Fashion Show’s influence on the “Everywoman”

Twice a year the world seems to stop and turn towards Fashion Week, which features designer’s collection for the upcoming season. Regardless of the fact that most consumers cannot afford the styles coming down the catwalk, they as well as other companies find inspiration from the collections as well as the celebrities there to show their support, and to gain their own perspective of the upcoming styles. Companies such as fashion industry intelligence operation World Global Style Network send out photographers to take detailed pictures of everything shown throughout the week. They then send the photos off to clients such as Target, H and M, and Zara who look at these photos to try and identify, and then recreate the trends. Since consumers do not want to be spending 4000 dollars on a dress they go for knock-off’s to fulfill their fashion needs. This has become an ongoing problem for companies such as Forever 21, Target, and H and M. The company that continues to pop up in the news is Forever 21, for allegedly copying ideas from Gwen Stefani, Diane von Furstenberg, Christian Louboutin, and Anna Sui. Furstenberg is now trying to push a bill before congress, which would strengthen copyright protection for fashion designers. Right now it seems that no one’s design is safe and consumer’s are begging to see the top trends at discount prices, but how can this be done ethically while making everyone happy? Though Forever 21 would not comment, H and M has been quoted saying, “Now more than ever, themes in fashion spread quickly around the world,” making the information assessable to anyone through magazines, television, runways, and the Internet. These styles are usually picked up by big cities first, and are then altered and tweaked by the common fashionista. Then big designers send out people to take pictures of these “new trends” to find inspiration for their next line. And so it seems, the circle completes itself. So if new trends are determined by the common consumer who cannot afford designer trends and settle for cheaper knockoffs- how can a common ground be found between designers and smaller lower-priced companies?