Stylish with Substance

A new and official fashion design caucus was recently formed on Capitol Hill. Of its inevitable success, co-chair Carolyn B. Maloney said,

"We are working on a bill now for copyright protection and we are going to pass it this session."

All of the flickr fashion sketches claiming copyright, currently it's partly-erroneous. Click to view owners.

“Counterfeits with pirated designs and fake labels are absolutely prohibited by law, but it doesn’t provide any protection for the same fashion design when the pirates omit the label. ... We’ve got to stop that and we will stop that.”

There has been a movement from very small fashion designers and crafters to stop such a bill, in the thoughts that it would be cost-prohibitive to very small business. Even though I'm attempting to become one of those designers/businesses, I absolutely am for this protection. Despite the cost, depending on exactly how high it could rise, it has potential to stop huge, famous companies from creating and selling indie designs almost completely under the radar to unwitting customers. Since most people don't know this theft exists, these unscrupulous business people are absolutely the ones who get away with this crime more often. Don't you want to protect your fellow crafters and Internet peers from the big bullies with power? We can help take their power away. Sure, putting out a collection will mean saving more money first, and we'll have to be super-secretive about our designs and sketches until we have our protection (there is a debut time limit to even get things copyrighted) - but I see it as a long-term saver. Of course, stores like Forever 21 could either suffer or suddenly need to get creative, namely cheap clothesmakers will have to ... design. Dun dun dunnn. Perhaps we won't be able to wear runway style, but I hope companies will still make fabulous but more unique pieces. Who wants to look like a fashion victim in an unoriginal, anyway? Besides, we can still wear things like Zac Posen for Target. Also, it would be nice to prohibit celebrities like Paris Hilton from making blatant shoe knockoffs. Plus with those companies requiring more-in-number and more-creative design, there should be a larger number of design job openings, and ones for more talented people. That could also benefit the community of smaller designers. Do you agree/disagree? Comment! If you want this to pass, and especially if you have requests for stipulations (like a maximum fee amount), please write to your local legislature! Via The Cut