Update [CT]: On the left is a real haute couture gown from the Spring/Summer ‘07 Paris show by Christian Lacroix. On the right is an interpretation of that gown design for Second Life by the amazing and fabulous Paper Couture fashion house. Compare the detailing on the real gown to the detailing on the Second Life version! Like Grazia, I can’t wait to see what other runway-to-Second Life surprises might be in store for us given all of the incredible things that have been shown on runways in New York, London and Milan.
A couple of weeks ago we got the terrible notice that the Tableau sim, home of amazing designers like Barnesworth Anubis, Ingrid Ingersoll, Nylon Pinkney and Toast Bard, was destroyed by a massive volcano eruption. For more information on this apocalyptic event and it’s dreadful aftermath, please read the Second Life Herald.
However, the talented survivors of what must have been one of the major disasters in SL, have joined forces once again and have rebuild Tableau, and I must admit.. it’s better than ever. The new Tableau is mexican, mariachi, pueblo… delicious. All former residents have found a new place to stay in the sim and there are some new residents moving in too…. the Lu sisters have build a magnificent shop in the main street of the sim. High profile building… lots of light inside.. monumental stairs. Stylish and special as we may expect from the ladies. I’ve been so blunt to peek inside and take a photo for you. No signs yet though of the much craved spring collection 
.
Well… not really a fashion update.. just wanted to let you know…I’m just so friggin’ curious what the Lu sisters will come up with this season.
Tableau: (175, 186, 23)
WoW must really take some skills to knock off from the runway, How creative! There other outfits are also knocked off, like the Chanel outfit they have hanging in the store now. Theyre not designers….they’re Copy bots!!!!
hmm. yeah. thats kind of what i was thinking when i saw this. I am all for taking inspiration from real world fashion to create things. I have seen many SL designs that are similar to things i have seen in RL.. this, however, is an exact copy. And from a group of designers that are supposedly so creative. I am more disappointed to discover they are exact rip offs than anything. makes me wonder if there is any real creativity left.
Long live Paper Couture!
“copy bots” “rip offs?” Those are pretty strong and rather harsh words for what the Lu sisters have done. For you two to put down PC in such scathing tones without even considering the craft that goes into their work leads me to think that you two aren’t content creators yourself. Besides that consider the following:
1. So called rip offs or knock offs are pretty much the industry standard. ABS openly knocks off award gowns literally starting the night of the Oscars. These dresses are then found at the local Neiman Marcus a few months later. Not exactly the back of a truck.
2. Although small, there are MANY differences between the two dresses. Unlike the Lacroix original, the flower is smaller in scale, the lace in the dress has touches of lavendar , the wrap does not close in front with a tie, the neckline does not have lace that goes straight across all the way, the neckline is also much higher in the Lacroix version and there are black straps or something of the like not even seen in the PC version.
3.Even if they ripped off the Lacroix dress 100% they would impress me for the skill required to do that alone.
4. It does take creativity, talent, and taste to create a cohesive collections of clothing that looks that good. I’ll take PX’s so called ‘rip offs’ over some poorly done, trashy ‘original’ clothing any day.
may I ad a #5: considering all SL designers do have a RL too… where do you think these content creators get their inspiration from (ok… sheer fantasy designer’s don’t get their inspiration from RL streets and runways… but they are probably inspired by fantasy books and dito illustrations). So truly unique SL designs are scarse anyway. And I surely wish that RL couturiers would have the courage come in world an create content too… but I sincerely doubt I f they would be able to create in world what their pattern makers and seamstresses do with their RL sketches. So I’m more than happy to wear Paper Couture, being one of the few collections that has the look and feel of true couture. I admire the Lus for their skills, their creativity to put a collection together, and maybe even more for the ever continuing drama that they create upon themselves. Ava confessed to me the other day that they are struggling to get the spring line ready now that poor Prue is back in rehab (again…..) and Mimi had run of with some man to Paris and can’t be reached…….
inspiration is one thing…..exact copies…..is another…yes ABS…Applause to them, however, many of the Real designers, in which one I design for, try to stop this knocking off…..There is a law, that all designs must be changed at least 50% or the original creator, has the full right to a lawsuit…so if it is ok for people to knock off designers, then 1)why is it illegal and 2)whats the point in being original, and expanding on your own style and creativity? Why dont all the designers make the same exact dresses in SL and see how the economy suffers then….It is wrong to knock off, this is not an opinion, but merely the law.
