Brace yourself Mr. Lagerfeld.
We just spotted this “Coco Chanel Genuine Mink Charm Bracelet” on Etsy.
It’s being sold by PoetSummer who says she’s trying out some new designs. For this particular piece she’s linked black and white pictures of the designer with actual mink, Eiffel tower charms, vintage rhinestones, pearls and the focal point – interlocking C’s.
She’s selling it for $99 and will give you two chains so that you can wear the “piece of art” as a bracelet or a necklace.
What she doesn’t mention is that she’s using another company’s logo to make a profit. Someone should probably let the artist know that Chanel has one of the strictest copy policies in the industry and goes so far as to take out ads in newspapers and magazines warning people against breathing the name Chanel inappropriately – let alone using their logo.
So if she can’t come up with any new ideas, we’d suggest selling that logo someplace other than the internet.
Tags: Chanel, Etsy, Karl Lagerfeld
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“Of course we’d be up in arms you moronic imbecile – obviously because a corporation is expected to have its own creative originality”
Why is this expectation any different for an independent designer? Because they are struggling more financially? Because they are not in the spotlight? This is relative morality, from which nothing good has ever come.
how is calling someone a moronic idiot, lame, pathetic, pretentious, stupid, snobs, self righteous, Ugly bitches, yous a bitch (and how could that ever be in a good way?), and pompous arses, just to name a few from this post, any better? the commenters who read fashionista truly are hypocritical among other things.
you people are so hypocritical – it’s NEVER ok to steal. whether from a major brand or an independent designer, it’s NOT ok.
and austinsamuel – seriously? chanel should be original because they have money and a team of designers but a “small etsy seller” doesn’t have to come up with her own designs? that’s crap.
you’re one of the few commenters on this site who usually provides insightful thoughts – please don’t stop
But the only thing this girl stole was the logo. She didn’t steal a Chanel design. And anyone who would look at these logo charms and think it was authentic Chanel doesn’t know shit about Chanel, pardon my French.
Look, it’s not OK to recreate a designer logo for your own purposes — I think we’re all in agreement on that. But the people critical of this woman’s motives are so over the top — why? It’s almost suspicious. I mean yes, the seller made an error in judgment, but she didn’t steal any designs!
I wonder if she knows about this discussion because it would be interesting to hear her defense.
It’s too bad that most of the commenters don’t understand the difference between what Topshop and Forever 21 do (pieces that have a similar look to an original designer piece) and reproducing a designer logo, if it is reproduced. Topshop and Forever 21 do not put fake designer logos on their clothes.
I agree that if she is repurposing a real Chanel button and if the images of Coco are public domain, there’s nothing illegal here. But if she’s reproducing the Chanel logo herself and/or does not have permission to reproduce the images of Coco, this is illegal. Not the crime of the century, but illegal.
She’s interpretating Chanel guest 56. . . she never claimed to be Chanel. Don’t tell me what I don’t understand. And F21 makes some pretty close to actual designer looking pieces (minus the lux materials and hand tailored quality).
screw chanel as though karl is piss poor. i salute her. she’s made a bracelet far more interesting than anything chanel creates in terms of jewelry.
leave her alone. she seems like a cool girl.
i am sick of karl.
I’m wasting my time, but from this post and the ignorant, brainless coverage you had of LFW, I hope you stop posting in Fashionista. You are an idiot and after reading anything you write about, I feel dumber and mad at myself for having done so. Britt, you are a blogger, like the rest of the world & this pretentious “status” you feel you have is really amusing. Someone else used the Chanel logo?! Good God, thank you, you fashion-insider for notifying the lowly public of this GROUND-BREAKING, HORRIFYING news!!! fuck offff.
are you getting a kickback from chanel for spying? Who cares anyway if it is a ripoff, why should we fatten chanels already bulging coffers
i actually was nice and notified that person. .it was kinda creepy too cause she lives in my old neighborhood apparently..weird.
dear britt,
thank you SO MUCH for calling this my attention.
if you didn’t i would never have the opportunity to buy this beautiful piece…thanks!
b*tch.
This is how the Etsy seller is different from Forever21 and the people selling fake Fendis on Canal:
This seller is pretty obviously not intending to pass her work off as real Chanel. She’s not a counterfeiter. She’s made a homage to Coco Chanel, the fashion icon, and didn’t get that while it’s legally okay to use the Chanel logo in certain kinds of art like parodies (the Alex and Chloe Chanel spoof jewelry, for example), homage isn’t a protected genre. This is because she’s an Etsy seller and not a real LLC with lawyers to tell her stuff like this. The Etsy girl made an honest mistake…I feel badly for her getting all this public excoriation.
Dear Britt,
Chanel has been known to copy among others jewellery designer Jessica Kagan Cushman thick scrimshaw bangles.
Cue the one-off bracelet that Cushman designed in retaliation: a one-off bracelet that reads in her trademark cursive’Ripped off by CHANEL’.
The Etsy girl should be very thankful for the wonderful publicity.
Lighten up.
She’s not doing anything wrong if that’s an authentic Chanel button. She isn’t passing it off as a Chanel bracelet and you are allowed to sell goods that you purchase if you wish. If I owned a Chanel sweater, I could cut off all the buttons and sell them on ebay if I wanted to. That isn’t counterfeiting. This really isn’t any different than painting an authentic picture on a Vuitton bag, or adding some jewels and charms around the strap, and then selling it on ebay.
Wow way to go. I too am glad that everyone else here seems to be as disgusted with your article as I am. This poor individual does not deserve to be publicly reemed like this.
If you would actually look at her other bracelets, she obviously does theme jewelry and that’s all this was. She probably put no other thought into it other than just yet another one in a series. She also could have a chance at getting away with using Appropriation, which is used frequently in the creative art world and is perfectly legal.
Plus since when does Chanel need any help from self appointed vigilantes like yourself? Chanel sucks as it is.
Why were you searching “Chanel” on etsy anyway… to buy something that resembled Chanel perhaps.