Why isn’t Urban Outfitters doing anything about the number of posts accusing them of allegedly stealing designs. There are a host of ugly accusations saying they “rip off” designs from the independent crafting community.
- Urban Outfitters ripped off a Johnny Cupcakes shirt and is now selling it in some of their stores
- Urban Outfitters’ rip-off goonies strike again
- For Urban Outfitters, it’s bling there, done that
- Are Brooklyn Fashion Designers Being Ripped Off by Urban Outfitters?
Imitation on the high street is nothing new but in that situation it’s a case of the high street ‘borrowing’ high end designs and selling them at a low-cost mass market price. Most people feel a little Robin Hood justice and happily buy products they couldn’t afford to buy from expensive designers.
But when it’s a high street brand accused of imitating designs by small independents and then selling the products back at a premium it’s a whole different story.
Given the damage a similar accusation of plagiarism did to Paperchase’s digital footprint (18 months on and a Google Search for “paperchase” sitll includes two damning articles accusing Paperchase of copying a design) I would’ve thought brands would be keen to shut this stuff down quickly and avoid it ever happening again.
The Urban Outfitters accusations just seem to resurface again and again but I did find one case responded to here.
Is this the crafting and design community over-reacting? Or does the web reveal something which has probably been a secret shame of big fashion retailers for years?
[Original story & images credit: Anatomy of a trending topic: How Twitter & the crafting community put the smackdown on Urban Outfitters]
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