are dupes ruining fashion?

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Today we are looking into the rise of fashion dupes and how they turned from inspired/similar pieces to almost exact replicas. I also wanted to share what's been happening with Djerf Avenue and their amazon dupe controversy because it's definitely quite mixed on tiktok. Are dupes good for fashion or are they bad or is there just a lot of grey areas because 99% of fashion has already happened, even if you think something is an original design it is probably inspired by another from the past, but that brings up the dupe vs knock off debate and when the dupe is a little too close to what it's copying. Copyrighting fashion is quite difficult since it isn't like other forms of art, but does that make it okay for styles to be stolen and how that then affects small businesses that are making original designs just for them to be ripped off by big fast fashion brands. Lots of thoughts as you can see!

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TIMESTAMPS:
00:00 intro
00:44 DUPES VS KNOCK OFFS VS COUNTERFEIT
04:21 disclaimer
08:06 how dupes went from taboo to TRENDY
12:34 Who is Matilda Djerf & Djerf Avenue
18:04 Djerf Avenue Fruit Print & the Amazon Dupes
26:19 Why are some dupes okay, but not others?
36:42 Outro

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[linilavender]

The weirdest thing to me is like people act like it's a human right to own a pyjama with the fruit pattern so it has to be affordable and accecable to everyone?

[Peertje]

As someone who crochets, i think everyone who complains about prices of handknitted and handcrocheted items should be legally obligated to knit or crochet a sweater themselves. Y'all have no idea the time it takes

[iphisnextdoor]

I think cost-per-wear is a huge test of how sustainable your fashion is! Is the clothing being worn, or just bought?

[abrielle]

People have no respect for how much things are really worth. Nobody has to have some dupe just because someone one the internet told them they should get it. FOMO culture is so sad.

[claudiahenry]

I mean some of those tiktok creators are basically selling the knock off because they get money from Amazon storefronts, just because they are small doesn’t mean they are acting ok

[bath-chebakohybayoro]

It reminds me of the strawberry dress times... I still feel bad for the dressmaker

[lilyfoubisou]

You're so right, a majority of stores on Amazon are essentially the same thing as Shein in terms of transparency, quality, ethics and environmental impact. and I would honestly say the vast majority. I have a small knitwear brand that was heavily knocked off by Amazon, Alibaba, Aliexpress etc. and a few influencers were also advertising the knockoff on their Amazon storefronts and it was such an awful experience. I had to personal report hundreds of listings for copyright infringement and I didn't even come close to reporting them all. I'm so glad you pointed out that at the end of this everyone is riding hard for Amazon, which is just a storefront platform where shady ass stores can sell total knock offs with zero transparency and get away with it.

[MidnightMuse]

Trends are the problem. People not having or feeling confident to have their own sense of style which includes how they feel about their body & their budget. Being worried about trends makes me sad & the older I get the more I find myself resisting trends and loving building my wardrobe based on what brings me joy & what I can afford. Great video Alexa & keep on rockin your cowboy boots until they no longer serve you. Being uniquely you is better than just falling in line w trends. 🖤

[mandy]

Shop secondhand first. There are so many clothes in the United States and trends always come back around. There is usually a dupe in the thrift store for a modern style. I rarely buy new clothing anymore, but if I do, I make sure it is quality. I personally find that a lot of vintage clothes are made with better materials than modern luxury brands and/or fast fashion. Thrifting is the best way to be creative with your fashion. Be inspired, but be unique. It's important to find your own style, rather than letting society style you.

[lestranged]

A garment design can't be copyrighted but a printed fabric definitely can be. So that's why they are going after the fruit print items. It's obvious there have been other prints with fruit on it but the specific artwork for *their* fruit print is copyrighted.

[rachellynncreates]

im a seamstress and people ask me all the time to make them things... and i always say no. Between the cost of fabric and my time its just not worth it for what i can get for the outfit.

[LaceyMyriah]

Here’s the thing though… fast fashion is NOT a good deal. A good deal is getting a quality made, sustainably made garment — for any price. A good deal is getting the actual piece on sale. Otherwise you’re just paying for a piece to fall apart and you end up actually spending MORE money.

[kelseym]

I feel like the word dupe is so overused at this point. It’s not a dupe, it’s a knock off lol

[mnmily]

I think a dupe is supposed to give off the same vibe without being an exact replica. So it will either have the same shape, same color scheme, same frill/cutout/whatever details, etc. but not all of the above. It just gives the same feel.

[AngelaEAwesome]

I don’t think similar products are bad, but copies are.

People are so entitled now.

I was a kid and a teen in the 90s and we bought clothes maybe 3 times a year. Mostly thrift stores. But back to school shopping end of summer was usually new stuff.

Now people feel entitled to buy knock off designer items every month and whine about being too poor to buy expensive things.

No one can even wear this much clothing.

I buy so much clothing (mostly designer with the occasional fast fashion if i need an item I can’t find) and have too much clothing. I have bins full of clothing i never even wear and haven’t worn for years.

We have been so brainwashed into overconsumption. Even when we know it’s bad we give excuses for why we -need- to.

I tell myself “I’m stressed from work, i need another sweatshirt (i have at least 30). I don’t have that colour or style.”

And also because I’m unhappy with how i look and buy clothes to try to feel better about myself, but it doesn’t work because i still hate my body.

No one is owed designs or more clothes than they c an wear.

[skrittle]

very insightful video. i've noticed that it's gotten harder to find QUALITY items, even thrifting. like the way clothing is mass produced for trend consumption today just isn't the way we used to buy clothes. we used to spend a good chunk of our paycheck on a pair of jeans and expect them to last decades. now it's almost expected that you buy new things every season because things aren't made as well. very sad decline imo, and why i started buying vintage.

[mallshoggoth]

They definitely would have a copyright for the fruit pattern, that's not an item of clothing, it's a drawing, in those cases the copyright does automatically go to the illustrator or the company they work for (unless they specifically chose to publish it under a creative commons license). Not that I think that justifies going against tiktok creators just for showing the print, I think that sets an incredibly stupid precedent, but the basis of their claim is valid.

[Ilovevintage]

I love buying and thrifting second hand especially 90s clothes because you can get “the real thing” for the same price as stupid Shein while staying sustainable, having much better quality clothing and saving clothing from the landfill. I am rocking my $10 vintage 90s butterfly Calvin Klein jeans right now.! Pretty much the exact same ones Abercrombie has duped!!

[itsnotaricaria]

I don't think cowboy boots will ever truly go out of style in the US, they're a very regional classic and more of an international trend. It's like cottage core/hobbit core (similar styles to the german dirndl) they might go out of style everywhere else but they will always be a classic in (at least the south of) germany

[Deafkid]

Honestly “for the price point the fabric should be x” is also somewhat out of touch depending on where people are buying materials from. Hand dyed wool yarn often goes for well over $30 a skein, & you’ll need 6, 7, 8, etc skeins to make a sweater. not even factoring the time to crochet or knit the item that’s already like $200.

I just sewed a 3XL skirt for a friend’s Halloween costume & the raw materials were over $40 before I used an employee discount code. It still took 9 hours to make on top of that. If this wasn’t a gift & I sold it under minimum wage for where I’m from (California) it would be $180. & that price is technically wholesale since it’s just hours + cost of materials.

We are so wholly out of touch with how much things cost that at this point we need to do an entire overhaul of people’s understanding of how much things cost & fight for a living wage. We are all being exploited.