The Atacoma wedges sent shoe lovers into a frenzy when they debuted in Acne’s Pre-Fall ‘09 collection.

Alexa Chung fell particularly in love with them; and the coveted bootie sold out within just a few days after she wore them on her MTV show. So maybe that’s what inspired Jeffrey Campbell to name his knock-off the Alexa?

It’s a well-studied copy. The shape’s exactly the same, the diagonal seaming is spot-on. In fact, the only difference between the two is the transition from the black leather to the silver metal panels. While Acne’s is seamless, Campbell’s has a bit of a divot.

With so many wedge booties out this season, it should be easy to avoid buying a pair based off someone else’s ideas.

Sure, this Pierre Hardy shoe’s from 2008, but the print’s so distinct that when we saw Nine West’s Bonfire pump we immediately knew what we were really looking at.

Prints on shoes are rare anyway, let alone 3D squares of bronze and black stacked upon each other. The size, the angle, the shadows of the square are all perfectly imitated (on an almost identical shape, too).

We’ll stop short of calling the shape irrelevant and focus on the fact that prints represent a danger zone for high street knock-offs, especially given the success of past print-based lawsuits from Anna Sui and Diane von Furstenburg.

Nine West makes the shoe in another print, one we haven’t seen before, no need for them to push it.

Dear Fashionista,

A friend found this dress on Bebe’s website the other day. Since then, I think I’ve gone through all the proper stages of grief.

It might look like a disturbing coincidence to some, but I splurged on the Valentino Red original on Net-a-Porter last month and Bebe’s copy kind of breaks my heart. They’ve captured the idea: black tube shape with lace on the neck and ruched sleeves. The pattern on the lace even looks the same, though I guess their factory couldn’t handle the tiny details like the outline of the collar or the delicate ribbons.

I take some solace in the difference of quality, the dresses hang differently even online, but I don’t understand why they can’t take the ideas - lace, black, ruffles - and make something on trend that’s not an exact copy.

Grr,
A frustrated customer

We felt a little confused today when we came across this Cynthia Rowley dress on shopbop.com.

With Paris SS10 shows still on our minds, Cynthia’s dress immediately reminded us of this Karl Lagerfeld look. The halter neck, cut-out shoulders, and wide waist belt are strikingly similar—though the rest of the design is obviously different. (And we’re not going to lie and say we don’t like one more than the other. We’re sure you can guess which one.)

But Cynthia’s dress is from her FW09 collection, meaning that if anyone was guilty of copying its neckline, it would be Karl.

Could be sheer coincidence or not…what do you think? We’d very much like to hear your thoughts on the matter!

I’m still obsessed with the Alexander Wang corset dress from his pre-fall collection - the one that’s made the rounds from Rihanna to Julia Restoin-Roitfeld, and sold out almost as quickly as the Coco Duffel.

So is Bebe. They’ve created an exact copy of the dress for their upcoming Holiday line.

I spotted this impostor as soon as I opened my November issue of Elle. My heart broke a little bit when I saw this ad sprawled across two whole pages. I know I shouldn’t be surprised, since Bebe’s garnered quite the reputation for their ‘designer-inspired’ clothing, but there is nothing “inspired” about this.

This studded Givenchy sandal is everywhere, like super perfect sexy things often are.

We’ve spotted it on Garance ‘s blog. It’s popped up on Tommy Ton’s Style slideshows, too. And on our own feet of course, in our dreams.

It’s in Aldo’s dreams, too. The only difference is they have a shoe factory and the ability to make it for insanely less money and sell it to the masses. Their copy has less studs, and a smaller t-strap. They’ve also named it some something decidedly French: Guerrette. Guerrette’s like the ugly step-sister; she can’t compare to her gorgeous older, more vibrant sister, and she never will.

It’s like Givenchy made the perfect heel and Aldo broke it. And they do say not to fix it if it’s not broke.

