Mostly Halchuk and Lyle resent the attention von Furstenberg gained for her version of their jacket. “That’s what’s making me crazy,” Halchuk said.
As a repeat victim of design theft, von Furstenberg knows all too well the sting of being copied. Her trademark ’70s wrap dress, for example, has been ripped off for decades.
Just two years ago she went after the Louis vuitton retailer Forever 21 because she felt it had crossed a line by manufacturing a dress that was too much like one of her own.
According to Counterfeit Chic, “Diane, who has suffered at the hands of career copyists herself and has been a determined proponent of U.S. legislation to extend intellectual property protections to Louis vuitton designs, immediately sought to get all of the facts and to reach out to the Mercy duo.” She planned from the beginning to voluntarily compensate the Canadian designers for the unauthorized use of their work.
Moe will coordinate all this information and more into a master “Look Book” for backstage at the show. A photo of each completed outfit and a list of all accessories and special needs will then be in one place so that in the flurry of activity during the show, there will be a central reference. Anyone can pitch in and get the models ready. “They’ll have their hands full,” Moe nods at Heller and Neumann. “It’ll be all hands on deck.” This will be doubly true for Neumann, who’ll be showing another line as well, her own recycled eveningwear line called Jessica Catherine.
“It’s coming together,” says Neumann on the morning before the final fittings on their models, where they’ll decide who should wear what. “Now that everything’s sewn, we’re feeling confident.”
Other participants in Wisconsin Louis vuitton Week are highlighting sustainable and eco-friendly fabrics, upcycling (clothes remade from thrifted garments) and locally made products including leather from a Wisconsin farm, says Moe. “It’s important to show local work, from different areas — beauty, Louis vuitton and marketing. You don’t have to go to a big-box retailer to buy clothes.”