One Bristol-based independent fashion brand dealing with the aftermath is Burnt Soul. The festival fashion specialists, who are based in St Philip’s, discovered in September that the cut of their signature catsuit had been plagiarised by fashion giants Kurt Geiger.

“We found out when a friend said she’d spotted a catsuit that looked super similar to our style in Edinburgh airport and asked us if we’d collaborated with Kurt Geiger on it,” explains Anna Crawford, studio manager at Burnt Soul. “We went on their website and discovered two designs were being sold in numerous stores as well as online.

Burnt Soul’s Anna Crawford and Robyn Lythe wearing their signature catsuit at Love Saves The Day festival

“We took a little time to reflect on it. On the one hand, there’s part of you that feels flattered that a big label recognises the quality of your design. On the other, it’s frustrating that they hadn’t asked to collaborate, or acknowledged their inspiration in any way.

“It’s the first time we’d had to deal with the legal rights side of design. It was disheartening as our signature design took years of tweaking and improving to perfect and for our brand identity to be picked up just like that and used by someone else for their own profit is a tough one to swallow. At least the colours and prints chosen were nothing like a Burnt Soul design, so we have that.”

In a recent blog post, Burnt Soul recognised corporate brands and online platforms like Pretty Little Thing, Missguided and Ali Express (a Chinese online retail platform) as some of the main offenders of plagiarising independent designers’ work. They called out retailers for more than half a dozen occasions where designs were copied almost exactly, and even where the original designers’ own photographs were used to illustrate low-quality knockoffs.

The Kurt Geiger copycat catsuits (left & Right images) are practically a design replica of the original Burnt Soul design (centre). These items have now thankfully been removed from Kurt Geiger’s range.

“We’ve seen countless friends’ independent brands copied by big labels, especially this past season, when the festival trend really took off in the mainstream market,” continues Anna. “Their designs were copied identically, mass reproduced at a fraction of the price and marketed in huge ad campaigns.

“At least for us – although we did have the core brand design stolen – the colourways were different, and they hadn’t come in at a tenth of the price. But it’s alarming that we feel lucky in this instance. It shouldn’t be a marker of the industry that small artists have come to expect and fear the moment their creativity is stolen.

“Unfortunately, it’s really difficult to stop this kind of thing happening, as, legally, you only need to make a few tweaks to a design to be able to pinch it for your own.”

The magical Enchantress Skirt and bodysuit (left) and Velvet catsuit (right) by local designers Burnt Soul who were recently victims of corporate plagiarism

For other designers, the copying is much more blatant. Wild Thing, an online marketplace for small independent festival brands based on Stokes Croft, have battled on several fronts to get designs that rip off their work removed from Ali Express. “They have duplicated our products on numerous occasions and have even used our images to promote their items,” says Lauren Hobbs, who founded Wild Thing along with her sister Katie.

“We have contacted Ali Express and their sellers directly plenty of times to try and get these removed. Some sellers have removed our images but not the products, but some have said they refuse to remove them. Even with evidence provided, Ali Express still refused to remove the images or items.”

Lauren and Katie Hobbs from Bristol based fashion brand Wild Thing and victims of repeated plagiarism online.

The Wild Thing team recently posted on social media about their ongoing issues and were contacted by more than a dozen sellers, all saying they had had no success in getting their items removed from the site. Lauren also contacted the Intellectual Property Office about the infringement but discovered that UK patents and design registration have no influence abroad.

“As a website promoting independent brands, we’re gutted by the lack of support available, as most small brands wouldn’t stand a chance against the likes of larger brands,” Lauren adds.

While social media can be the source of the rip-offs, it may also be a solution. Fashion Fakes’ Instagram account offers a platform to independent brands, designers and creatives who have been victims of fast fashion rip-offs, to share their stories and take a stand against plagiarism.

“Designers find it really difficult to stop these larger companies who know that most independents are small brand owners and cannot afford court costs to take it further. It costs around £700 alone for just one lawyer’s letter,” says Tara* from Fashion Fakes. These prohibitive costs can embolden big fashion brands who have the money to fight any case that is brought.

“I have spoken with ex-employees of the biggest fast fashion brands in the UK and they have revealed how their buyers trend scout straight off small brands’ social media pages and steal ideas directly,” says Tara. Fast fashion can work to an unbelievable two-week turnover, mass producing an independent design quicker than the independents can even get it up on Instagram.

“We are seeing independents designs being ripped off every week now,” says Tara. “We get sent stories every few days. Social media gives independents a voice to share when this happens to them. Most designers do contact these larger companies that rip off their work, but almost every time the companies are, of course, denying it or completely ignoring the emails.”

Beautiful handmade ceramics by local artist Sarah Wilton who had her designs plagiarised by a high street chain.

Despite the difficulties, plagiarism battles do go to court – and independents do win. Local ceramic artist Sarah Wilton works from her studio in Spike Island, making small batches and one of a kind pieces on her potter’s wheel. Sarah has a unique decorative style, with each piece hand-painted meaning no two are identical.

“I found out that my designs had been plagiarised purely by chance,” says Sarah. “A friend was browsing in a well-known high street shop and saw these ceramics and thought they were mine. I was gutted to find out that my work had been copied on such a huge scale, knowing the brand’s marketing statement is to ‘bring artisanal products to the high street’. That statement completely misinforms the consumer.”

Sarah says she felt “offended and robbed” when she found her work, because it went against everything she has been working for. “I wanted to make original artwork accessible and affordable whilst offering an alternative to mass manufacture,” Sarah says.

“Given the growth of the conscious shopper, I hope, at the very least, such companies wise up quickly, by buying into local and ethical designers and makers so that everybody benefits”.

Sarah got a lawyer involved and her case against the company was settled – something she says wasn’t easy but was worth fighting for.

“I was extremely grateful and lucky to have some very loyal people power which significantly helped me along the way to reach a solution with the company in question,” says Sarah. “Too often small independent designers feel powerless, as I did at first. It’s important to know your rights and let them know you know. Then you can begin to negotiate at least – otherwise they’ve taken your work from you and you have let them. It would be great if there were higher sanctions for copyright breaches and more laws in place for small independents.

“When things like this happen it’s very easy to feel paralysed but I found it was important for me to keep going as a way of standing up for something I created.”

There has also been a successful outcome for Burnt Soul, with Kurt Geiger admitting their mistake in late September and taking down the copycat catsuits from their online platform and shops with immediate effect. Anna describes feeling “relieved” by the outcome, and attributes it to followers and fans making noise about it online.

It’s a sentiment shared by Tara from Fashion Fakes: “The best way to make people listen to the issues is by raising awareness and sharing these posts on social media. The laws on copyright are outdated and don’t provide independents with enough protection.

“Another way we can try to stop copies is by contacting these corporates and commenting on their social media about the issues. Multiple big brands have appeared to respond when they receive a negative public backlash that could affect their sales and their image.”

For Anna and the team at Burnt Soul, they are grateful to have their designs back, but are keen to ensure it doesn’t happen to other local independents. “By shouting about it, and getting as much awareness around the issue, we can show big brands that they can’t get away with it,” Anna says.

*Tara’s name has been changed to protect the team running the Fashion Fakes Instagram account

Read our fashion editor Emma’s blog No Debutante