"Faking It: Originals, Copies and Counterfeits" at F.I.T

"If mine are copied, so much the better. Ideas are made to be communicated." - Coco Chanel 

This exhibition was inside the Fashion Institute of Technology, the main fashion University in New York. It investigated the history of authorised and non-authorised copies of designer garments, jewellery and accessories.

The opening of the exhibition was a set of two Chanel suits; one an original, and one a licensed copy. The exhibition revealed the minor differences in the construction of the suits. For example, the copy had dis-functional button holes and tarnished buttons, no quilting and machine finished seams. This was interesting to see that even a licensed copy, using the same fabric was identifiable through the lack of detail.

A licensed copy is a legal copy of an original designer piece. The designer must approve of it first. Bergdorf Goodman were well known for creating licensed copies in the same couture fabrics, for example, they made a Pierre Balmain dress.

Another way of copying a design is to just take features of a garment. The well known High Street shops are always doing this, creating similar copies within weeks for the general public to stay on trend. Zara are known for creating 'knock-off' Celine items and this is due to the easy access of designer shows through online.

Before there was an internet, designers tried to protect their designs from the press and Balmain and Givenchy even banned the press from viewing their shows in order to stop them claiming plagiarism. This didn't work. Some designers such as Emilio Pucci took the protection of their designs so serious that he started to add his signature into his bold prints.

Peter Pan Inc successfully sued Brenda Fabrics Inc for having exact copies and this led to the first even protections for print designers in 1959. There were ways to get around the law however by changing slight details.

The favourite thing that I learnt in the exhibition was that Campbell's Soup saw Andy Warhol's take on their brand become a popular explosion and used this to their advantage. They printed Warhol's print onto shift dresses and sold them to the public for the measly price of $1 and two soup can labels. This was clever form of marketing as people who liked the print and were interested in art, would probably buy the soup just for the labels to become an owner of the limited edition design.