Steal This Look: West Elm Pillows & Lighting
From Julie
The new West Elm catalog just arrived. Have the sleuths at the Pottery Barn–owned outfit been lurking at Ochre and Design Within Reach?
Below L: Soft-washed velvet pillows with linen backs; $34 at West Elm. Below R: Kirsten Hecktermann hand-dyed velvet pillows with natural-linen backs at Ochre; $130 to $150
Below L: Faux horn pendant; $159 at West Elm. Below R: Ochre's Eclipse chandelier with horn drops.
Below L: Abaca Lantern in three sizes; $79 to $129 at West Elm. Below R: Moooi's Random Light; $610 at Ylighting.
January 7, 2008
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I LOVE that you call West Elm out on their knock offs! Why does'nt this happen more often? Why do the desingers that they knock off not protest publicly? What they do is so obvious to anyone with an interest in design and an awareness of the market.
I must admit though to my love/hate relationship with West Elm. Sometimes it provides that quick fix for something stylish and affordable for my home that I can not resist. I am guilty of shopping there. On the other hand, if they were to knock off my work or the work of anyone I personally know I would be crazy with anger and shout out about it.
I would be really interested to hear what the people who work for West Elm have to say about what they do.
It is a vexing issue. On the one hand, it's nice to see good design brought to the masses, but on the other hand, it must be maddening for the original manufacturers/designers.
Here's an interesting link: a site devoted to tracking big box knockoffs: http://knockoffs.olya.org.
I'll invest much cash in some fabulous danish modern gems and opt for the less expensive west elm lighting alternative. But that's just me. Besides DWR is just mass, boring AND expensive.
I am an artist/designer and I have been knocked off/ripped off by both pottery barn and Z gallery. I cannot summon words for my anger and frustration at working so hard and lovingly at something and then seeing a corporation with no soul and no conscience just take it, ship it to china and have it knocked off. I do not go into either place. the PB knock off came to my notice when friends started asking me if I was designing for them because of something they saw in the catalog. the Z gallery incident was the same, a friend pointed it out. my family had also seen it but didn't have the heart to tell me.
yes - I tried fighting back. basically it came down to their wall of lawyers against my word. they do not care. they have no shame.
I'm still not sure what the answer is. I believe in both credit to the artist and good design for the masses. I don't think rip-offs are the answer. there has to be a more judicious, humane solution. does anybody know if IKEA is a good model for this? they acknowledge their designers and have good prices.
myself, I am looking for positive ways around this.
