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Awareness 2 53
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Designer Isabel Toledo
Photograph by Andrew H. Walker/Getty Images for IMG.
Designer Tracy Reese
Photograph by Jeffrey Ufberg/WireImage.
Designer Doo.Ri
Photograph by Rob Loud/Getty Images for IMG.
A SAMPLING OF DESIGNER ETHNICITIES
Designers of
Hispanic Descent
Designers of
African Descent
Designers of
Asian Descent
Cristóbal Balenciaga Xuly Bet Michiko Koshino
Mariano Fortuny Ozwald Boateng Derek Lam
Carolina Herrera Sean Combs Hanae Mori
Paco Rabanne Duro Olowu Doo.Ri
Oscar de la Renta Maurice Malone Anna Sui
Narciso Rodriguez Patrick Robinson Kenzo Takada
Adolfo Sardiña Tracy Reese Vivienne Tam
Isabel Toledo Willi Smith Vera Wang
Lazaro Hernandez Byron Lars Issey Miyake
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Job:02-30034 Title:RP-Fashion Design Ref and Spec Book
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2 5 4 THE FASHION DESIGN REFERENCE + SPECIFICATION BOOK
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INDUSTRY VALUES
Leadership and Legacy
Designers who lead by example make choices that reflect their personal values and those of
the brand they’ve built. Do they run their business with charm, muscle, or a combination of
both? How open are they to the experiences and contributions of their team members? What
structures have they put in place to interface with the press and the public? There are many
strategies for achieving superior results. Integrity of design, authentic relationships, motiva-
tion through positive reinforcement, the perception of risk-taking as an investment, the flex-
ibility to easily adapt to change and encourage continued growth, all set an organization apart
from the rest. Designers at the helm of healthy, balanced companies never become hostages
of fashion. By creating a culture of honor, idealism, and respect they become industry leaders.
Successful designers are also charged with preserving the craft and the history of fashion
through instruction and mentorship. Preparing the next generation of fashion leaders is a
rewarding personal experience and an important part of building a legacy.
A crocheting circle at Eileen Fisher, Inc.
Photograph courtesy of Eileen Fisher, Inc.
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Awareness 2 55
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t
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Photograph courtesy of Eileen Fisher, Inc.
Wellness
Designers will define success by what they consider a good quality of life. Fame and money
may be two obvious benchmarks, yet some designers reach farther. The “Wholeness Philoso-
phy” at the Eileen Fisher company captures the desire of employees to be whole individuals.
Overtime is discouraged in order to prioritize personal and professional time. Company bene-
fits include wellness and education allowances, supporting healthy activities and the develop-
ment of new skills. Career paths are flexible, allowing any employee to shift gears based on a
passion or interest. Ultimately, employers like Eileen Fisher, who support a balanced lifestyle
for their employees, can expect to have a loyal and dedicated workforce that brings diversity,
enthusiasm, and creativity to their company.
Intellectual Property
Europe, India, and Japan all protect fashion as an intellectual property. Although music, film,
and writing are protected in the United States, the merits of the Design Piracy Prohibition Act
is still being debated. Introduced in 2006, this legislation is meant to target design piracy, a
very important problem facing fashion designers. The bill would go a long way toward balanc-
ing the scales for smaller design houses that compete with companies that can knock off
designs the moment they are shown on the runway and produce low-cost, low-quality copies
before the original designs reach the retail store.
One of the United Nation’s specialized agencies, the World Intellectual Property Organization,
has called for stricter enforcement of intellectual property safeguards, in the belief that it will
encourage healthy competition. Although this legislation would target piracy and is designed
to protect designers, some believe that it could undermine an industry that, by its very nature,
builds a demand by leveraging trends adopted and interpreted by many designers.
The alternative to copyright legislation does not have to be a matter of anything goes. The non-
profit organization Creative Commons encourages the legal sharing of creative works for the
purposes of developing new works. It has released Creative Commons licenses that allow the
author of a creative work to identify those rights that they reserve and those that they waive.
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