SEVEN

As Twitter continues to go crazy today following yesterday’s trending of @clairesstores, the debate rolls on as to when taking inspiration from something you like or admire, goes a little bit too far!

Claire’s Accessories are in a bit of bother for nicking designs from Tatty Devine - you can see what Tatty Devine had to say on the matter on their blog here: 

http://www.tattydevine.com/blog/2012/02/can-you-spot-the-difference/

In a way it’s a compliment that Claire’s love Tatty Devine’s style so much that they would want to go to these lengths to align themselves with the brand. But on such a blatant scale and across a number of products, this is by no means an accident - and surely it isn’t something Claire’s ever thought they could get away with unnoticed?

In today’s consumer market, it is tough to come up with something original for every new product or ad campaign… But you can’t just go around nicking someone else’s stuff and claiming it as your own? Where does that leave your brand anyway - if anything this story has just made me more aware of Tatty Devine’s range and has inspired me to go buy from them, boycotting Claire’s forever (that is, if I still shopped there anyway!)

I think the biggest thing to come out of this story though, is the way Claire’s have handled the situation. They could have come out of this with a statement or apology - some way of retaining their dignity. Instead, they have purposefully chosen to ignore angry Facebook messages and Tweets from customers and have gone as far as to delete them, rather than posting a reply or explaining their actions. Tut tut Claire’s - probably not the best way to handle it - if anything adding fuel to the fire!

It will be interesting to see how this one plays out… In the meantime, come payday, I reckon I’ll be heading over to http://www.tattydevine.com/ and stocking up on some cute summer accessories. Win!