#im on the upper range of classic brands and will never fit in a MM dress

[lilac-nites]

Nothing to add but this article by rainedragon about design replicas. It took me a while to understand what a design replica is and I found this article very helpful.

I hope you don't mind if I ask a question I'm a noobie in egl and jfashion in general and I was wondering if it's ok to purchase replicas that are permanently discontinued or from defunct brand's? I don't want to support replicas but a lot of my dream items are very overpriced on the aftermarket :'(

it's no problem at all! apologies for my answer being quite long, i have a lot of thoughts on this.

depending on who you ask, the answer to this question will almost always differ. the whole replica debate has been quite controversial for a long time. what you decide to do is ultimately up to you and your beliefs. given that you're new to the fashion, it would be best to give yourself time to form your own opinion. i'm not trying to dissuade you with my answer or seem impartial, so i would like to remind you that you're completely free to disagree or do your own research! with that being said, i'm open to explaining what i personally think about it and why i hold the opinion that i do.. but first, some initial context and history on replicas:

if you comb through old discussions on blogs and on livejournal in the early 2000s, replicas were a lot more common with less stigma surrounding them compared to now. you could chalk this up to a number of reasons: comm members being young at the time, japanese brands not being nearly as accessible as they are now, sales platforms being underdeveloped without all of the rules we know today being in place yet, and for the same reason that there were a lot of general unrelated misunderstandings of the fashion itself back then, ignorance. it understandably takes a lot of time to research certain topics, especially with the existing language barrier and the fashion still being rather new to a majority the west at the time.

the general consensus on replicas has changed, or rather, evolved since then. to give a fair warning, a decent amount of replicas are often frowned upon within the community. that's not to say all replicas are, or that the community operates as a hivemind, because others will disagree with this sentiment. rather than there being an existing black and white answer i could provide you with, it's more so determined on a case by case basis. there are varying levels of what's deemed acceptable versus unacceptable, depending on a combination of some specifics of the item itself and who you ask. most people tend to go by the standards of the FAQ of lacemarket—the largest and currently most commonly used EGL sales platform—which (reluctantly) allows design replicas of nonprint dresses and accessories like bags and shoes, but disallows replicas of dresses with prints, brand-created mascots and characters, or any brand name logos. this portion of the FAQ was borrowed by the illegal replica item guidelines first written and enforced in 2012 by the moderators and admin of the original secondhand EGL sales platform predating LM—egl_comm_sales on livejournal. from what i remember, these were initially instated due to legal threats from AP.

they're both linked for you to check them out yourself, but to give a short explanation: design replicas that aren't copyrightable are not illegal to sell. both guidelines have been determined by what is considered legal or illegal under US/Japan's copyright laws.

a couple of lolita brands, namely ones that retail in the US and that can afford a lawyer to assist them through the process, do have trademarks registered here.

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i don't support most replicas personally, and don't own any myself. that's not to shame others for doing so, it's simply a matter of personal opinion. i do think replicas are more "convenient" so to say, when it comes to availability, affordability and sizing for many.. but it's important to consider that this convenience is made available at the expense of the designers and the company itself. when it comes down to it, i strongly believe it's art theft.

many have justified replicas by citing that certain brands are "large enough" for it to not matter, and that it's only hurtful to "indie brands" but are heavily overestimating the size of said "big" brands to begin with. despite brands being largely known and considered "big" within lolita, i find even the biggest examples to be miniscule outside of the subculture itself. lolita brands are considered to be "luxury fashion," but that's specifically within lolita. when compared to near universally known large corporation designer luxury brands that also get replicated, take Chanel or Gucci for example, they are different in many ways. brands like Angelic Pretty and Baby are very well known strictly in terms of the lolita community.. as the biggest brands that exist, really. but to put it into perspective: when we leave this already very niche sphere of fashion, a typical person on the street is very unlikely to recognize or know of either of these brands, but very likely to know the popular "normie" luxury brands. when comparing profits, number of clothing articles and accessories produced, or even the number of employees behind these operations—they're in completely different leagues. AP and BTSSB make, give or take if i had to loosely estimate, somewhere between 100~200 of each release. according to what (limited information) could be obtained through public records, each are reported to have about 60~68 employees. purely taking these as estimation references rather than exact numbers due to it being quarterly report data. so where does this leave the rest of lesser known lolita brands if these two are at the top? the numbers on all counts would (assumingly) be even lower.

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i do think replicas are hurtful to the fashion/hobby itself due to how niche the hobby is and small the community is. realistically, there isn't a plethora of endless brands we have to choose from. it's important to show support to the brands we do have available to us to keep them up and running and to not take them for granted. brands, especially ones running on a smaller scale, come and go throughout the years. many of them discontinue due to lack of sales. i find that funneling money to producers of replicas doesn't always take away money from these brands, for example: it wouldn't necessarily directly impact a release that isn't currently being sold, or a defunct brand as the one you mentioned. however, almost everything is available secondhand with patience.. and if at a higher price, waiting for a different listing of it, budgeting, saving, or sometimes even negotiating a hold or a payment plan with the seller are all options. there's always a question of, "if i'm buying something secondhand, the brand isn't directly getting my money anyway.. the seller of the dress is. so why does it matter?" but buying brands secondhand also supports brands. any money that isn't going towards replicas that harm brands is still helping, even if indirectly. buying replicas does financially support the production and the practice of making them, and other replicas they may be making that could be harming active brands and designers. this includes websites that advertise their replicas as originals and scam the unknowing.

plus, for what it's worth: it helps to imagine yourself in the shoes of the designer. i always think that if i created a design or had drawn something original that i was proud of, and if it were stolen and reproduced for someone else's profit, i'd be pretty upset about it. if i love a design enough to want to buy it, i would not want to offend or harm the individual who made it. for some of us, they're just products or clothes. but a lot of these were once, or still are, the designer's dream or passion.. a soulful creative project made out of love and made with a lot of effort. replicas are like thieves of originality and of this inspiration, in a way.

i believe avoiding replicas is not only ethical, but it lends to the existence and longevity of the fashion as we know it (a slow fashion, not a fast one.) i love the fashion and subculture and will always choose to support the brands we have while we still have them, both directly and indirectly.