- Vice Ganda was called out by Diet Prada for allegedly wearing high fashion knockoffs
- Vice Ganda accused by Diet Prada of imitating Viktor and Rolf couture
- Diet Prada is an Instagram page handled by Tony Liu and Lindsey Schuyler known for criticizing brands and personalities for creating or wearing knockoffs
Vice Ganda may have caught the attention of the fashion industry’s “vanguard” Diet Prada, who just called out on twitter this Filipino actor, singer, and comedian with some rumored imitation of the Viktor and Rolf Couture.
In their recent Instagram stories, they uploaded a photo showing Vice wearing what is obviously an imitation of their creation, with the original statement replaced by “You don’t gain anything from hating us.” Prada quoted, “Like the sentiment, but what’s with the electrical tape execution?” They also sorted out what seems to be another imitation: The headdress by House of Malakai Beyoncé worn during her iconic 2017 Grammy Act.
https://twitter.com/jpaIferez/status/1099671360220073984
It is a common knowledge that designs have intellectual property rights and imitation is a serious offense in the fashion industry. Looks like Vice Ganda is in hot waters for the alleged accusation, but he hasn’t responded yet and we are looking forward to hear his side of the story.
But on a lighter note, I came across this article from Bustle where it educates its readers that fashion designs aren’t protected by Copyright law.
The Innovative Design Protection Act of 2012 was proposed by Sen. Chuck Schumer in September of 2012. This is a bill that strove to grant copyright protection to fashion designs, which are left unprotected and vulnerable for imitation by anyone who wishes to copy from the original.
Design are intellectual property rights. Vice's designer can be sued for this
— K (@kaaarlosss) February 25, 2019
Under this bill, designs would receive copyright protection for three years if they “(i) are the result of a designer’s own creative endeavor; and (ii) provide a unique, distinguishable, non-trivial, and non-utilitarian variation over prior designs for similar types of articles.”
Wrong https://t.co/xHAwkG5wHc
— Lucasito (@bashgita) February 25, 2019
Apparently, this IDPA bill did not persist the transition between the 112th and 113th Congress at the beginning of 2013, and fashion designers were once again left without much strong legal protection when it came to their original creative designs.
So why isn’t fashion protected by copyright law already, unlike its artistic siblings such as sculpture and poetry? Because fashion is considered utilitarian. Society may react to fashion as though it’s an art, but Congress still doesn’t see it that way. The competition does give Congress the right to stop copying, but only to promote the progress of creative industries.
In fashion, it is the ability to copy that sparks innovation and promotes progress.
Fashion designers and enthusiasts like Vice Ganda take inspirations as they put it, in existing designs and this creates trends and trends sell fashion like hotcakes. I see no issue here but in a showbiz industry where a multi-talented actress like Vice resides, this can create a buzz that people will talk about.
