Celebrating British design at its best

Fashionista could not let that wedding pass without mention – her main interest in the event was, of course, the fashion. Like so may of you, this time last week, Fashionista spent an enjoyable day glued to the television waiting to catch the first glimpse of The Dress, which has attracted almost universal praise amongst sartorial commentators and the general public alike.

Although designer Sarah Burton of Alexander McQueen is reported as saying in yesterday’s Daily Telegraph that the Duchess took an active role in the creating the design and should share in any praise, Ms Burton has quite rightly been the focus of attention among the fashion world and is likely to be hot property for some time to come.

Keen to capitalise on the popularity of the design, enterprising high street stores and dress makers around the world are already putting copycat dresses into production, as reported in Drapers online. While imitation might be the sincerest form of flattery, this is little comfort to retailers and designers who create and invest in original designs. Fashion designs are perceived as difficult to protect because fashion, by its nature, is trend-driven and to an extent, derivative.

In recent years, fashion brands have, at least in Europe, been able to rely on the Community Design Right (“CDR”) to take action against those who copy provided that the designs are themselves ”new” and have “individual character”. Only designs that create a different overall impression to existing designs are protected. Further, under the CDR, there is no requirement to register the design and the Europe-wide protection lasts for three years, which is ample time in the fickle world of fashion!