Knock Yourself Off Instead of Out

The left is a bag from Joy Gryson's original line of bags and the bags on the right are her bags from a line she has developed for Target.

Since there are so many ways that designers get their designs knocked off, what is a designer supposed to do? I personally am a little hesitant about the Design Piracy Prohibition Act. There is a question of enforceability: What is protected and what is public domain? How long should a design be protected? I agree that designers should be able to protect their creative work, but should this be at the detriment of the budget conscious consumer? I actually have a proposal for designers in order to decrease the demand for counterfeit goods. Once the demand for these goods decreases, the less likely there will be a chance for knockoffs to be present in the market. Why would consumers buy knockoffs if they have better alternatives?

I recommend a simple business model of versioning. Versioning is when you decide to price something based on value versus cost. Since different consumers are willing to pay different price points for the same product (i.e. a pair of pants), versioning allows designers to offer the same type of product at different price points in order to attract more consumers. Versioning serves as a way for designers to figure out the different consumer groups based on their willingness to pay for a product. Consumers with a high willingness to pay for designer goods will be at the luxury end while consumers with a lower willingness will be at the cost conscious end. This leads to a business pricing differential. How can a designer use this model?

Designers can make different lines at different price points. Some designers have already done this. For example, Donna Karan makes a less expensive DKNY line. Other designers have taken knocking off their own designs to another level. Collaborations with large chain stores also prevents knockoffs. For example, the collaboration of Karl Lagerfield with H&M, Viktor & Rolf for H&M, Vera Wang's Simply Vera line in Kohl's, Isaac Mizrahi for Target, Proenza Schouler for Target, etc.

Here are some examples of designer versioning:

The versions on the left are for budget chains and the versions on the right are the original design collection. Here are pictures of Proenza Schouler's lines and Vera Wang's lines.