I'm usually not one to get into online protests, but this is one that has recently sparked a flame deep in my positive, passionate heart.
I'm rolling up my sleeves to let my words do gentle blows against Zara. *Disclaimer: I do not condone violence*
For every artist in this world, new and old, alive and deceased, the work they create is something important to them. They are creative muses. They do not want to see their art made by someone else and get the money and attention for it. They put so much effort into thinking of the ideas to create something new for their fans and followers, only to have a bigger, famous, corporate giant rip them off and gain the recognition, when all they did was plagiarize someone else's work. It sucks.
It's happened to my best friend, who is a talented artist who works on her own in Alaska, and I'm sure it has happened to many other indie artists. And recently, Tuesday Bassen, one of my favorite artists, came out and told the world that Zara has been ripping her off for the past year.
I like Zara; their clothes are comfortable and stylish at an affordable price (I haven't shopped there in a while since I found out about their sweat shops in Asia, but that's another story for another day). They have opened up more than 2100 worldwide stores, and by now, everyone has heard of them. With over 12 million followers on Instagram, they have showed the world new clothes that will soon hit store racks, including their copies of Tuesday Bassen's work.
Tuesday Bassen, based in LA and who is known for her edgy, somewhat feminist, honest artwork, has 106,000 followers on Instagram. She is busy managing her online shop, she has done collaborations with clothing companies (check out her most recent one with Mowgli Surf), and is in the works of opening an actual storefront, Friend Mart. She works hard to make things happen.
With anyone who gives their time and devotion to creating things, they can relate to the frustration Bassen feels right now. Bassen has lawyered up and according to her Instagram post, has spent $2000 on just getting a response from Zara's lawyers. She is spending a lot of the money she earns from her work, just to get gipped by a company that has millions and billions of dollars and who can afford any lawyer they want.
However, Zara does not seem to care with the plights of Bassen, and has shut her down in a letter sent back to her, saying that her argument is invalid because she is not well-known. Since Zara is, they are fine with blatantly copying Bassen's work because they receive millions of page views (98 mil to be exact) and this is not a significant issue because no one will ever associate those designs to a little, indie artist based in LA that no one has supposedly heard of.
Well, in my opinion, Bassen is very well known with her 106k and counting followers who are supporting her in this terrible debacle. For an artist to get noticed and have many followers over social media is a hard thing to do, and she is quite successful. In one of her recent tweets, Bassen says Zara told her that her designs are "too simple" and are "common design(s)." Basically, Zara thinks anyone could have done the same exact thing Bassen did because she's too generic.
That's a pretty low blow, Zara.
It's not even the first time that Zara has been stealing other's art. A couple of months ago, they copied Kanye West's line from YEEZY Season 2 and named it the "Streetwise Collection" for men. Yeah, um, no. Is their design team that lazy and uncreative?
Maybe someone in the design team is just a major fan of Bassen's and they're so obsessive that they want to replicate her work the closest they could? Nah, doubt it.
Yes I'm trying to see the positives in this, but really, the most positivity we can have is the support we give to Bassen. She needs it. Zara is being the bad guy here. There's nothing cool or happy about this other than recognition for Bassen (which is going to be great for her in the long run!).
With this happening to Bassen after the Friend Mart launch party for her Mowgli Surf collab, I can't imagine what's going through her head. I just hope her new store brings her happiness and relief to the legal costs when the shop officially opens in August.
Tomorrow is the first day of San Diego Comic Con and she'll be at her own booth shared with Gemma Correll, another amazing artist. I am going to be there, and I will definitely support her in every way I can, by buying her products...and telling her that if David can beat Goliath, so can she.
