Adventures in Copyright, Shopping
Kriss Kross’ll Make Ya Jump Jump (On Karl’s Bandwagon)
By Britt Aboutaleb
Almost every knock-off we see from Forever 21 raises the original from the dead and into a plastic-y patent leather evil twin – why does everything they make have to be shiny? – and this Chanel rip-off is no exception.
The criss-crossing straps along the front make a decent imitation but the buckles are lacking the Chanel’s extra oomph, plus the heel kind of looks like the Chanel’s frumpy cousin. And of course, the patent ‘leather’ completely changes the sophisticated tone of the original.
Nine West managed to do a bit better with the look. They, too, offer a version in black patent but also turned out a few suede versions in different colors. Like F21, Nine West opted for a shorter heel without the detail (we guess they drew the line at quilting), but with less criss-crossing straps and forgettable buckles.
We bet Karl’s pouring some Bacardi in that Diet Coke right about now…
–HAYLEY PHELAN
Tags: Chanel, Forever 21, Knock-offs, Nine West, Shoes, Straps
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personally i think that F21 completely kicks the ass of the ninewest. that ninewest shoe is fugly. the toe! eek the toe!
imo, they’re all pretty fug…
why do you guys always bash on forever 21 so hard ?? have you ever stopped to think that majority of the people can’t afford the original designer pieces ?? other people are constantly copying and gaining inspiration from other resources and yet when forever 21 does it you guys make it sound SUPER WRONG or SOOO BAD … I don’t understand …
I swear by F21.
Too bad if they’re knockoffs..if they’re cute ..I’m buying. Especially since I can’t afford Chanel.
Maybe F21 feels that “patent” is easier to pass off as real than the “kidskin” leather look.
I wish the knockoffs were cuter because I would rock those Chanels sooo hard if I could afford them!!
marc by marc also did a version of these last season, after the chanel ones though… they’re really nice, but i find it really odd that marc would copy karl so outright
they are all fug, and not that original… shoes like those where seen all over i the early 90s. I guess the chloe sevigny line for opening ceremony has really influenced a lot of designers no matter how fug it is. And I already has to live through wearing flower mini dresses with bike shorts and I so do not want to live through that again.
ugh. i hope ther’s an article about this on fakekarl…
I really doubt that Karl cares at all.
actually the forever 21 pair looks kind of like lanvin FW 08 shoes … same heel and toe but with buckles in place of lanvin’s grosgrain straps, making it perhaps the most relavent of the three…..my money (21.99 no doubt) is on them
Nice headline… I seem to remember writing a very similar copy block months ago for some criss-cross shoes where I work. How original!
the originals also came in patent, a friend of mine bought them from Milan last winter and i can assure you they are more like the Forever 21 ones
I just found these on Newport News and had to find my way back to this post to share them: http://www.newport-news.com/shop/product_single.aspx?style_id=34463146&index=32&gp_coll_id=7516&gp_cat_id=7517&nav_cat_id=9619&category_id=9621
The rest of the site is pretty rife with other designer imitations (the YSL Downtown, a Prada-esque ombré bag and shoes, etc).
Give F21 a break chickadees, it’s a cost effective haven of the fashionista, and plus if it truly is ugly it’s easier to part with than if you paid 600 for it. And above all else, I doubt that they’d keep making patent versions if they weren’t being snatched up.
Chanel actually made them in patent last year in grey, blue, black etc.
they were really cute my friend has them in grey patent with the gold wedge