Lazy Vultures On The Loose!
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- July 20, 2021
You know those very annoying and pesky unsolicited pop-ups that come on your feed while surfing through Instagram? The ones that disrupt the flow of images posted by your friends? Yes those ones! They really do my head in, and even more so when I come across something that is a complete rip off of another person’s creativity or intellectual property. Yeah, I know I wrote about this a few weeks ago. But this topic never gets old. So here we go again. I found myself the other day asking (in my head) “is this by DyeLab?” I could tell that something seemed a bit ‘offish’ about the photographed garment. It looked poorly executed and the finish appeared rather shabby. So I read the caption. And NOT to my surprise it wasn’t a DyeLab agbada. But this person had attempted to make someone else’s signature adire fused with bright hues as a bib and turn-up sleeves their own! What?! How disrespectful and embarrassing.
Who does that?! If you must draw inspiration from other people’s designs and work, do so but be more creative and come up with something with a “WOW factor” rather than the “Oh no she didn’t!” reaction from those of us that recognize the “theft”. While the boubou, kaftan or agbada design is merely an existing “template”; so many people have found creative ways to make their very own by adding a “signature”. An example of this is the #TataChal Boubou which is a collaboration between Tsemaye Beniti and yours truly, me. The version we have put out has the designers’ signature written all over it. Once anyone sees the finish and the detail they immediately recognize the Tsemaye Beniti craftsmanship.
Ozzy Etomi in the Original
Yes, we are all out here to make the coins but have some dignity and pride. It doesn’t just apply to clothing design. I also came across a balloon styling post and I could have sworn it was by Ribbon Room Balloons Lagos. Again I looked at the {im}poster’s caption and handle and sighed. Come on now people!! We can do better. I get it, that healthy competition is great but it must get frustrating when the competitor copies your business model down to a tee. Even attempting to openly and publicly poach members of the leading brand’s team. You know what though, in the case of the image of the balloon arrangement one could tell that they were gasping for more helium. Nothing like the real McCoy. I know some people would say “oh please a balloon on is a balloon!” Not really. Some can only be described as “bolom bolom”. Sorry not sorry.
Tata Chal’Boubou – A Chalya
Anyway, why so lazy? Why wait for someone to put out their designs of business then go invest your energy to create a copy? I find this a tad shameless. There was an agbada design that was released late last year that became very popular in no time. Before we could say “Jack Robinson!” there were copies of the velevt bib adire agbada everywhere.
Oh! Did I mention it was called the “Chalya Agbada” at the time? Yes it was. How very flattering.
The Original “Chalya Agbada” by TemiLady
Anyhow, the point of this long rant is simply to say, DON’T BE A LAZY VULTURE that preys on other people’s creativity. Try to pause for a moment. Look inwards and find YOUR OWN creative juices. Extract! Create! Sign it! Nothing beats authenticity. Not a thing!
