Sunday, September 7, 2008

Imitation = Flattery?

Remember the story The Prince and The Pauper by Mark Twain. Well, here too you'd be hard pressed to tell which shoe has the refined pedigree here.

If you peek at the insoles, you'd be able to see that the bottom shoe has "the papers" but who is doing the imitating here?

The top pair are from Nine West and we saw these come out last winter.



But then today I was on the Barney's site and saw these new Louboutin Moustique sandals and was like "WTF! A reverse imitation?"

Both come in other color combinations, but the Louboutins are a good ten times more expensive.



After reading Deluxe, I question whether brands are working to maintain their luxury standing, especially when I see Nine West and Louboutin heels looking like twins.

UPDATE: I figured that Nine West was doing the copying here. And it has been confirmed (see comments). If you bought the Louboutins do you get as mad as I do when you see an extreme knock-off like this? Do you feel that Louboutin has enough production quality to justify the major price difference? If given the two shoes without labels do you think you could tell the difference?

I don't buy knock-offs and try to pass them off as another brand. I have, of course, bought shoes that I liked the style of and then later found out they were "inspired" by another brand. What are your thoughts on this on-going problem?

5 comments:

Anonymous said...

I think I've had the moustique for about a year now in purple and white. It is not a new style. Barneys has more trouble selling some styles, but they won't ship them out, so you cannot always trust what is on the barneys website. They have many old loves reappearing now and again.

camille0528 said...

I would not knowingly buy a knockoff and/or try to pass off as another brand. If you tried on both brands of this style, your feet would immediately appreciate the difference in the architecture of the Louboutin vs. Nine West. I would rather save up my money for the Louboutins.

Never Enough Shoes said...

I don't see the point in passing off one brand as another. But then I don't see the point in buying such carbon copies as these. If I'm buying cheaper then like you, I go for inspired by rather than clone of.

Unknown said...

I get upset by the copying, particularly when it's a shoe I already paid the designer price-tag for. for instance, ALDO did a knock-off of a tan platform peept-toe Louboutin did. i paid $900 for those shoes!! but when it comes down to it, I will never throw away my beautiful designer shoes. they are treasures. plus the knock-offs are never quite as comfortable or as stylish.

Anonymous said...

I wouldn't intentionally buy a knock off unless it was a good knock off and quite a bit less money. I think it's silly to expect some people to even consider buying shoes that cost more than a $100, so there is definitely a need and demand for such things (especially during a recession). It isn't anything new. Since there has been fashion there has been lesser expensive knock offs. If someone is seriously upset that lesser expensive brands recreate designer imitations then that person and their phony elitism needs a reality check.