TS/KK Leather Jacket: Who Can Copy?

a collaboration with Nothingknew

We replicated a jacket from Japan’s top tool maker companies, Tajima, to be unapologetically and purposefully divisive.

Inspired by previous conversations with MAW, two questions stuck: who decides authenticity?

&

who (and now, what, with AI) is actually allowed to copy?

The iconic jacket and pants, both popularized by @kikokostadinov ‘s SS19 collection, were subsequently named after the company. The jacket and pants of the SEG line were experimental pieces that sought to reduce the worker’s burden while increasing comfort. A prime example of Japan’s high-performance workwear, or “toolwear,” with Tajima’s thoughtfulness of the “overpocket”; a design to promote storage and prevent inaccessibility with harness safety equipment.

Referencing is a theme so often explored by designers, but rarely as blatant as Margiela’s Replica line. Normalized for Demna, or the late Virgil, who both show an understanding of the swift trend turnover, few designers have owned their references as well, or have paid homage through a journalistic manner like Margiela.

If fashion’s overall view leans towards disdain for Made in China replicas and r/DesignerReps; it’s due to the lack of work, story, and class. The Baudrillardian echo of a copy is usually acceptable if upper echelon publications write an article giving praise. Partial truths exist simultaneously, and ironically, the designer is not more righteous than a replicator when they are just parts of the same ecosystem.

To historians, fashion can be revisionism. To fashion enthusiasts, it can be fictional art. To others, it’s just business. But who truly has the authority to determine what is original when the lines are blurred by using source material and references?