My Personal Ethics for Designer DIY Inspiration
It’s fashion week, and we all know I love to pull DIY inspiration from the runways. I’m also the type of person who hates knockoffs. I try to keep what I do as moral as I can while keeping in mind that there are no new things, only old things in new ways.
I never copy a logo
I would love to say this is all about the sanctity of the brand and respecting copyright. Don’t get me wrong, I do think that a brand’s logo is representative of tradition and quality. I also think that 99% of the time efforts to copy logos just look like crap. Using modelling clay to get two interlocking C’s on your belt never turns out as nice as just taking two metal rings and gluing them together. And hey, we can all see the bits where your transparent transfer paper has changed the texture of negative space in a logo. It’s just not cute.
Credit where credit is due
It’s always good to show source inspiration. Someone put a lot of time, effort, and skill into making whatever is inspiring you. Even if all they did was sew trim in a spot and you could totally have thought of that, the fact is you didn’t.
Don’t think you’re better than designers
We all remember that glorious scene in The Devil Wears Prada where Meryl Streep fabulously explains how fashion trickles down. Like it or not, we all participate in the industry. There are things I really don’t like- I’m tall and on the cusp of plus sized. Finding clothes is a nightmare, so I chose to flourish my DIY skills. Does that remove me from the fashion industry? Hardly. Even if I never looked at a runway or a shop I would still be influenced by the street style I see around me. No one lives in a vacuum.
So, is my runway DIY ethical? I think so. Aside from the environmental aspect of keeping clothes out of landfills, I think that taking inspiration from designers has happened forever. Also, the vast majority of my DIY’s end up looking quite a bit different- whether it’s from being pared down to a more wearable silhouette or from having a fabric or trim I like a bit more.
Like I said, this is just my little code of ethics. It’s always growing and evolving. What are your thoughts on being inspired by the runways?
