Would More Regulation Really Benefit the Fashion Industry?

In his post "Some Competing Economics of Copyright and Fashion,"  Josh Wright points out that new legislation for copyrighting fashion designs seeks to protect designers against identical knock-offs. One of the main supporters of the new bill has been Diane Von Furstenberg, but in the post "Copycats: A Tale of Two Jackets," the case is made that her design team also relies on inspiration from other brands, and that it's not just Forever 21 and H & M that could find themselves in court as a result of these new rules.

In this video from TED.com, Johanna Blakely makes a very good case for why more regulation would lead to less creativity and innovation within the fashion industry:

Technology Will Save Us All

"We will all need to overcome our prejudice that natural made fibers are more eco-friendly. Producing organic cotton takes an incredible amount of water to produce, which we now know is not as sustainable as we once thought it was. I believe that man-made fibers are truly the next hot trend in sustainable fashion."

Peter Ingwersen

founder of Noir, eco-luxury clothing

A Shoe Lover's Dream

Customization has become the norm for everything from laptops and cellphones to bespoke clothing, to the point which all of these services are readily available online, but there is one area which so far has remained untouched: the made-to-order shoe. Even though the cult of the "it bag" has given way to the "it shoe", somehow neither Manolo or Christian have taken custom shoes to the next level by offering an online custom shoe service. After all, custom suits can be ordered online from Hong Kong, so why not a pair of fashionable heels? Now the website Shoes of Prey has made this quick and easy, offering a service that allows you to design your own pair of custom shoes and have them shipped to your door.

The interface for building your shoe is easy to use and fun. You can select the style of shoe first, such as ballet flat, bootie, gladiator or peeptoe pump then select materials and colors. As you go through the process, you can choose from approximately 75 different kinds of leather ranging from snakeskin to patent leather, in a variety of different colors. In fact, there are so many choices, it's difficult to decide on just one style or color.

A finished pair of customized shoes

  If you're curious as to how close the actual shoe will look to your design and more information on how the design process works, check out this first-hand account from Beverly.