well i wasn’t so concerned with law persay, or right or wrong, i was just honestly disappointed. i can’t help it that, while i was very impressed when i first saw the PC designs, i was let down to discover that they were not their own designs. i mean, they even showed sketches on some blog somewhere, to imply they thought out these designs on their own. so… yeah. its a let down to find out that they are pretty much exact copies. sure there might be small differences but those could simply be a matter of what is possible in SL or just interpreting something differently. I still love the designs. and i am sure many of the SL clothing i own has been knocked off something and i dont know. but i do think it is a shame. just my opinion. not trying to sling mud.
I am also not impressed that this is an almost exact copy of a rl dress. Yes it does take skill to recreate for sl, but I would be more impressed to see what the designer can come up with on their own. Take the inspiration of the rl gown and make it their own.
Counters…
#1. Do we know for a fact that ABS does not have permission? Do we know for a fact that the knock offs aren’t changed enough to not be violating copyright? If there wasn’t some legal standing with what they are doing, they would have been sued a long time ago. Just because they have the legal right does not necessarily mean that everyone in SL does.
#2. The point is that the changes are small that they may not be enough for copyright laws.
#3. Yes it does take skill but it does not take creativity. Being a designer isn’t 100% skill. You could also say that the knockoff purses sold on the streets have skill involved because just having a sewing machine won’t make it look right. Don’t make it right or legal or good.
#4. That is personal opinion. Not all origional designs are “poorly done and trashy.” Saying that no one in SL has a shred of origional talent is just rude. And not all poorly done and trashy designs are origional. I also seem to remember the argument for the last release with really bad seams was excused by many because of the designs. Which bad seams, to many of us, counters the opinion that it looks good.
#5. We all have real lives. Even *gasp* RL designers do, who would be sued over something like this. Yes every art form comes from somewhere but there is a large difference between inspiration and making something look just like another’s work.
Hypothetical:
SL Designer A designs an outfit. Uses inspiration, but it is an origional. SL “designer” B sees a picture and recreates the dress (without permission) and calls it their own design. Would “designer” B be commended for their creativity and skill?
If doing this was right, how come its not posted in every store? Like a sign with the origional dress and the name of the designer? In the very least this would give customers the choice and credit where credit belongs.
Because in the past this has always been, off the record, on the QT and VERY hush hush. What I am shocked about is how comended they are for this and anyone who disagrees is mud slinging or not worthy of opinion because they “aren’t creators.”
This is an interesting discussion that involves three topics that interest me, fashion, economics and IP so I’m tossing my hat in the ring.
I’m not going to get too much into the subjective end of the arguments here, I’d rather shed a little light on a few statements that are a bit in error, especially those on design and copyright law.
First, let’s clear up the inaccuracies above about the law and fashion.
Foxy, I’m not sure where you found the 50% change of designs law, but I’m quite certain that no such law exists. In fact, there’s a very recent movement to actually create the copyright of designs. Here’s a couple articles that give a little bit of detail on this:
http://abcnews.go.com/Business/story?id=2442802&page=1
“Members of the fashion elite are hoping… …to seek copyrights for their garments.”
http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=1434815
“Under U.S. law, a company can’t copyright a design, but it can register elements of that design as trademarks.”
There’s also a very interesting white paper on IP rights, copying and fashion itself that you can find at: http://papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers.cfm?abstract_id=878401
Here’s an excerpt that I find interesting…
“This argument about the effects of copying is logically straightforward, intuitively
appealing, and well reflected in American law. Yet, few seem to have noticed a
significant empirical anomaly: the existence of a global industry that produces a huge
variety of creative goods in markets larger than those for movies, books, music, and most
scientific innovations, and does so without strong IP protection. Copying is rampant, as
the standard account would predict. Competition, innovation, and investment, however,
remain vibrant.
That industry is fashion. Like the music, film, video game, and book publishing
industries, the fashion industry profits by repeatedly originating creative content. But
unlike these industries, the fashion industry’s principal creative element its apparel
designs is outside the domain of IP law. And as a brief tour through any fashion
magazine or department store will demonstrate, while trademarks are well-protected
against piracy, design copying is ubiquitous. Nonetheless, the industry develops a
tremendous variety of clothing and accessory designs at a rapid pace. This is a puzzling
outcome. The standard theory of IP rights predicts that extensive copying will destroy the
incentive for new innovation. Yet, fashion firms continue to innovate at a rapid clip,
precisely the opposite behavior of that predicted by the standard theory.”
