Adventures in Copyright
Adventures in Copyright: The Rachel Zoe Collection, Already? (Updated: The Girl In the Original Dress Speaks Out!)
By Leah Chernikoff
Jane Keltner deValle, the Fashion News Director at Teen Vogue, just tweetpic’d this photo of one of Rachel Zoe’s new pieces from her just-debuted Rachel Zoe Collection next to a page from Teen Vogue back in October 2007. In that feature, Zoe made over then-intern Elana Fishman (she’s now fashion credits editor at Marie Claire and a Fashionista contributor) into a “paparazzi darling.”
The dress in the Teen Vogue piece looks identical to one Zoe showed as part of her new collection today. Unless Zoe designed that dress herself five years ago, it seems she’s taking some very literal inspiration from whomever designed that mod sequined shift. If anyone knows who made this dress or has an archive of Teen Vogues at their disposal, let us know!
Update: Thanks to our awesome readers (and commenter below) the dress has been identified. And we should have guessed, with Zoe, it would be vintage. The dress was from What Comes Around Goes Around. And reader Tita Vizcarra was kind enough to send in a photo of the credits. Mystery solved. Vintage inspired, of course.
Elana also wrote in to tell us that Zoe called the dress in herself and liked it so much she bought it after the shoot. She’s also worn it on an episode of The Rachel Zoe Project so she must really really love this dress.
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It is listed in the caption as a What Goes Around Comes Around vintage piece. I guess she was very inspired…
There is a difference between being inspired and completely knocking it off though.
*What Comes Around Goes Around
very inspired indeed…not sure how i feel about this, on the one hand i love the dress and would love to see it available, on the other, doesn’t being a designer mean you actually design your own clothes? taking a favorite dress of yours and mass producing it is just not cool.
its a very very common practice by many fashion designers whose work is literally vintage inspired…
I agree…I love vintage and I don’t think that there is anything wrong with making reproductions, but it’s not exactly designing if you’re making a reproduction, and it’s not exactly “inspired by” if it’s an exact copy. Again, not saying there is anything wrong with it, I just wouldn’t feel comfortable saying that I designed something that was actually a repro…
Exactly! I think it is a very stupid thing do when you are just trying to establish yourself as “designer” and not just someone who has got some taste and can put a nice outfit together. It is one thing if established designers, who put out several collections a year, sneak some copies in (still a bit unsavory), but why do it if you are just presenting your first few looks? If there are not enough ideas for your first real collection, why should we be interested in seeing more?
Counterfeits are exact copies punishable by law…ie: LV bags. Knockoffs are copies with changes that are legal but…in accessories not clothing…Zoe in jail???
Counterfeits are exact copies punishable by law…ie: LV bags. Knockoffs are copies with changes that are legal but…in accessories not clothing…Zoe in jail???
I’d like to know more about the original dress. Unless it was made by a private dressmaker it probably has a label or some sort of identification of who made it. This use of the catch phrase “vintage” is now used to describe any garment that is second hand (rather than something at least 20 years old), and means those that bandy it about do not have to disclose provenance or other details. It is an ideal environment to be dishonest and copy other designers without any credit given.
Is there’s the line between inspired and duplicate?
That’s messed up. This is not inspiration, it’s copying. She could have had the dress start with two or four circles instead of three and position them in a different place. The colors could have been different (or white on black instead of black on white). Did she try to contact the company and license the design? Probably not.
This is a tricky one. It’s lame, but it’s not like she’s the first. I am a big marc jacobs fan but he is notorious for taking vintage goodies and reproducing them (his “moon boots” from several seasons ago are exact copies of the 70s one) and I have seen several Kate Spade accessories that are “exact” copies of vintage jewelry (pieces I own). I don’t particularly think it’s cool but I also don’t think it’s fair for people to rip on Zoe and give all these others a pass. I DO think she was really dumb to do something like this her first pass out of the gate.
I’m sure it’s an actual vintage dress….looks to be from the 60s….Rachel Zoe is a vintage collector so she does know her stuff.