Let’s Talk about The Strawberry Dress
What a Dress Meme can tell us about Fast Fashion and Art Theft.
What is the Strawberry Dress?
If you’ve spent any time on Twitter, or Instagram these past two weeks, chances are you’ve seen this drool worthy Dress by Lirika Matoshi, aptly dubbed as the infamous “Strawberry Dress.” This midi length, millennial pink, sequin and tulle dress has over 10,000 images on Instagram, and has become so popular the designer states that demand has gone up by 738% in the first 10 days of August compared to July. It’s become such a phenomenon that it’s sparked dozens of DIY videos on youtube, as well as as article in the New York Post.
This $490 dress really seems to have captured consumer’s hearts with dozens of meme’s and fan art celebrating it’s design. The most popular of which seems to state
“Girl’s Don’t Want Boys, Girl’s Want Strawberry Dress”
This obvious hype has led to a large influx of knock-offs from places like Aliexpress, Shein, and other fast fashion retailers, offering the dress at a heavily discounted rate causing many consumers who were originally put off by the price to flock to these sites in droves.
So why is it almost $500?
To understand this we will need to look at the designer of the dress, Lirika Matoshi and her sister/business partner Teuta Matoshi. The Kosovo natives pride themselves on sustainability sourcing all their fabric from Pristina as well as paying all 40 staff members a living wage. Coming from a place where unemployment is high, particularly for woman both Lirika and Teuta have hired a 100% female team across both their workshop in Kosovo as well as their workshop in New York City. Their marketing material features women of all sizes and ethnicities, and is echoed in their commitment to diversity.
This on top of the fact that they design all of their pieces from scratch as well hand make a majority of their works it explains why this as well as their other dresses are priced at a premium.
Fast Fashion retailers don’t have the same costs, and therefore can afford to price their pieces much lower.
Why is this an issue?
Many of my friends as well as others online seem to be under the impression and due to the pricing of the dress, they are in the right for ordering dupes. That $500 for a dress creates a classist barrier for those that want to experience the dress, and due to this barrier they’re “allowed” to purchase the dupes. Personally, I find a $500 dress to be inaccessible but neither I nor anyone else is entitled to Lirika Matoshi’s original work. I love how this dress looks and I want it, but that’s just what it is, a want, I don’t need this dress and i’m not entitled to commit art theft just so I can own it.
The current culture around clothes and fashion quite literally breeds entitlement, we’re so use to being able to purchase anything we want for under $50 at H and M, Forever 21, Shein, and Aliexpress that when faced with the fact that there exists something that we can not have, people refuse to accept it and look for other ways. The top related topic associated with the Strawberry Dress is Aliexpress, showing that a large chunk of those celebrating the dress are also not supporting the artist.
I understand wanting this dress, or wanting another piece of art, and i’m not saying that if you want this dress the only path forward is to cough up the $500. I am saying however that when what we like about dress is the design, we ought to support the designer, or at the very least NOT support those who steal from that designer.
To Conclude.
The narrative surrounding this dress, is indicative of a much larger problem. This is not the first instance of a smaller artist losing out on an opportunity because they do not have the means to compete in an industry where unsustainability, and underhanded business practices are rewarded by the consumer.
Today more than ever we are voting with our wallets, as millennials and Gen-Zers are pushing back against fast fashion. However the phenomenon surrounding the Strawberry Dress is one that highlights a flaw in our armor.
If we really want to make a change, then it boils down to us showing that we’re willing to not own something, in order to stop supporting the systems working opposite our interests.
“Girls don’t want Strawberry Dress, Girls want Change”
We are desperately trying to claw our way back from the fast fashion landscape, the horrible working conditions, the plastic fabrics that take eons to break down, and to see a brand doing everything right. From being sustainable, to supporting woman, being original, supporting diversity, and championing fair working conditions, only to have their design be stolen and those stolen pieces to be purchased by the same people talking about how much they love it, is actively working against our goals. We need to do better, if we want better.