Fashion: the new piracy

I have been thinking about this Roland Mouret number ever since I saw Victoria Beckham wear it to David's first LA Galaxy game last year.

(And yes, only she could get away gilding that getup lily with pink Birkin.)

The front panel darting, the cap sleeves, the retro throwback mixed with modern edge is all so intriguing. But even though I consider fashion an art form, the around $3000 price tag is a bit steep.

So I left the image tucked into the corner of my brain that stores fashion fantasies.

It should come as no surprise that I got really excited the other day, when in the midst of consulting a girl friend on a Nordstrom dress she was contemplating purchase, I found this little number by ABS Allen Schwartz on their website:


Look familiar?

This quickly made me recall an editorial in a women's magazine a year or two ago where Allen Schwartz and Diane von Furstenberg went head-to-head about fashion copyright.

Furstenberg argued that original design genius must be honored (though she didn't address how), and Schwartz said something along the lines that all good art is meant to be copied.

But let's face it, at some point fashion needs to be affordable. I don't think Van Gogh would have wanted Sunflowers to only be enjoyed by the one who could afford his original (yes, I know he wasn't lauded until after his death, but go with it).

We've all seen pirated DVDs. We've gone through Napster, Kazaa and Limewire to download music. We burn CDs for our friends as sentimental gifts.
Finding knockoff purses in Chinatown NYC is now a 'must' tourist experience.

So then, is fashion the new piracy?

This made me hunger to find more. And though there are not a lot of literature/articles out there, the LA Times and NY Times have weighed in.

Interesting.

I know fashion designers are great artistic visionaries, but it seems as if elitism has prevailed over what used to be a sheer practicality of life.

Which takes me back to an even bigger question: what is art?

I'm open for definitions.