Fashion Copycats- Giuseppe Zanotti's Sculpted Wedge

First of all, please refer to this heel by its proper name which is titled 'Sculpted wedge' and not heel-less shoes or any other variations.

Now these shoes have been out for quite some time already but as always Australia is behind by a season. So before I start ranting again about the lowly 'designers' who just so happen to stock most shoe retailers, I will first let the shoe maker himself speak a few words and I encourage you to watch this first before reading any further.

When I first saw this I felt so inspired and in awe as to how humble this man was and how passionate he is especially to catering to his customers and then I felt sick knowing that there are heaps of people out there who are only in it to make money by producing 'inspired' goods. I just have to say that I am dying to visit Italy to buy myself two pairs of Giuseppe Zanotti heels, I guess I'll be following in the footsteps of Aimee Song (Song of Style) who has a wardrobe full of Giuseppe Zanotti heels (I think you can tell where she spends most of her money).

The Real Deal:

The KNOCKOFFS:

Tony Bianco

Steve Madden

Aldo

Jeffery Campbell <-- This one is kind of like a mid-tier company similar to Forever 21 but in the shoe market

Chinese Laundry's shoe that is aptly titled 'Controversy'

Okay whilst most of you would not be so daring and opt for one of these heels but whilst the price tag may look a thousand times more alluring than the (roughly) $700-800 asking price of the genuine product, at least consider an alternative style which is not trademarked to someone who worked hard to create a new and different design.

Fashion Copycats- Cambridge Satchel Company

Hi Guys,

I thought I'd make this a series where I single out a particular style or company that I believe to be a fashion offender or a copycat. It's a new year and I think it's best to have ethical practices so yeah I'm hoping to spread awareness about certain retailers that you should steer clear. Please support these posts because as consumers we shouldn't discredit those with true creativity and reward those who only know how to make $$$ by leaching off others.

Okay so far I've thought of three different posts for this series the first being knock offs of the new IT-bag aka the Cambridge Satchel Company's signature bag. The others to follow this will be copycats of Giuseppe Zanotti's shoes and also Forever 21's notoriety in it's malpractices and its string of lawsuits over its 28 year history.

Whilst this bag has been around for a while, it has only become popular because of fashion bloggers, for me I first heard of it when I was following Alexa Chung (sorry Sweet but she is famous for actually doing something like designing my coveted Alexa Mulberry bag).

So old school <3 but just not my style

This is how something becomes internationally known and revered 

Now time to name and shame:

Sweet actually prompted me to do this post when she pointed out this bag at an Australian retailer called Typo, they sell overpriced stationary as well as a few other goods which cater to the demands of the market except they failed to add their own interpretation of the design, after all it is just another blatant copycat.

It's also a far cry from the leather that is used in the actual satchels which oozes sophistication, let's just say that it's made from a material that I'm not fond of.

Other notable culprits include:

Steve Madden

Gojane

Finally, to tug on your heart strings.....

Watch this video to find out about the founder of this company and then you'll see why it's a shame that others are benefitting off her hard work especially when her motivation is pure and genuine.