Hanifa is one of the most popular Black-womaned owned labels in the market right now. Most anybody who knows anything about feminine fashion has a Hanifa piece on their wishlist. In the most recent news, Hanifa wow’d with the release of their Living Out Loud SS 2022 collection and their lucrative but exclusive sample sale. Founder and lead designer Anifa Mvuemba went semi-viral just a few days ago for calling out creative dishonesty and knock-offs.
The Jax Knit Gown from their FW 2021 collection Anifa Mvuemba’s most popular design to date. Seen on some of the most high-profile influencers, makeup gurus, and even “Bring It On” star Gabrielle Union, this sublime unification of mesh and knit has certainly become recognizable.
As with any popular design, the parasitic nature of fast fashion sees dollar signs in the creativity of others. Anifa shared her frustrations with the – noticeably lacking – rip-off design. Refusing to say the company’s name, as not give them free clout, Anifa followed up with a tweet that simply said, “a joke,” perfectly summing up the layered predatory nature of fast fashion.
There has been discourse recently around “dupe-culture,” which simply speaks to consumers’ perceived need to be able to own any and everything they desire, with the great access equalizer being the counterfeit market and fast fashion brands. The greatest peddlers are no longer street-vendors, they’re huge online stores that take advantage of influencer and affiliate marketing. Amazon, Shein, Aliexpress, and Fashion Nova are among consumers’ favorite sites to buy counterfeit garments and accessories.
Anifa is not the first designer – and far from the last – to voice deep displeasure at seeing her art stolen and cheaply replicated with subpar fabrics and exploitative workshop labor. Sadly, this is an all too common occurrence.
Huge fashion houses (Gucci, Louis Vuitton, etc.) view the counterfeit market as free advertising as it increases visibility and brand loyalty. Independent designers do not benefit from the visibility boost major fashion houses do, knock-offs hurt their business by defaming their craft and negatively affecting their income. More often than not, the average consumer is not familiar with the names, designs, or logos of independent brands so to them it’s just another Shein or Fashion Nova garment. In fact, most consumers have such a distorted perception of all that goes into making a garment – how many steps and skilled hands that it truly takes.
“How is it possible that a garment is cheaper than a sandwich? How can a garment that needs to be sewn, grown, harvested, spun, knitted, cut, stitched, finished, printed, labeled, packaged, and transported cost a couple of Euros? It is impossible.”
Li Edelkoort, Anti-Fashion: A Manifesto for the Next Decade
Fast fashion exists in opposition to creative integrity and sustainability. We deserve better, our planet deserves better, and the designers who have shared their gifts with us certainly do too.
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