We mentioned in a previous post that, in some cases in design disciplines, imitation may spawn innovation. This can be a controversial point and, when lecturing, I'm often asked by young students to make examples about the differences between plagiarising, borrowing, reinventing and avoiding copyright infringements.
There are some Gucci designs out there at the moment that perfectly show how imitation may spawn innovation, a technique Alessandro Michele has been using quite often in his collections.
Gucci's A/W 2016-17 collection features for example different pairs of what may be described as Op Art zebra striped platform shoes (with or without tail…) and a few pumps in white, gold and cream characterised by a vintage silhouette.
The zebra pumps sent fashionistas screaming with desire, but in a way they are nothing new. The starting point for these shoes could be identified indeed with the shoes by Th. J. de Bont Dutch (1922-1925) characterised by a starburst motif in black and gold (featured in a recent exhibition about the '20s at the Toronto-based Bata Shoe Museum).
Part of this motif was entirely lifted, another was changed and altered, plus there were some additions made so that the original model was more or less forgotten. Borrowing from a shoe that was made decades ago by a company no longer in existence helps making sure nobody can accuse the house designer of copyright infringement, but what looks like extravagantly modern is actually the past made new. Ah, if we only had a time machine we could even go back in time and be able to discover what will be on the runways next year…
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