An interesting concept

If you haven't heard yet, fashion designers are lobbying Congress to make a law saying they can copyright their fashions--down to the cut of a bag or skirt, the very minute details.

They want to do this because the designers claim the people who make cheap knock-offs are raping the fashion industry of millions of dollars, though I find that hard to believe when you can make a purse and charge $1,198 for it (like the Coach purse below), and plenty of people will buy it.

I heard a story on NPR's Marketplace about this last night, and one interesting thing one of the sources said was that trends fuel the fashion industry, and knock-offs create trends. Therefore, allowing knock-offs to go on the market makes it easier for the big-time designers to be creative and come out with something ever newer and more fabulous.

This struck me as interesting, and it struck one of the industry's lawyers, Alain Coblence, as preposterous. He said "...it's like saying that robbery is a wonderful thing in the economy because by way of replacing the stolen goods, it encourages industrial production."

Personally, I think trends are stupid--or rather, people who try to be trendy are stupid. My philosophy is to buy basic pieces that aren't going out of style for a while, build a wardrobe with those things, and occasionally buy something that's "in" at the moment. But why would you want to spend tons of money on trendy things that will be "out" next month (in this case, just because it looks like a Louis Vuitton purse or Chanel sunglasses).

Such is the consumeristic money wasting that Americans adore engaging in, I guess.