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Urban Outfitters steals jewelry designs, ad copy, possibly souls
By Alex HeiglMay 27th, 2011, 1:30 pmComments (14)
Everyone's favorite relatively sex-crime-free alternative to American Apparel, Urban Outfitters, has allegedly stolen jewelry designs from independent designers.
Etsy seller Stevie Koerner's line of pendants, called "A World of Love," feature small states and nations with a tiny cutout heart. They're exactly the kind of vaguely creative, cute necklaces that go straight from the internet to the necks of skinny, possibly feather-wearing girls everywhere. "Wear your love," reads Koerner's copy, under a New York-shaped necklace called, unsurprisingly "I Heart New York."
Meanwhile, Urban Outfitters just launched a line of jewelry called "I Heart Destination Necklaces," with the tag line, "Wear your locale love." Coincidence, right?
Look, the fashion industry is rife with theft, as is every creative field. I know that, you know that, and Urban Outfitters certainly knows that. But the interesting thing is that they've got a long track record of this, and they're aware of their reputation — apparently their practice is sort of an open secret in the industry.
Personally, I think it's kind of sad. I mean, if you know that you've got a reputation for stealing independent designers' work, wouldn't you make sure to steal better ideas? Something with owls, maybe?
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Urban Outfitters
Commentarium (14 Comments)
"...the kind of vaguely creative..."
The nerve.com of the jewelry world?
Nice you gave this some coverage; I saw a little bit of Twitter traffic on the subject yesterday; but, it looked like it would get buried in all the NOISE.
While I'm not a fan of lawyers, I hope one steps into the fray here and stirs things up. URBAN OUTFITTERS should be sourcing from independent artists, not ripping off their designs and outsourcing manufacturing to the other side of the globe.
If UO had cut a deal with the designer, not just to license, but, to manufacture right here in the US, then, what, maybe 10 jobs would have been created? Each piece might have cost a whopping 39-cents more at Retail, but, Urban Outfitters could have sold more by promoting it as an independent artist/designer.
hipster on hipster crime is the worst.
Maybe Etsy artists should focus on designs that look less like something a third-grader brainstormed on a sugar high and more like something so creative and specifically awesome it would be hard to rip off without litigation.
aw, that's not necessarily true. I've seen some pretty cool stuff on the site.
"I don't like the necklaces, so it's okay for someone to rip them off!"
UO is not a hipster corporation, it's a conservative owned company taking advantage of young, hip clueless college-age kids who would love to support indie artists in theory but don't have the money to so they shop at a cheap place that rips off easily rip-offable ideas. Just stop shopping there.
Zeitgeist
"Personally, I think it's kind of sad. I mean, if you know that you've got a reputation for stealing independent designers' work, wouldn't you make sure to steal better ideas?"
So, just so to be clear, an Etsy designer got ripped off by Urban Outfitters, and your contribution to the situation is to insult and make fun of the designer's work?
agreed.
This is a terrible article.
http://www.regretsy.com/2011/05/27/urban-outrage/
Everyone robs each other nowadays...
Really...all those pretentious losers who
are loyal fans of 'anthropologie' and
'free people' and look with disgust
at anyone who couldn't care less must
definitely have wet dreams about rchard hayne
and glenn senk...theyre dreamy right?
no. theyre business men - hipster scum!
IgwMBg A unique note..!