Vetements, the upstart collective built on a combination of elevated grit and Martin Margiela antecedents that has become the darling of French fashion, has proved influential in any number of ways, sparking a renaissance in the industry’s fascination with street style and the exaggerated silhouette that culminated in its one of its founders, Demna Gvasalia, being named artistic director of Balenciaga. Which means that Vetements’ recent reaction to a parody garment created by Davil Tran, a 22-year-old from Brooklyn, could be something of a turning point.
Mr. Tran, an architecture student who lives with his parents in the Bensonhurst neighborhood, was inspired by the Vetements raincoat, a black polyester hooded number that resembles old Polizei-style raincoats but with a white Vetements logo across the back (you can get it on eBay for 300 pounds, or about $430). He created his own version with the word “Vetememes” in white capital letters across the back.
The result is available to pre-order for $59 and has created a quasi-sensation since its debut on the web this week. It has been featured on Vogue.com and refinery29.com, and Mr. Tran says he has had inquiries from the Netherlands, China and Korea.
“I had no idea it would blow up this big,” Mr. Tran said on the telephone from his apartment, where he was getting ready for school.
Mr. Tran, who also has a job helping administer the e-commerce site Grailed.com, said he had been collecting fashion by brands like Comme des Garçons and Yohji Yamamoto since he was in high school and decided to create the Vetememes parody coat because “you can’t see a street star without seeing Vetements, and it just made me think of a meme.” Given Vetements’ own appropriation of logos from DHL to Champion, it never occurred to him that his usage could be an issue.
However, in recent years many brands have taken a notably aggressive approach to protecting their images and intellectual property. The action can make sense when it is related to a high street brand obviously copying a runway look, but the approach has been extended to humorous takeoffs, as when Yves Saint Laurent went after a T-shirt company in 2013 for selling a style emblazoned with the words “Ain’t Laurent without Yves” (a response to the new artistic director Hedi Slimane’s decision to rename the ready-to-wear line Saint Laurent). It caused some understandable eye-rolling among industry-watchers and consumers, but not enough to significantly alter the brand mood.
As a result, the website thefashionlaw.com wrote a long meditation on whether, by making the raincoat, Mr. Tran exposed himself to possible litigation. The conclusion: possibly, but there were some important mitigating factors.
Mr. Tran said he had been contacted by a wholesaler, though he did not want to identify which one, who was interested in selling the Vetememes raincoats, but the company also wanted approval from Vetements. You can understand the reaction, given that when the Paris concept store Colette sold the Saint Laurent parody T-shirts, the brand disinvited the retailer from its runway show and declined to work with it.
The Vetements folks, however, seem more amused than charged up by Mr. Tran’s homage. “Vetements will not be filing any lawsuits over the Vetememes raincoat and hope that he has enjoyed making his project as much as we do making our clothes,” Mr. Gvasalia said in an email.
Well, there you go.
That will probably come as something of a relief to Mr. Tran, who said he had not bothered to consult a lawyer when making his raincoat, and who is kind of hoping that his newfound fame might lead to a life in fashion as opposed to architecture. “I’m just a dumb kid,” he said, and then added: “Hopefully, I can use this to create more stuff.”
Beyond his own career, however, the Vetements case — or lack of it — could have potentially broader implications, especially given Mr. Gvasalia’s role at Balenciaga, which is owned by Kering, which also happens to own Saint Laurent. It’s never a bad thing when fashion can laugh, or at least chuckle, at itself.