Remember when Tommy Ton threw the whole world into fits of jealousy after shooting French Vogue’s Emmanuelle Alt wearing Isabel Marant’s studded booties mere hours after last season’s show?

Because we do - and despite their sold out status, we’re still lusting for them. So is Steve Madden. Surprised? Just another opportunity for him to cash in on someone else’s great design.

Steve’s Blitzi booties are an obvious knock-off of Isabel’s Rider. He’s managed black suede, a rounded toe and the low slung black leather strap underneath the studded cuff. His studs are silver, which is spot on, but he got lazy in the back and replaced Marant’s black suede cone heel with a chunk of square brown synthetic wood - they’re still almost $200.

Save your pennies for when Marant opens that Soho store early next year.

At the end of August, we wrote an Adventures in Copyright begging Alexander McQueen to do something about Steve Madden’s blatant copies.

Some of you agreed, one commenter asked, “Do you think McQueen cares this much?” To which of course we’d heartily answer yes.

So you can imagine, or try to, how high we jumped for joy when this morning, WWD announced that McQueen’s suing Madden.

The suit, filed in Manhattan October 1, calls Madden’s Seryna bootie a “studied imitation” of McQueen’s Faithful and points out, like we did, that the only detail missing is McQueen’s trademarked skull zipper. In exchange for Madden’s attempts to profit off of the Brit’s “widespread media attention,” they’re asking for an injunction, profits and payment of legal fees.

Now if we could just get Messieurs Blahnik and Louboutin on the case, throw in Tamara Mellon’s attitude, Jessie Randall’s charm and Marc’s spunk, this could be the most fashionable class action lawsuit ever.

Dear Fashionista,

I’ve come to really enjoy browsing Bebe’s website for a daily dose of designer knock offs. They’re so lazy that they don’t even bother tweaking their designs in the slightest (minus cheap fabrics).

I’d grown used to their love of the sexier runway bits: sky-high Gucci heels and skintight Balmain minis, but I couldn’t have been more shocked to find this AW09 Prada dress, complete with AW09 Prada hair in their embarrassing online magazine.

There are so few women who can even pull off the original; I’m terrified to see what happens when it’s available to the masses.

xoxo,
S

Sometimes I think Steve Madden worships Alexander McQueen the way I do, and that that’s why he constantly attempts the same designs.

But that can’t be right, because I’d be sick with guilt if I made my small fortune off stealing his creativity.

Madden has no such guilt - he’s struck again with McQueen’s peep toe Faithful bootie. His Seryna bootie comes with a ridged leather heel, snapped leather pulled over the ankle and a zip up the front.

It’s missing the skull zipper puller though, and as our tipster says, “McQueen’s luxe leather.”

Kenley Collins may have just gotten out of a two day stint in prison for throwing a cat at her boyfriend, but we think she should be sent back for blatant theft of Alexander McQueen’s genius. AGAIN.

After famously ripping off an A/W 2008 McQueen dress for her final collection on Project Runway, Kenley’s at it again, this time for her eponymous line.

She says it was inspired by her post-jail freedom. Right.
Kenley’s excuse on PR was that she had never seen the McQueen dress before, but after that fiasco we know she’s seen every last piece of that collection, and we’re shocked that she would dare to copy another dress from it.

Nina Garcia would not approve.

We struggled with this one because Urban Outfitters is essentially an homage to Alexander Wang and Dov Charney, but a reader sent it in and it is in fact ridiculous, so here you go.

While the mere thought of tweed makes us sweat right now, this cozy looking boyfriend blazer was pretty popular last year after Vika wore it down Wang’s smoky runway. So Urban’s a bit late in knocking it off (and they forgot the zippers).

Our tipster attributes its high street debut to recent appearances on NYC Prep. Apparently someone named Jessie’s been running around town in it. The show’s on fashion’s radar, so it’s not an impossible conclusion. Regardless of how or why it’s being copied and no matter how upset you are you missed out on it the first time, don’t buy it.

Mostly because copying is bad, but also because one should never spend $100 on something from Urban Outfitters.

