| MESSAGE FROM THE FOUNDER | Recreations vs. Piracy |
|
|
Addressing the difference between the Couture Pattern Museum's recreations from licensed, authorized sewing patterns, vs. any act of illegal piracy |
|
|
Are recreating vintage dresses an illegal activity? We understand the brutal and unethical nature of the replica market, and we are intolerant of any illegal, pirated design activity. It is both legally and ethically unsound to steal the creative talent of any designer. To address one isolated example, in 1948, the New York dress manufacturer, Wolfson and Greenbaum, was eventually sued for manufacturing a million couture dresses with pirated designer labels. Today's vintage marketplace is littered with pirated, unauthorized dresses, such as these, with innocent buyers unaware of the history of questionable provenance. The Couture Pattern Museum exclusively works with authorized, legal, original sewing patterns that the design houses released to be recreated by the home seamstress or professional dressmaker. The Couture Pattern Museum owns the original licensed pattern of everything it recreates. Therefore, we do not participate in, or tolerate, any illegal practice of pirating designs. |
|
|
“Now all the couture houses are run by businessmen, and fashion designers do not have the authority to say anything." - Pierre Berge - |
|
|
The spirit of the Couture Pattern Museum The Couture Pattern Museum's main mission is to preserve the artistry, design, instructions, and contemporary background information, to authentically create the dresses designed and issued by talented, world-famous couturiers through the commercial sewing patterns they issued. The issuance of these licensed patterns was heavily regulated and authorized by the Chambre Syndicale de la Couture Parisienne. There is a difference between piracy and replicas. Replicas are authorized, line-by-line recreations issued by the couture houses, often times sewn by dressmakers or dress manufacturers outside of Parisian workrooms. Museums around the world have exhibited replica dresses made by dressmakers and dressmaking manufacturers, sewn and recreated outside of Paris. Pirated dresses are illegally manufactured, unauthorized garments. We do not engage in, nor approve of the piracy of any design. |
|
|
Atelier Label How we label our recreations Due to public demand, we recently opened the Atelier in 2022 and began providing some public access to licensed, historical designs from the Couture Pattern Museum's archives. The dresses completed by the Couture Pattern Museum do not carry any unauthorized, trademarked, or pirated designer label. Every dress is labeled with our own trademarked "Couture Pattern Museum" label, along with the documented pattern number. The mission of the Couture Pattern Museum is preservative and educational. We want to honor the tradition established by the design houses when they made licensed patterns available to the home seamstress or professional dressmaker outside of Paris. We hope that our work will continue to highlight the democratic, artistic history and the strong relationship between haute couture and the home seamstress. Respectfully Yours, Cara Austine Founder and Director Couture Pattern Museum |
|
|
|
|
