Counterfeit Chic v. Fashionably Stylish

By: Mya C Harris

In the Fashion world, the debate between dupes; the off brand products from someone's original idea and the actual product, is widely discussed. In this blue and green sphere we live in, there are two different societies; in which there are people who go crazy over dupes and ones you believe dupes are just a trademark infringing counterfeit. But do you want to know what I think?

Picture this, after years of brain power, time, and money investments, you’ve finally created the perfect product that you can finally be proud of, but only after a few months later, some unknown brand comes up out of nowhere and produces the product you created for the low cost of yours.

To me, that is thievery. To be honest, the fact that another company is selling your product for a lower cost of yours, with a mere physical modification is just insulting. 

Occurrences like that happen often in the fashion industry. For insurance, a  real case that shaped the dupe debate was the gucci/guess debacle.

Gucci v. Guess? (S.D.N.Y. 2012)

Gucci sued Guess for producing accessories with a diamond-pattern print and interlocking-G design that Gucci argued mimicked its iconic monogram. The court awarded Gucci $4.7 million in damages — a landmark case establishing how seriously courts take trade dress and trademark infringement in fashion accessories.

Gucci America, Inc. v. Guess?, Inc. et al, No. 1:2009cv04373 - Document 251 (S.D.N.Y. 2012) :: Justia 

The Gucci vs Guess Case really shows how much dupes affect the emotions of the original creator of a product. Guess’s alleged mimicking of Gucci’s iconic design was something personal. I understand not wanting someone to duplicate something I've worked so hard on, just to be marked down in the clearance section in a retail store.

However, I do believe original products should be considerably priced in certain situations, but simply creating dupes, just isn't the answer.

So, what do you think? Are you for counterfeit chic, or authentically stylish. Do you really think the creations of dupes are worth the hype?