Fashion’s love-hate relationship with bootlegging - Vogue Business

Back in February 2020, shortly before the pandemic shut down fashion events, American designer Tommy Hilfiger staged a star-studded TommyNOW spring show at London’s Tate Modern. Meanwhile, across town at a studio in Seven Sisters, North London, a very different event took place. Sports Banger, the British bootlegger and creative, showed his homage to Hilfiger at an off-schedule fashion event.

“When I bootleg a brand, it can go a few different ways,” says Sports Banger founder Jonny Banger. “They will either work with you, sue you, blacklist you or send you some free trainers.” On this occasion, the response was positive. Hilfiger’s team called Banger in October 2020 and invited him to collaborate with the brand on new project Tommy’s Drop Shop, working with different creatives for a series of limited clothing drops, sold in Europe on Tommy.com.

“Creative collaboration sparks so much fresh energy — in myself, the brand and our global community,” Hilfiger tells Vogue Business. “It’s why we have invited artists to play with and reimagine the brand for over 35 years... Working together is one way we have, and will continue, to keep our finger on the pulse of pop culture.”

Bootlegging, a term used to describe the illegal manufacture, sale or distribution of goods, can be interpreted in many ways in today’s hyper-connected world, from counterfeit logos to hybridising brands in a garment or accessory (without their consent).

From Sports Banger to luxury upcyclers Ancuta Sarca and disruptors MSCHF, fashion brands and retailers are warming to the idea of allowing their brands and logos to be reinterpreted. This trend has emerged as DIY fashion continues to thrive and luxury houses seek new ways to reach micro-communities online.

In the internet age, there’s a hybridity to everything, observes writer and curator Anastasiia Fedorova, who curated an exhibition at London’s Fashion Space Gallery in early 2020 titled The Real Thing, which focused on bootlegging as a creative practice. “There’s a lack where subcultures used to be because these days, everything merges and everything is accessible,” she says. “There’s a need for a meaningful symbol of belonging, which fashion brands can be.”

Banger is increasingly approached for collaborations as brands find new ways to reach communities, he says. “Brands are often so out of touch, they want to make things a bit more personal. Bootlegging can provide that,” he explains. “Bootlegging comes from the people, reclaiming logos for themselves.”

MSCHF X combined 10 streetwear brands in a limited run of unique T-shirts, retailed at $1010.10 each.

Tommy’s Drop Shop has worked with an array of creatives, from London’s Studio Zome to Melbourne street artist Mysterious Al, encouraging each to reinterpret the Tommy Jeans logo. The initiative, which was launched last December, follows on from ready-to-wear, see-now-buy-now collaborations with the likes of Zendaya, Gigi Hadid and Formula 1 superstar Lewis Hamilton.

“The artists we choose to partner with don’t need to fit into a certain box. In fact, we’d rather they didn’t,” Hilfiger says. “We seek out creatives who do things differently — who break the mould of what’s expected. Sports Banger is famous for taking iconic logos and adding a new layer of depth.”

The buzz around creative destruction

Last month, New York collective MSCHF broke the internet with the release of a pair of Birkenstocks, created from deconstructed Hermès Birkin bags. Named Birkinstocks, the shoes were produced in a sold-out limited run of 10 and retailed at up to $76,000 a pair (depending on shoe size and finish). The release follows previous projects including a Nike shoe filled with “holy water”, MSCHF X, a hybrid of 10 streetwear brands displayed across a series of T-shirts and it’s latest, a false collaboration between Chanel No.5 and Axe Body Spray.

“People today are really interested in this creative destruction of high price, things turned into other things,” says MSCHF head of strategy and growth Daniel Greenberg. “With the Birkin bag, it’s seen as sacred by some people but we say internally that nothing is sacred. One reason it’s appealing for us and for the internet is that it’s voyeurism — people get to see something that they’ve never seen.”

Fedorova believes the satisfaction of brand recognition creates appeal around bootlegging as a practice or aesthetic. “It’s almost an equivalent of a meme language. Everybody knows brands. They are something which people in so many countries of so many different backgrounds can recognise in a second,” she says. “Putting things together which don’t quite match or align, but are understandable for everyone, creates a very powerful effect.”

In 2020, MSCHF drops created more than a half a billion views on social media, including TikTok, Twitter, YouTube and Instagram, Greenberg says. The majority were on Gen Z-dominated platform TikTok, he adds, highlighting the resonance of bootlegged or reconstructed fashion for young people. The hashtag #bootleg has 46.5 million views on TikTok.

The MSCHF Birkinstocks, produced in a limited run for $76,000 a pair.

By outsourcing creativity and endorsing bootlegging, brands can laugh at themselves, says Karina van den Oever, partner and retail analyst at consultancy Elixirr. That ties in neatly with fashion’s current fascination with humour and irony, boosted by unfiltered content platforms such as TikTok. “Fashion used to be all about exclusivity,” explains van der Oever. “I think they're realising that these bootlegging activities are going to happen — let’s just be authentic and be part of it and actually embrace it.”

“Brands have offered a lot of money for us to knock them off,” says Greenberg. “They see what we did for Hermès or Birkenstocks or Nike and they want us to do the same with their product.”

Bootleggers embedded in micro-communities

For Tommy Hilfiger, handing over his logo doesn’t feel like a risk. “We want our partners to surprise us,” he says. “Their unique visions of the world bring a bold twist to our classics. By giving creative freedom, artists have the space to express themselves, tell their personal story and share their style. That’s what makes our collaborations stand out time and time again.”

This approach is building momentum. “All brands are trying to innovate their business models to drive hype and scarcity,” says Sarah Willersdorf, global head of luxury at Boston Consulting Group. “All the most powerful marketing has been relying on social media and community. What you’re doing when you partner with a cultural protagonist is tap into their audience.”

Bootlegging often takes a political stance, which is attractive to young consumers. Sports Banger’s designs regularly satirise the UK press and criticise the government — he is currently producing 1% T-shirts to protest a pitiful pay rise for nurses proposed by the UK government. Sports Banger is also a community organisation: in 2020, it raised more than £100,000 for the UK’s National Health Service with the sale of NHS x Nike bootlegged T-shirts, setting up food banks and delivering meals to NHS workers and vulnerable families.

“I’m inspired by the way [Sports Banger] translates pop culture into meaningful products and experiences. He makes people think, and that’s what I’m all about,” Tommy Hilfiger comments. “Our fans are always excited to see us tap into new forms of creativity with speed and energy. They love that we don’t shy away from celebrating diverse perspectives. The more we explore, the more our fans get to discover and relate to.”

Bigger brands should tap into super fans, brand advocates and smaller communities, says Willersdorf. “If you think about it from the consumer perspective, never before have individuals wanted to feel more part of a community. The ability for brands of all price points to tap into mega fans and advocates is really important.”

For brands, aligning with bootlegging can bring them to new cultural communities. But like any collaboration, it must be built on a real affinity. “The whole question of bootleg was always about brand authenticity,” says Fedorova. “Now, we’re talking about the authenticity of brands using bootlegging as a practice, it’s kind of absurd.”

Whether or not it’s true bootlegging, Tommy Hilfiger plans to continue with his unexpected collaborations. “We will never stop seeking out fresh perspectives,” he says. “Wherever there are creative minds ready to express themselves through fashion, there is an opportunity to collaborate.”

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