In fashion everybody copies each other. Sadly, this statement has become a truism in the last few years, and we have seen all sorts of cases at different levels of the industry from famous fashion houses copying independent designers or students to young labels freely borrowing from contemporary artists without asking for any kind of permission. Obviously, the best known cases revolve around fast fashion retailers lifting not just ideas and moods from the runways, but entire collections and reproducing them almost immediately in cheaper and more affordable versions. Now, while this practice is well-known and widespread it shouldn't actually be encouraged for too many reasons. So you wonder what to do about Amazon's The Fix, a range of products launched on Tuesday.
The Fix is an in-house accessories label available exclusively to the retailer's Prime customers: it offers consumers both bags and shoes at prices starting at $49 and $69 (respectively; everything is under $140). All the pieces are therefore affordable and Amazon promises they are absolutely on-trend. This is true, it is actually incredibly true since all the pieces are more or less affordable copies of more expensive products.
Some examples? You have Miu Miu's lace-up punk ballet flats reproduced in metallic shades and in the classic powdery pink original one minus the buckles; then you have a pair of mules with frayed hems by Gianvito Rossi recreated here in their flat version.
The pearly slippers could instead be considered a more varied crossover of Gucci and Miu Miu's pearly slides, though Tom Ford double tassel bucket bag (well, not extremely original in itself to be honest with you and probably copied from somewhere else...) was echoed in a similar black bag. The list is long, though, and includes further copies from other brands (though Miu Miu and Gucci seem to be the most targeted ones).
So, yes, most readers will say that this is only natural, after all these shoes reproduce specific trends at more affordable prices (Miu Miu's punk ballerina shoes were copied by several High Street retailers, Zara included...).
Yet there is something totally unconvincing here: Amazon is very strict with its vendors and they can't sell counterfeit or copied goods. Now, while it is almost impossible to put in a search the words "fake so and so (add a designer/brand name) bag" and get some results, you may of course stumble in your search into products resembling or reproducing more famous designer products that may not be clearly labelled as copies. Consumers can complain about the quality of a product (with "product" here we are not just referring to fashion items, but to a wider range of items, such as collectible toys and figurines), contact the vendor claiming it is a counterfeit/fake item and also ask for a refund.
By starting The Fix and reproducing under this line more famous products, Amazon seems to have legalised copied goods: it is as if the giant was saying to its own vendors that, no, they can't sell copied products, but Amazon can do so because their own products are on-trend and approved by themselves.
Now, it is highly unlikely that even powerful and rich fashion houses will sue Amazon over these copies, after all, who would ever take to court a giant with virtually unlimited financial resources? Yet, while we all know that most people out there can't afford designer garments and accessories and will opt for the cheaper options on the High Street, it is still annoying seeing these products advertised as the result of an in-depth and time-consuming search for "trends" courtesy of the expert Amazon Fashion market editors, when it looks like the team just had a look at what's hot on sites selling designer accessories and then proceeded to do some copy and paste.
Mind you, maybe Amazon copying designer brands and selling the resulting items as affordable on-trend pieces is not even the most embarrassing thing about this story. Guess it is even more silly seeing fashion sites writing about The Fix and coveting its accessories without even mentioning the possibility of a massive copyright infringement case being on Amazon's path.
Maybe, rather than suggesting consumers what to buy, we should suggest Amazon to create its own designs: there are a lot of young talented designers out there, the e-commerce giant should just ask them to work with the company on something genuinely unique and affordable. Now, that would be a great way to try and "fix" the fashion industry.
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