The Small Business and its Unexpected Impact in the Fashion World

 

As the reality of the conditions of Covid began to settle in, creatives across the world were finally given access to the time they needed to start a small business. While long hours inside meant binge-watching Netflix series, baking bread, and making dalgona (whipped) coffee for some, for others it meant sketching designs, creating a brand name, and coming up with a business plan. While it's impossible to ignore the effects of the pandemic, lockdown gave many people the time to pursue their passions in a way that wasn’t entirely possible before. As for the brands that already existed, this time allowed them to establish their image and work on expansion. However, along with the rise in small fashion businesses and independent designers came shameless fast-fashion brands stealing their designs for mass production. 

This past August, the namesake owner of Bailey Prado, a made-to-order crochet garment brand, came to Instagram to report the discovery that 45 of her pieces had been copied by Shein. Within the same month, Zara uploaded a knockoff of the Nensi Dojaka ‘Black Fitted Bra Dress’ onto their website and have continued to come out with clothing reminiscent of their designs. The most recent knock-off on the market is the ‘Kii Spike Top’ included in the Jaded London x Sydney Carlson collaboration which appears to have taken direct inspiration from Chet Lo’s ‘Starshine’ set. While some people dismiss the action of copy-cat designs being mass-produced as a means of “accessibility,” they are disregarding the immense effort and time that goes into creating clothing and accessories. The problem with retailers stealing designs from smaller brands isn’t that they make clothing more accessible; the problem is that when they market a stolen design as the next “it” item, we go through yet another micro-trend cycle.

While some people may think that a brand spearheading a shift in the trend cycle is a form of flattery, a small business having an item that establishes them to variations of that item on every online boutique and mall retailer negatively impacts the brand and environment. And with all this discourse on social media about “micro-trends,” you may be wondering “what the fuck is a micro-trend?” Well, coming from someone who also had this question, think about the House of Sunny “Hockney Dress” that was trendy for literally 3 seconds. The dilution of the new “it” item doesn’t just start and end with the mass production of a single design; when corporate retailers see an opportunity to collect profit, they create multiple variations of an item to push a trend cycle even further, and since they are offering an alternative to an expensive item, independent designers begin to face widespread criticism for making “inaccessible clothing.” 

And now it’s time for some shameless promo! Check out (and obviously follow) @WondergirlUSA on Instagram and Tiktok to be the first to see announcements for my new handbags and hats! But, anyway, when I posted a promotion video on Tiktok for my ‘Cinnamon Girls’ collection, I was asked the price of my bucket hats, which take six hours of handiwork and the most god-awful back pain to make, and someone commented “That’s too much, I could find it somewhere else for cheaper.” After seeing this I felt like I had to question my 40 dollar price tag, and then realized I was honestly being graceful with my price because I needed to be charging more. Small business owners are constantly faced with comments on social media regarding their pricing by people who don’t take the time to understand that:

  1. The people behind these brands aren’t major corporations

  2. They are most likely the only people on their team, and 

  3. Most of the time they are underpricing their items to succeed in a competitive market. 

At large, these critiques fall right within the capitalist framework of “let’s blame the individual who’s trying to make a living for what the big guy has made a problem.” While the argument of clothing being more accessible is one I agree with, I as a small business owner also understand that the price of handmade clothing needs to reflect the hours of manual labor, cover the cost of material, and provide profit for personal and brand use. 

Blaming someone, especially a minority designer, who has started a business to share their passion and make a name for themselves to support the “no ethical consumption under capitalism” argument is tired and honestly not fooling anyone. I know that most clothing in our current market is inaccessible and don’t want my argument to come off as though I could regularly drop $450 on a t-shirt and am targeting all people who shop affordable, fast-fashion. But, the small group of people and influencers who drop 300 dollars on Shein, knowing that half the items are shortly going to end up in a landfill, just to stay on-trend need to be called out and have their base “arguments” shut down. 

And while gatekeeping is something I practice to fuel my individuality and superiority complex, sharing a couple of small businesses and independent designers before they become really popular would definitely be more satisfying: 

Words by Dalida Mosesi

Designs by Iselle Kim

 
Dalida MosesiGarb BerkeleyComment