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    Claire’s Accessories rip-off Tatty Devine designs

    High street giants copy independent designers

    Handbag.com – Fri, Feb 24, 2012 09:44 GMT
    This morning we were made aware via the Tatty Devine blog that Claire’s Accessories are currently selling jewellery that is all-but-identical to Tatty Devine products. Obviously without the consent of this independent British design company. It’s a common problem in retail: a designer produces inspirational jewellery that gains a cult following, then a mega high street fashion company spots the design, copies it cheaply and sells it for a lower price in one of its many chain stores. It’s not ethical, it’s not fair and it’s definitely a grey area as far as the law is concerned.

    Claire’s decision to copy Tatty Devine designs, manufacture them in China and sell them cheaply in their stores not only takes sales away from Tatty Devine, but also damages their brand. Judging by their blog comments, lots of people save up to purchase a classic Tatty Devine piece, so to be able to buy a cheap knock-off in Claire’s isn’t quite as aspirational. The Claire’s jewellery will be of far inferior quality, which won’t reflect well on the Tatty Devine originals.

    [Related story: H&M accused of stealing 'You Look Nice Today' design]

    Rather than face this head on, Claire’s Accessories have apparently ignored all communication from the Tatty Devine team, and are even deleting all comments on their Facebook page from angry Tatty Devine fans, before blocking the posters. Twitter is also full of outraged customers and fans, but Claire’s are not responding to tweets. Underestimating, and in fact ignoring the PR potential of social media is a huge oversight by a company as large as Claire’s – you cannot simply pretend the backlash isn’t happening, when it’s clearly in the public domain. The Head of European Marketing & PR for Claire’s Accessories also had no comment to offer when we spoke to her this morning.

    Here at handbag.com we are big fans of Tatty Devine; their fun, innovative jewellery is instantly identifiable. Every collection they produce gains them even more devoted customers – who first fell in love with their iconic name necklaces, and have continued to support the work of Rosie Wolfenden and Harriet Vine, who design and make every piece of their Perspex jewellery in the UK. In their online biography, Rosie explains that "we're proud to represent British design around the world," and Harriet adds "we've always been motivated by fun and independence." Which is exactly why what Claire’s Accessories is supposedly doing is wrong on every level. We sincerely hope that they see sense, remove the offending products, apologise and compensate Tatty Devine – pronto.

    Buy original Perspex jewellery from Tatty Devine and read their original post about the Claire's products

