Is the Grecian Dress The Uniform of the Recessionista?

Leighton Meester in a goddess gown by Bottega Veneta.


It has been a slow week for fashion piracy, but I came across an interesting article in the Wall Street Journal that chronicles the rise and fall of the Grecian dress.

For example, check out Ms. Blake Lively from Gossip Girl in this Oscar de la Renta dress:



Basically the article details how during a a recession, there is a shift in clothing from the ostentatiously ornate construction of dresses to a looser more free flowing look in clothes. This shift signals the rise of the Grecian dress which is typically either one shoulder or strapless. The dress involves pleating and folds which are generally more forgiving to the body. As a result, more women can wear this type of gown:

"Designers say the economic downturn and resulting implosion of the luxury market has resurrected the Grecian dress, which in the last few decades has emerged as the go-to look at times of financial or social turmoil. Valerie Steele, director of the museum at the Fashion Institute of Technology, notes that Grecian dresses were big in the 1970s, after the social revolution of the 1960s, as well as in the 1990s, after the excesses of the 1980s. 'We've been in this time of excess and we're in a clean moment now,' says Zac Posen, who showed Grecian-style dresses in his fall 2009 runway show. 'The Grecian dress is part of that clean moment.'"

One of the things that struck me was the near impossibility of actually being able to claim an IP claim on such a perennial design. When we look at actual silhouettes such as the Grecian dress, strapless dresses, column dresses, and wrap dresses it becomes clear why legislators are loathe to pass a bill that would protect fashion designers.

It is hard to decipher what is piracy and what is a normal fashion fad that is open to all designers and retailers. It will be interesting to notice how many designers will incorporate this trend into their own lines.

The Tide is Turning in China

After much outcry over the knockoffs being produced from China, Mr. Wang Qishan (the Vice Premier of the State Council of the People's Republic of China) has written an article about the moves that China is trying to make in order to address international concerns of intellectual property rights and knockoffs.

You can access the article here:

http://online.wsj.com/article/SB121365431013978945.html

Here are some excerpts:

"In recent years, in order to stimulate enthusiasm for invention and innovation and to promote economic development and social progress, China has intensified IPR protection. Since 2004, a nationwide campaign for IPR protection has been carried out each year to end trademark, patent and copyright infringements -- particularly in import and export, wholesale markets, trade fairs, original-equipment manufacturer, printing and reproduction.

The ongoing 2008 IPR protection campaign includes 280 measures in 10 areas. In April alone, more than 810 events under the framework of "IPR Protection Publicity Week" were staged by competent authorities in different localities to enhance public awareness. More than 1.3 million people were directly involved in these activities.

IPR protection in China has paid off. Thanks to intensified efforts to raise public awareness of IPR protection and severe penalties for IPR violations, more and more people have begun to say no to counterfeit products and pirated software; applications for trademarks and patents have multiplied; and enterprises are more aware of the importance of branding, resulting in more branded products and fewer counterfeits in the market."

While it seems that China is trying to make a good faith effort to combat intellectual property violations, only time will tell how China can resolve the piracy issues that it is now facing. It is also facing pressures from the United States who maintains a large source of revenue from IP protection.

Post World War II, intellectual property has been an important source of revenue for the United States. “To protect its economic interests, the United States has been very aggressive in pushing for a universal intellectual property regime, which offers information and high-technology goods uniform protection throughout the world” Peter K. Yu, From Pirates To Partners: Protecting Intellectual Property In China In the Twenty-First Century, 50 Am. U.L. Rev. 131, 132 (2000). The United States’ aggressive stance towards intellectual property rights has been focused particularly on one of its largest delinquents: China.

The article in the Wall Street Journal seems to paint a picture that suggests that China understands the importance of IP protection. Mr. Wang writes of how it is not as advanced as the United States in terms of IP protection because of its status as a rapidly developing country:

"As a developing country in the process of accelerating industrialization and urbanization, China still has a long way to go before it can catch up with the U.S. in IPR generation, usage, protection and management. We hope that China and the U.S. can work more closely on intellectual property rights, duly recognize their disparities in capabilities and standards of IPR protection, and properly handle their differences and disputes.

Our two countries need to work together to overcome difficulties and challenges and encourage our business sectors and the general public to create more intellectual property rights for the benefit of our two peoples and humanity as a whole."

While I agree that it is beneficial for the U.S. and China to work together on IP protection, I also think it is important for the U.S. and China to also include other sovereign states and entities. It would be helpful for sovereign states to adopt a uniform piece of legislation (sort of like TRIPS but with more teeth) that would have enforceability. I guess we will have to see what China can do at the moment about piracy and IP rights in the next few weeks.