Design Thought Piece of the Week

As some of you know, I’ve been considering the possibility of starting a blog about US-made fashion in efforts to protest the abundance of cheaply, poorly, at times dangerously made Chinese fashion products while highlighting some of the amazing, quality brands that are making their clothes right here in the US. This week, I’ve run across an interesting conversation that parallels the one of my original interest: it’s about the challenges posed by Chinese-made knockoffs. Linked above in a special production from Dezeen, world-renowned designers discuss the problem that Chinese copycats have posed for their work. Says Gregg Buchbinder of Emeco:

We had a call one time from the general manager of the Peninsula Hotel in Hong Kong who was complaining that our new chairs were falling apart where our old ones that had been there for 15 years in the Felix Bar were perfect. Well, it turned out he had bought knock-off chairs but thought they were Emeco.

As more and more products go online and mobile camera technology and global air travel continue to advance and diffuse, the Chinese copycat movement has spiked to an all-time high. Yet, we as consumers aren’t setting the standard by demanding better products or supporting artisanal vendors. Like the Peninsula Hotel, we order the knockoffs and expect that they should work just like the originals, or even confuse them with the originals because we haven’t put enough thought into our purchasing decisions. This isn’t a sob story, it’s a call for more consumer awareness and an appeal to customers to take a stand for quality, craftsmanship, and fair labor in the ways and places they choose to shop. Follow the discussion at Dezeen and together let’s start taking a stand for good design, not only in what we make but also in what we buy and sell. To be continued…