The rise in bootlegger design and how it works

While new designers flout copyrighted logos, high fashion houses like Balenciaga dabble with low-brow existing brand logos on their products. Why?

When buzzy catwalk brand Balenciaga released its spring/summer advertising campaign earlier last month, it developed a humble carrier bag for German supermarket chain Edeka. The yellow and blue colours of the store’s branding was reworked with the phrase “The Power of Dreams” and a Balenciaga logo.

Balenciaga designer Demna Gvasalia advocated this idea when he started off with own brand Vetements. The label produced a T-shirt in 2016 with the DHL logo on it which sold for $250. Gvasalia followed it up this year with a $2,150 bag for Balenciaga that looked remarkably like Ikea’s 50p Frakta bag.

Others too are playing with this idea. Menswear designer Christopher Shannon produced a collection for autumn/winter using well-known sports brands. The Timberland logo, for instance, was reworked to say “Tumbleweed”

Is this bootlegging? Or do the existing brands being used know about it?

Source : https://www.theguardian..com/fashion/2017/dec/30/bootleg-logos-designers-copyright-fashion