Tal Maslavi, a young Israeli fashion designer, was one of tens of thousands of spectators waiting to watch the show debuting the Fall/Winter 2023 collection from designer brand Loewe on Thursday during Paris Fashion Week 2023.
Unfortunately, Maslavi came away outraged when he noticed that several of the runway models were flaunting pieces that bore a striking similarity to his own designs from his October 2022 collection made for his final project upon graduating from Shenkar College of Engineering, Design and Art in Ramat Gan.
Copying designs and ideas from other designers is an old tradition in the clothing industry. Mostly, it is fast fashion brands that copy the designs of high fashion designers or small designers with unique designs. Still, it was a shock for Maslavi to see the Loewe models wearing stickers, an idea he came up with for his own collection.
The designer takes to social media
Following his discovery, Maslavi posted on Instagram calling for his followers to bring the issue to the brand's attention. "Stop copying from young designers," he wrote in a post showing a series of photos from his October graduate exhibition and comparing them with the Loewe designs.
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Maslavi is best known for being the Israeli designer behind edible cake shoes or edible clothing, but his collection also contained some non-edible pieces: wearable stickers. His project focused on the human need for "touch, interaction and perhaps even a grasp of reality."
"The visual language of the collection is inspired by the visuals of online content creators of "satisfying videos" that flooded the social networks and offer the viewer a synthetic ASMR experience," said Maslavi of his own collection.
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"Familiar clothing details were transferred to a speculative realm where their materiality, color story and purpose was re-examined," he continued. "The result is an avant-garde men's collection with a humorous and critical look that asks the wearer to feel once more."
The designer used traditional materials, such as denim and leather, alongside silicone, chocolate and artificial acrylic nails. He created wearable stickers which, somehow, eventually made their way to the runway in Paris.
Many supported the young designer and decried the copying of his designs. Others argued that Loewe was simply "taking inspiration" from Maslavi or simply concluded that this is the reality of the fashion world.