View full report - Fibre2fashion

fashion designers cope with these uncertainties – in ways that are
aesthetically innovative and yet commercially sound.
(Rantisi, 2001:2)
The problem of counterfeits (garments that falsely bear the name of the designer or brand)
and knock-offs (copies of designer garments with slight changes and bearing no label
claiming that they are the products of a particular designer or brand) is an international
dilemma faced by designers. In the fashion industry, imitating a designer’s new design is,
to some degree, a form of flattery.
The argument against protecting designs by copyright is that trends are short-lived and
designers cannot afford the time or expense involved in registering their designs. The
fashion industry might do well to consider lobbying for a more accessible and expeditious
means of protection in this regard.
In the United Kingdom and the European Union, designers are offered “unregistered
protection” for a limited period of time. In the European Union, cost-effective design
protection is offered for a period of three years, starting from the date that the design was
first made available to the public (World Intellectual Property Organisation, 2005:16).
The increasing sophistication of technology, coupled with human skills within the clothing
industries, has provided opportunities for illegal operations to produce apparel so
proficiently that seasoned buyers and designers find it hard to differentiate the authentic
product from a counterfeit (Decker and Rosenthal, 2006:4). These authors argue that
consequently, consumers are buying “sophisticated and authentic-looking” clothing at a
lower cost than the originals.
Another perspective (Decker and Rosenthal, 2006) is that one of the reasons for designer
products being so expensive is the high cost of brand protection for brand owners and
fashion houses. They argue that if consumers were to become more vigilant and inquisitive
about the authenticity of the products they purchase, the prices of designed products
could be reduced.
Due to the global changes in the clothing and textile industries, there is growing
recognition worldwide that designer clothing can be a means of maintaining or stabilising
industries that have been negatively affected by the influx of cheaper clothing from
developing countries. This chapter has reviewed how some countries are managing these
challenges by creating different forms for designer garments.
18