In the wake of campaigns aimed at educating consumers about the value of investing in authentic design vs copies / fakes / replicas – positive outcomes have been achieved!

Michelle Ogundehin, British Editorial Director of interior design tome Elle Decoration, instigated Equal Rights for Design – a campaign that drew support from many brands ranging Fritz Hansen through Conran, early this year successfully changing UK design copyright laws to align with the laws governing protection of music, film and other creative disciplines.

The Herman Miller brand remain committed to retaining authenticity within their products & production – shown here in the factory tour and short video of the manufacture of one of their most famous chairs – the Eames lounge.

Fast Company Design recently took a trip to the Herman Miller factories and manufacturing partners in and around Zeeland, Michigan, to produce a video documenting the production of the world-famous Lounge Chair designed and released by Charles and Ray Eames in 1956.

According to the supporting article, the processes used in the chair’s manufacture are virtually identical to those developed over 65 years ago, but “in very quiet but telling ways, they‚Äôre also better.” Improvements have been made to the “shock mount” that joins a metal leg to the body of the chair, and the leather is now cut perfectly by a giant computer-guided machine. The entire production is still overseen by humans however, as the materials are natural and don’t lend themselves to automation. According to plant manager Mike Kuperus, this leads to a great sense of pride among the employees. “People who have been here for 10 years will still come to me and say, ‘Look at this before I box it up,’” he says. “They appreciate the pieces as much or even more than the end consumer.”

fastcodesign / via HUH


image / video/ text immediately above via Drew Anthony Smith/Fast Company

Fashion doyenne Vivienne Westwood also recently encouraged people to adopt a less is more approach when it comes to buying clothes – in an interview before her London Fashion Week show in September Westwood cautioned to concentrate on ‘quality rather than quantity’ …. She said:


‘‘Of course I try not to waste and my way of not wasting is to try to concentrate on quality not quantity. And you know my message, it is buy less, choose well, make it last. Even better, don’t buy anything. Don’t buy any clothes for ages until you really have to.’‘

Watch her runway statement & pre-show interview HERE.