COPY THAT: An Open Letter To The Fashion Industry

As we celebrate women around the world this Women’s History Month, I feel it is crucial to bring to light practices that take place in the fashion industry, which are not always honorable and has a significant impact on women, especially the world’s most vulnerable. For over 20 years, I have dedicated my life to the most disadvantaged through fashion. I am a black woman and I am the owner of a boutique manufacturing facility in Madagascar. Most of my employees have worked for me for more than 10 years and some for 20 years. Additionally, during the pandemic I did not lay off a single employee.

While the practice runs rampant within the fashion industry, it’s important that the world understands that design copying hurts small designers and small manufacturers. Most recently, in 2019 a “Client,” whom I met with while in New York, provided a few style specs which I constructed and I also presented additional styles which I had personally created. The “Client” loved my designs and added them to their collection. My models were a quick success, and one dress, in particular, generated considerable success for the “Client” garnering exceptional sales via their catalog. I produced several thousand pieces for them from 2019 – 2020, well into the pandemic which helped hundreds of families, including the many women I employ, their families, and the many children I support thru various organizations.

However, in 2021, the “Client” started having my designs made elsewhere, possibly in China, without my knowledge or consent. The first time I approached the “Client” about this, they gave me small productions, and now they no longer produce with my manufacturing facility at all, yet they are still selling my designs.

I had consistently tried to nurture the business relationship to no avail. Then in 2022 the “Client” advised that they would need to have an audit done of my manufacturing facility, which I welcomed. In the third quarter of 2022, the “Client” had a company conduct what I consider a bogus audit, discrediting my facility and even falsely suggesting that my company might engage in child labor. I publicly contest every negative finding and have many certificates that prove otherwise, supporting the fact that all my employees are of legal working age, and that their work conditions are at or above the industry standard for Madagascar.

A recent glance at the “Client’s” website reveals a smocked skirt that I created for my children’s collection many years ago, and had introduced a woman’s version, as part of my fall 2022 collection, which the “Client” has now included in their 2023 spring-summer collection, again not being produced by my factory. This is unethical. Why should a manufacturing facility in another country benefit from my designs?

Why is it acceptable that my company which strives to help women and the most disadvantaged every day be hijacked for our designs? I understand that some may view having one’s designs copied as flattery, but the reality is that it hurts my employees, their families, and the many orphaned children I support.

As a business owner, I understand the desire for corporate profits, but should ethics never be taken into consideration before profit? I have ethics, without which, I would not have lasted 20 years in this profession. I am here to shed light on this situation, a situation which has been ongoing in the fashion industry for far too long.

On my website, I have decided to include the reference dress which took the fashion industry by storm. Please note that I will not sell this model via my site, this season. Rather, I aim to expose it as a showcase. I believe it is essential to take a stand against design theft, and this is my way of showing that sometimes certain actions cannot remain silent. For me, money cannot always be the ultimate goal. If people around the world, or just a few, know that their beloved dress was designed by me and produced in a little factory in Madagascar, this is good enough for me.

One day, a great lady told me that being copied is, “a chance and a great recognition.” When I shared this with my workers, they told me, “Great! But it does not pay for our children’s food or school fees; what we want is work to feed our children.”

As an industry, we must all do better.

Sincerely,
Angele Homawoo