Originality is Dead
Once a week I intern at Cosmopolitan, where I spend the day bang smack in the centre of the fashion cupboard and get inspired by all of the beautiful garments. After my shift, I walk through Market Street in Sydney CBD and check out the retail stores.
The first week I did this I had so much fun. I went to my favourite fast fashion store, Zara. I picked up a stripy blue and white, flared sleeve top that I love (even though you have to iron it after every wash and the thought of ironing would actually keep me from buying something). The second week I went back to Zara, I saw that embroidery was having a huge moment. I thought, 'that’s interesting ... GUCCI has been doing a lot of embroidery lately'. But I didn't think too much more of it.
I sporadically work at TopShop as well and have been there for the last few days. We had a huge drop of new shoes and I couldn’t help but notice that these $159.00 loafers are almost exact copies of GUCCI loafers that are worn by the fashionable buzz crowd swarming the streets of Sydney.
TopShop:
Gucci:
Unfortunately, this is legal. A garment or accessory only has to be 30 per cent different to be regarded as a completely different product. TopShop could claim that the inner is brown, the chain is silver and the toe is squared and that would be enough to legally sell these shoes.
This painfully obvious pair of copycat loafers opened my eyes to what’s around - there is no originality anymore. TopShop just brought bandanas into their store, which I really didn't like when I first saw them. But as the days passed, I saw more and more people wearing them.
A girl I know looked so amazing in a red one that I decided I needed one RIGHT now! I assumed it would be from TopShop but she told me it was actually from Supre (don’t judge me, it looked great!). I went over to Supre on my lunch break (shut up) and there it was, the red bandana. I bought it, feeling satisfied but dirty, would I jump off a bridge if all the cool kids were doing it too?
Side note: The bandana does look fabulous!
On my way back to work I walked past a Zara window display and there it was again, an orange bandana around the mannequins neck, taunting me. This was right off the back of the GUCCI loafer incident and I almost felt stifled, where are the new products? Where is the originality?
This is just the way that fast fashion chains such as TopShop, Zara and H&M work. They see a trend, grab it, mass produce it, other businesses see it and do the same, and before you know it every store has the same designs.
I’m a bit of a hypocrite because l still buy into all of these trends. But I am bored. Constantly combing through the shops for that one unique piece that stands out from the rest. These once in a blue moon items do catch my eye, and when they do, my heart skips a beat and I dash to the change rooms.
Kaiya X
