Diane Von Furstenberg, as president of the Council of Fashion Designers of America (CFDA) has made it a priority to extend copyright protection to apparel. A fashion blog that I read a lot, fashionista.com has feature called Adventures in Copyright where they call out various items that "knock off" the work of designers. 

I know that there are reasonable objections to knock-off fashion. It's often made to be disposable, which isn't really good for the environment or for the people working in sweatshops to make them. Plus, I know a lot of people believe that designers-- as Von Furstenberg points out, particularly young designers trying to make a living-- should get credit for their own unique artistic expression.

I tend to think, though, and this just might be my personal opinion, that once a designer makes something-- at least if it's successful-- it becomes part of the larger culture moment, influencing trends in the way we dress and beyond. Would a designer's work really be successful if no one was wearing it? Or if the only people wearing it are the few who can afford to shell out hundreds of dollars per item?

Another fashion blog that I read pretty regularly, WhoWhatWearDaily takes a different stance than Fashionista by encouraging its readers to try looks that are "inspired by" designer fashion, showing how they can translate the look for less.

So, does getting "the look for less" qualify as ethical use of fashion IP? Is there a such thing as fashion IP? What are the norms of communities? What are the legal norms? What do we as individuals think? Is it more ethical (and cooler?) if your knock-off is DIY? What about if it's more of conceptual remix that addresses fashion history and iconography?

Although our GoodPlay collaboration did not overtly address fashion last semester, these are some of the kinds of questions we've been thinking about.