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    19 comments

    • Jayne
      Jayne  •  Cardigan, Wales  •  2 months ago
      just looked it up - TD do make the jewelry in UK but at the same time are selling jewelry making tools for £105 smackers - sympathy definately taking a nosedive here!
      • Jimbot
        Jimbot 2 months ago
        Well how much do you think you should pay for something if it takes say, a full day for someone to make it? I suppose you could get a kid in China or Bangladesh forced to work in a factory to make it for 5p. Then Claire's import it and charge a fiver.
    • ANN
      ANN  •  Chester, England  •  2 months ago
      well don't shop at clairs...........
    • Joe
      Joe  •  2 months ago
      it's a bad thing 2 do but Tatty Devine is kind of pricy.but the least they could have said sorry!
      • Cheryl
        Cheryl 2 months ago
        So? you pay for what you get, you pay for Tattie's creative, well crafted designs, not something mass produced in Chinese sweatshops! The human cost of items for shops like Claires is a lot higher than the monetary cost.
      • Bee Bee
        Bee Bee 2 months ago
        Original creative design, hand-made art-work -- that's what people pay good money for, because it is there is an intellectual property right in it. How can that compare with mass-produced things made from a template? As it is an art-work, you cannot calculate its value by the amount of materials used. Just like painting; the original is worth many times more than a print although the paint may not cost much!
    • Tasha
      Tasha  •  2 months ago
      So glad that Claires removed the pieces from the shops now. However I must say I do think the originals are stupidly over-priced pieces of tat! It's all about the principle of it for me really. Claires had no right stealing the ideas from the Designer in the first place.
    • Juney
      Juney  •  London, England  •  2 months ago
      Talullah Tu for me is the best for affordable quality fashion jewellery
    • IndieRockker
      IndieRockker  •  2 months ago
      Claire's steal everything.
    • Jayne
      Jayne  •  Cardigan, Wales  •  2 months ago
      I do sympathise - but then if TD are going to charge a bundle, my sympathy wanes somewhat. Where do they have their jewelry made I wonder?
      • Rosie
        Rosie 2 months ago
        Hand made, in their shop, in London. You can watch them work. Or you could get a flight to hina and watch a primary school age kid make it in a sweatshop if you prefer to pay less for your jewellery...
      • Rosie
        Rosie 2 months ago
        That should've said China, obviously! ;-)
      • Cheryl
        Cheryl 2 months ago
        I would be very willing to pay over £100 for the dinosaur necklace, considering it is hand made and thoughtful. With hand made, well thought out stuff you pay more. You pay for the time it takes to create you the beautiful item, you pay for high quality materials and you pay for ethical production. The ones made by Claires have been produced by people, mainly very young Chinese women, for about 20p an hour, working 14 hours a day just to buy some rice to feed themselves and their one child if they have one. I bet the owner of Tatty's has made themselves a nice little retirement fund, and a much deserved one it is too! Claires don't deserve to turn profits created through exploitation.
    • WIGGY
      WIGGY  •  Manchester, England  •  2 months ago
      Direct copying is I think is a no no but I dont really think that Tatty Devine is all that and that there are much better undiscovered jewellry designers out there! A girl on my local market makes and sells much better stuff. People are so influenced by labels and names its quite sad really.
    • A Yahoo! User  •  2 months ago
      Hmmm
    • Angela
      Angela  •  Cambridge, England  •  2 months ago
      i used to shop in claires up until recently my hubby bought some earrings for my birthday and they were bent they were studs and he spent over six pound
      i am very disappointed in claires as i used to shop there for my earrings and bracelets now i think i shall take my custom elsewhere and they are tacky anyway theb stuff don't last long anyway and they fall apart within a few months but having said that i have a pair of earrings that have lasted me six years.
    • IndieRockker
      IndieRockker  •  2 months ago
      Thats why I stick to Rock'N'Rose and Stolen Thunder. :) x
    • Rosie
      Rosie  •  London, England  •  2 months ago
      This is AWFUL and makes me feel really sad - Tatty Devine are really quirky and inspirational and I hate the thought of their stuff being ripped off and mass produced. Shame on Claire's! :-(
    • Tia N
      Tia N  •  Mechelen, Belgium  •  2 months ago
      in the type of world we live in today im pretty sure Tatty Devine waaaaay over price their items anyway. lets not be suckers to the fashion and design industry people...if it can be reproduced to look exactly the same but cheaper...means...that it should be!
    • Baroness Grey
      Baroness Grey  •  2 months ago
      Isn't this what everybody does? Whatever is shown at the High Fashion catwalk events is copied in a High Street shop near you within weeks or even hours. But then High Fashion itself is extremely derivative of previous fads and fashions, or periods in history, from punk- 'inspired' to Downton Abbey- 'inspired'.

      'Inspired' just means they've ripped off someone else's idea, after all!

      But this is the age of the clone - everybody seems to want to look like Cheryl Cole, or Mrs Beckham, or whoever else they are told by the media that they want to look like this week.
      Lack of originality at the top end of the fashion industry filters right down to the bottom, just like the Made In China, disposable, mass-market rubbish it is.
      If you want originality, particularly in jewellery, look for local craftspeople who often produce stunning one-off designs. They may not be as cheap as Claire's etc., but you won't be wearing the same as every other person, and you'll be supporting a British business too.
      • *
        * 2 months ago
        Like Tatty Devine?!
    • A Yahoo! User  •  2 months ago
      peakkkk tymzz on tatty devine
    • AVL
      AVL  •  2 months ago
      C.: lack of ethics - TD: lack of aethetics. Both of them: horrible stuff!
    • Louise
      Louise  •  Manchester, England  •  2 months ago
      Im sorry, but how is Clairs doing anything different to other highstreet stores, who base most of there collections on top designer collections.
    • Lill
      Lill  •  Milton Keynes, England  •  2 months ago
      Claires stuff never lasts a single wear anyways lol
    • Lucy
      Lucy  •  2 months ago
      Even the originals look like something you get in a Christmas cracker! If you want to wear cheap and nasty looking stuff then why not get them from Claires.
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