SFGallery143.com

So many fashion events in the city. Why do people attend such events? Apparently some people use it to gain inspiration from other’s ideas.

The de Young Museum has done an event called Discarded to Divine in early April that turns in donated clothing that is stained or torn from St. Vincent de Paul Society and has professional clothing designers turn them into something fantastic. Their donations doubled in 2007 when they first did the event.

From this exposure a friend Miranda Caroligne was emailed from Anthropologie. The woman stated that she loved her clothing and wanted to schedule an ”inspirational meeting” with her creative team.  Someone starting out might find this flattering, but it is also insulting. Think about what she is offering. A free meeting to get ideas from a local artist to use for their mass productions. I can see how this would be flattering to a student just graduating and trying to make it in the retail/design world but, there is no offer that their work would be recognized.

The woman did not offer to pay her for the ideas, or offer Miranda a job. Nor, did she schedule an inspirational meeting with their team that discusses what makes each one of them inspired vs. finding it from a local designer. I understand it can be difficult to find inspiration within themselves but I do not believe it is okay to have a meeting with their creative team to “borrow” ideas from a local designer without giving her any credit.

This isn’t the first time I have heard of Anthropologie trying to copy other smaller designers’ work. So here is a cheers to Miranda for having such awesome ideas and refusing politely. 

To see work by Miranda click link. It is on page 15 on the flickr photos.

http://www.flickr.com/photos/discardedtodivine/page15