
How a Zara Coat Went from Design to Fifth Avenue in 25 Days - clorenzo
http://www.wsj.com/articles/fast-fashion-how-a-zara-coat-went-from-design-to-fifth-avenue-in-25-days-1481020203
======
mmosta
One way they turn designs around so fast is by stealing from indie artists
[0], [1].

[0] [http://shoparttheft.com/](http://shoparttheft.com/) [1]
[http://www.cbc.ca/news/trending/zara-stealing-
artist-1.36890...](http://www.cbc.ca/news/trending/zara-stealing-
artist-1.3689018)

~~~
Theodores
This is why clothing is branded. You can make a T shirt with 'Hello World' on
it and anyone can copy that, with a different font not even being necessary.
However, if you don't go for the 'Hello World' and have your brand name on the
T shirt then anyone copying it will have some lawyers to deal with
(potentially). Therefore the only things you can sell in fashion retail that
are not going to be blatantly ripped off are things with a brand name or logo.
Hence our tediously branded clothes.

There is the other matter of counterfeit goods, if you make a T shirt and put
three stripes on it and stitch 'Adidas' on there then that is a counterfeit.
In the examples above where Zara have stolen someone's hard work, this is
definitely copying, not counterfeiting.

So long as nobody is counterfeiting stuff then all is good. I also think a lot
of artists would be delighted if Zara stole their ideas, at least they get
some validation which is better than being ignored.

~~~
alphonsegaston
As an artist who is friends with people who've had their work ripped off by
companies like Zara, I can assure you that we would rather be ignored. I'm
sure out on the street, you'd rather be left alone than be mugged because you
have a nice looking watch.

~~~
mc32
From my perspective, knowing some photographers, it's more like a tension (and
of course there are exceptions) but a good portion want the attention and want
the benefits of it, but also dislike the darker parts that attention brings
--like copying and use without permission. But without the attention they are
not in demand.

Few do it for its own sake in anonymity (though there have been a few).

As an aside, there are many amateur photographers who don't care about the
money because for them it's a hobby and put stuff up as CC and some
professional photographers hate that because agencies will use a CC instead of
paying for a commissioned work (depending on use and license).

So, basically, it's akin to when you liked a music artist but didn't want them
to become famous so you could keep the artist to your cool circle of friends
but of course the artists wanted to become better known so they could actually
make some money to cover the bills and then you got to call them sell-out and
poseurs.

~~~
alphonsegaston
It's really not anything like either of those scenarios. Zara (and many
companies like them) like to rip off working artists because its essentially
already been market tested by the trend leaders from which they take their
cues.

There are degrees of success in any form of commercial art, and the people
companies like to rip off are not people pittering away in obscurity or
hobbyists. Instead, it's those that are appealing enough to get by and have an
audience, but with not enough resources to mount a significant legal defense
to their out-and-out thievery. If you look into the Zara case, these are the
exact circumstances of the illustrators from whom they're stealing work.

I understand that audience members have different kinds of social
relationships with works of art, but you should trust artists when we say we
don't want or need wealthy conglomerates stealing our work. In the age of the
internet, we have tools to get our work out there (thanks to those on this
site that work on building these tools). And if large companies want to find
and pay to work with us, well, that's even easier than ever too.

------
aikah
[http://archive.is/0IIJa](http://archive.is/0IIJa) for no paywall

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petra
There's also Lesara, a German startup, that sells online, and in 10 days from
seeing a fashion item, can manufacture it, in Asia, and have it availble on
it's online store(probably shipping by air from Asia). And they say it is
cheaper.

The only question: is the future of fashion retail online ?

Altough even if it's not, they can probably change the business model, and
sell to stores.

~~~
1812Overture
How the heck do people buy clothes online? Fit is incredibly important and
sizes are usually useless as they vary so much even within the same brand.
Even something like Indochino where they "custom tailor" it, the people I know
who've used it have had to send back the suits at least 3 times to get them
remade until they fit.

~~~
euyyn
A friend of mine told me: You like a dress? Buy three sizes, return the two
that didn't fit.

~~~
grzm
This is my SOP for shoes as well.

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cylinder
So any ideas of other product areas this approach can be applied to?

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mydpy
In before 'wah wah paywall'. Here's how you bypass it:

1\. Open a Google Chrome Incognito or Sarafi private browsing session

2\. Paste the URL

3\. #boom

~~~
alexdumitru
Easier workaround:

1\. Click web under the title on the HN page.

2\. Click the first Google result.

~~~
mydpy
I posted mine because this didn't work (the first link directed back to WSJ).
Also, your suggestion is missing the boom. That's no fun.

------
gue5t
Coats are somehow relevant to computing, but the political implications of
computing aren't?

What is this doing on Hacker News?

~~~
Voloskaya
HN isn't just about "computing". This article is a very good example of how
even big companies that are dealing with physical products can go from idea to
production in a small amount of time.

~~~
gue5t
Big companies are diametrically opposed to the practice of hacking. Hacking
consists of making computers and other more-or-less formal systems
(sometimes—as a joke or in security—ones which include the responses of human
operators) perform unexpected tricks. The status quo is _established_ by the
actions of large-scale corporate and political actors, among them the
computing industry.

It's important for hackers to be aware of the actions of corporations and
governments because they will have effects on us and we can exert some
influence on them in return, but I don't see how this logic applies here.

"[Going] from idea to production" is such a vague concept that I find it hard
to pick a sphere of human activity to which it can't be applied. It certainly
doesn't explain why this article is appropriate for discussion in a niche
which actively brands itself as catering to hackers.

~~~
ch4s3
Since it seem to bear repeating: "Hacker News Guidelines

What to Submit On-Topic: Anything that good hackers would find interesting.
That includes more than hacking and startups. If you had to reduce it to a
sentence, the answer might be: anything that gratifies one's intellectual
curiosity.

Off-Topic: Most stories about politics, or crime, or sports, unless they're
evidence of some interesting new phenomenon. Videos of pratfalls or disasters,
or cute animal pictures. If they'd cover it on TV news, it's probably off-
topic."

At least for me, logistics gratifies my intellectual curiosity.

