The Perceptions of Apparel Design and Merchandising Students on Creativity and Apparel Design Copyright

Abstract

The purpose of this study was to explore fashion design and merchandising students’ perception of creativity and the copyright protection of apparel design. A survey with open-ended questions was developed and distributed to a total of 100 fashion major students with specializations in apparel design and merchandising from three different universities located in a northwestern state of the United States. A majority of respondents showed their awareness that copying apparel design is ethically wrong and counterfeiting is legally wrong. They were able to distinguish between copying and interpreting and were aware that incorporating limited elements from inspirations was ethically acceptable. However, many of the students look for design inspiration from secondary sources, such as existing designers’ works which they observe over the Internet, magazines, fashion shows, and store shopping, which may pose them to the temptation to copy such ideas. Although fashion copyright protection law has yet to become enacted, a majority of respondents support passage of fashion copyright protection law. The results give support to the needs for addressing the creative problem-solving processes and ethical decision-making jointly within apparel design and merchandising curriculum.