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Of Straps and Knock-Offs
Tuesday December 14th, 2010
The fashion world was in an uproar recently over the wardrobe choices of Willow Smith—a mighty big scandal for such a small girl. Willow showed up at the American Music Awards wearing an unusual arm sheath with buckled straps. The trouble was that Willow’s outfit was a knock-off—an uncredited imitation of a design by Mildred von Hildegard, also known as designer Mother of London.
The twist is that this scandal introduced itself to the world by virtue of the photography of our very own Zhang Jingna. I asked Jingna to tell me how she heard about the knock-off. “Well,” she explained, “I got up one morning and saw Mildred updating the Mother of London facebook account, saying she got a lot of texts and emails congratulating her on the Willow Smith gig, but she did not make the outfit.”
In order to try and figure out what happened, Jingna dug up some old photos. “I took Willow’s photo and put a comparison photo next to hers,” Jingna said. She uploaded this comparison to her own Facebook page, in hopes that her followers would pick up on it. Eventually the news reached Fashionista and Haute Macabre; both dug into the matter a little futher, recalling Jingna’s striking and memorable series Before the Tide, which showcased Mother of London’s design.
In the end, it wasn’t all a catastrophe. “Things did turn out well for Mildred,” Jingna told me. “The Smiths reached out to her and she got new clients.” She was only left wondering “how artists can possibly protect their creations.” We’re glad that at least we can take a look at Jingna’s creations.
-Asad