Remember when Kate Bosworth wore those red Chloé ankle boots? We couldn’t stop staring at her feet, and then couldn’t stop thinking about them for weeks.

Someone over at Free People has them on their mind also, where a reader spotted this Chloé clone.

Free People’s version is about a thousand dollars cheaper than Chloé’s, and while some will always claim that imitation is the sincerest form of flattery, this new boot is just a cheap looking version of the original. Of course, we don’t expect them to be able to recreate that same spunk, but even if they did, it still wouldn’t be right.

—AMANDA JEAN BOYLE

Alexander McQueen made some super sick grommetted booties. Which we spotted on Mischa pre-breakdown.

We’re thinking they’re an ideal transitional shoe. The grommets take what is a fairly average bootie and make it amazingly sexy and edgy. They’re currently on sale for $900.

Then one of our sleuthing readers showed us that Steve Madden, the brand ubiquitous with stealing designs and parading them as their own, was at it again, this time attacking Mr. McQueen’s booties.

I was walking through Saks yesterday, overwhelmed by the perfection of Helmut Lang’s pre-fall collection, when I saw the BCBG skirt at left.

It was hot pink in the store, so it jumped out against the greys and blacks, and perfectly banded. The piece was tiny and stretchy with a zipper up the back just like Herve Leger’s signature bandage skirts. At this point, you can find Herve rip-offs everywhere, but it made us wonder what Mr. Azria, the man behind both Herve and BCBG, stands to gain from ripping himself off - like when Topshop ripped off Kate Moss for Topshop’s dress.

Hi girls!

My name’s Angel and I’m an avid fan.

I was surfing the net, pre-pulling for a stylist when I found a funny little something at Intermix. Just thought I’d send it along.

So here you go!

Best, Angel.

The thing about Balmain’s party dresses is that if they weren’t made quite so skillfully out of of such exquisite fabrics and crystals etc., they’d run the risk of looking downright trashy.

Christophe Decarnin’s perfected the tight sexy thing and made it work among the fashion crowd because, well, it’s so well done—which makes the girl look and feel the same. And isn’t that the point of looking hot on a night out?

Because even if you rock this Bebe knock off with its spot on asymmetrical hemline and triangular zig zags, you’re not going to look like Anja Rubik at the Met Ball. However, if you buy something that’s not supposed to look like something else inexpensively copied, something for well under $179, you just might look better than Anja.

Though you probably know that.

Also, while we’re on the subject of Bebe, these are heart-breaking.

Ann Demeulemeester’s lace-up sandal booties are the shoe of the summer.

During the resort shows, we spotted three different Vogue editors in the brown and others in black, Sea of Shoes is obsessed and given our neighborhood we see an inordinate amount of models on a daily basis and wearing only these of late.

But we never really expected it to translate to the masses, it’s a Fashion with a capital “F” shoe which isn’t snobby, just fact - like a Balmain shoulder or a Chris Kane gorilla dress - that probably won’t rein in big bucks on Broadway.

Though Urban Outfitters’ Free People is taking a chance anyway. A reader sent in this link to their $198 copy. Pretty ballsy considering the Ann D’s were on sale for just over $300 a few weeks ago.

Each and every time we see these Chloe multi-strap wedges we wince a bit and wish we’d had the courage to spend our tax return money on them instead of a new computer.

Chloe Sevigny’s been rocking the beige all summer and now Drew Barrymore’s traded in her festival grunge for the black version paired with cuffed skinny jeans.

Not wanting to feel left out, Topshop’s made their own. They’ve ditched the two inch wedge, silver oval buckles and $700 plus price tag in favor of a cone-shaped heel, gold rectangular buckles and a $120 tag. They’ve also eliminated an extra strap and offered their version in black and hot pink instead of the more neutral grey and forest green.

Unfortunately the Chloe version’s already sold out everywhere (trust us, we’ve looked), but that doesn’t mean you need the Topshop shoe. They won’t fool a soul.