Called Out for Copying, Chanel Does the Right Thing

This week, after an outcry on Facebook and Twitter, Chanel admitted that some of the Fair Isle sweaters that appeared in its recent Métiers d’Art show in Rome had been perhaps too closely inspired by pieces that Chanel staff members had bought from Mati Ventrillon, a designer from the Shetland Islands in Scotland.

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Henceforth, a Chanel spokeswoman said on Thursday, “Chanel will credit Mati Ventrillon by including the words ‘Mati Ventrillon design’ in its communication tools to recognize her as the source of inspiration for the knitwear models in question.”

The sweaters in question were worn by “newsboys” who surrounded Chanel’s designer, Karl Lagerfeld, as he took his triumphal end-of-show bow on Dec. 1. Though Fair Isle patterns are in the public domain, several Chanel offerings had exactly the same shape, color palette and pattern arrangement as Ms. Ventrillon’s designs, a point she made in a Facebook post as soon as she saw photographs from the show.

On Dec. 3, Ms. Ventrillon posted pictures from Chanel’s show and her own work side by side on her Facebook page, writing: “Endorsement or plagiarism? Earlier this summer two Chanel staff visited Fair Isle and bought some of my stock garments with the understanding that the garments were for research, I specifically said that I was going to sell it to them for the reputation of Chanel house and because I would not expect them to copy my design.”

Intellectual property in fashion is notoriously hard to protect, as the constant “homages” to runway looks that appear in fast-fashion retailers attest. Brands have become more aggressive in trying to protect their work, but it remains a murky area, as cases like Christian Louboutin v. Yves Saint Laurent arguing over whether anyone owns the rights to red soles attest (both brands claim to have “won.”) People on social media, however, have no compunction about calling things as they see them.

Indeed, after Ms. Ventrillon’s post, the political leader of the Shetland Islands council, Gary Robinson, posted a message on Twitter in her defense.

This issue is especially pointed when it comes to Chanel and the Métiers d’Art show, because this collection in particular is intended to display the work of a group of specialty houses the brand has acquired, like the embroiderer Lesage and the hatmaker Maison Michel, with the aim of protecting and promoting their “artisanship.” As Ms. Ventrillon noted in another Facebook post, at issue was “the importance of giving craft the right value” — a respect she saw as being denied to her.

In any event, her campaign and its supporters had an effect, and Chanel not only said it would credit her work but also added in a statement: “Chanel recognizes that this situation resulted from a dysfunctionality within its teams and has presented its apologies. Chanel also recognizes the heritage and know-how of Fair Isle. Chanel wishes to emphasize that the House is extremely vigilant in terms of its respect for creativity, whether its own or that of others.”

On Thursday, Ms. Ventrillon acknowledged the importance of social media in resolving the issue: “I would like to thank to all the people in the social media and specially in Shetland who has shown their support,’’ she wrote on Facebook. “I am very fortunate to say that Chanel has been very open and helpful throughout the process, they immediately apologize and said they were going to look into the situation, It has been an oversight from Chanel’s team and I feel that with their apology and by crediting the design they have shown respect and support of small artisans.”

In other words, she didn’t take them to court, she took them to the court of public opinion. It’s ye olde public name and shame approach, on a modern platform. And, at least in this case, it was clearly effective.