I think that those excerpts shatter the copyright myth without stating the actual tedious law.
thank you charron!!! so many myths get tossed about in all realms of IP, copyright, (and it’s registration, which are 2 very different issues), trademarks and such.
i’m very happy you shared all this with us!
respectfully,
caLLie cLine ™ (haha)
Actually what I said was not in error, as I live in the UK. SL is an international venue…it can’t be assumed that everyone is covered by US law.
The EU design right:
“The appearance of a product, in particular, the shape, texture, colour, materials used, contours and ornamentation”
“Within the European Community, unregistered design rights lasts for 3 years from the point the design is first disclosed or made available to the public in some manner.”
Registered: 25 years protection and lots of paperwork. Unregistered: 3 years of protection and automatically when first releasing the design.
http://copyrightservice.co.uk/protect/p15_design_rights
Further clarification that this includes fashion:
http://www.inteletex.com/FeatureDetail.asp?NewsId=628
Be that as it may, the issues I have are more the subjective side in it being wrong to say that a “designer” copying RL designs is the same as a designer using SL as a platform for original designs. Credit should go where credit is due.
I agree it’s disappointing that a group of designers or alts of designers brag and boast of their creativity and originality, in comparison to other designers when they really aren’t. I guess they are just skilled artists, painters, builders, etc. Nothing wrong with that though, just disappointing.
Paper Couture’s hand drawn quality, unmatched skill in execution, humour, wit and yes…design is what sets them apart. They are the best at producing runway quality fashion content. Its unfortunate this isolated exposure has caused them many critiques and at the end of the day you either love Paper Couture or you dont, youre either wearing Paper Couture or youre not.
It’s ironic you dont see content creators like hair or pose makers needling each other like this. PC made a replica dress of Christian Lacroix, and probably another design you find on the internet… so another designers photo sourced outfit looks quite familiar, etc. Let it go . . .
No one is here to impress anyone with their mild opinions or knowledge of the law where ever you’re from. We have enough of that mish mash in First Life.
We’re here to have fun and a good time and look good in the meanwhile. Wearing a $4000 USD fashion dress or what have you most of us can only don in 2nd Life.
I don’t really care if they are breaking the law or not by recreating someone else’s design. The chances of any of the big name designers they’ve ripped off caring one bit is nil.
However, much like the guy selling knock off purses out of the back of his car, It did take some skill to manufacture the bags, you may not care that he is doing it. You may even buy something from him. Buy would you call him a designer? Definitely not. Anyone with the resources to create a product (in his case, a sewing machine and someone who can work it, in SLs case, a computer and someone who can work it) can carbon copy a design from someone else. I’m sorry, but that does not make them a designer. Having the skills to create a product does not mean you have the vision to create something unique. And it seems these girls do not have that vision.
i happened to notice this when paper couture came out with their very first clothing..it is kind of a shame that so many of their clothings are very close copys to real runway creations. like the shampoo dress..chanel 06-07. just colored pink.
its very nice that they have the talent to recreate these dresses in second life, and they did an awesome job at it.
however i would not call many clothing makers in second life “designers”. it is simply not an appropriate word considering a lot of clothing in second life is not really personally designed, but mostly inspired from actual designers. most things the clothiers in second life spit out doesnt even match together like a collection would, so i have to question how many actual fashion designers are there in second life?
Would anyone care that they reproduce couture designs if they actually admitted to it? Personally, I wouldn’t. Someone commented above that they showed sketches of these designs on their blog. I went and checked it out and i have to admit it does appear a bit misleading to show sketches of dresses you did not design, as if to give the impression you did design them. Why bother sketching them if the designs already existed? I think the PC girls are trying to pass off the work as their own, which in my book, is quite shady. If instead they advertised their work as couture reproductions, I am not sure anyone would care. I think that is the real issue here, not that they did it, but that they tried to pass it off as though they did not do it.
[...] this weekend, Second Style posted this post commending the “fabulous” Paper Couture and their “interpretation” of a gown directly [...]
You people are mostly idiots. Get lives. Your jealousy is pretty obvious.
[...] Posted by: Charron Marseille on February 27th, 2007 at 1:22 am [...]