Threadless

WearingInfluences
WearingInfluences aka 4.37 different people one of whom is a 25.26 year old boy, has been a member since September 12, 2007, has scored 908 submissions, giving an average score of 1.98, helping 16 designs get printed.
There is a new store in Wellington, New Zealand, selling rip off Threadless t's. The tags either either say they were Made by our friends in China or Imported into Mexico by.., but those that fall into the first category also state that the shirts were Designed in NZ.

Some of those that were supposedly designed by NZders are:
Nuts!
Peace and Hate: Can you tell the difference?
Death: Our nations number one killer.
Piggy Bank Heist

Others that were "sourced from Mexico"..
Dad?
Technology Ruins Nature
Unicorn
If you can read this, make me a sandwich.
etc (I'm sure there were more, but I can't remember..)

They are all almost identical to those on Threadless, some are printed onto a different colour t but thats about it.

This store is also right around the corner from a stockist of genuine Threadless t's. It is not down some random alleyway, it is, in fact, on a street where many high fashion designers have their stores - across the road from Calvin Klein.

I might expect to see this kind of blatant disregard for copyright at markets or when I went to Thailand, but I'm saddened and pretty angry to see it here.

So what should I do?!?

shirtflirt
shirtflirt on Dec 03 '07 at 8:56pm
burn it to the ground
todiefor
todiefor on Dec 03 '07 at 9:00pm
Have you talked to any of the employee's of the store/contacted threadless?
evil-krusty
evil-krusty on Dec 03 '07 at 9:02pm
eyah go the the official threadless around th corner and ask them what they think.



you may actually achieve something
Pizazz
Pizazz on Dec 03 '07 at 9:07pm
how do these idiots think that nobody is going to notice?
WearingInfluences
WearingInfluences on Dec 03 '07 at 9:16pm
I sent a message to Threadless. Didn't have time to say anything to employees while I was there.. I tried to find out their phone number to speak to them but it appears they haven't had a phone line connected yet.



And lol shirtflirt, I'd love to, but it is a historic building which previously held a retailer that sold premium NZ made outdoor clothing and equipment. That sure changed..
WearingInfluences
WearingInfluences on Dec 03 '07 at 9:31pm
Bad phone photo:

Threadless Rip Offs



But you can see If you can read this make me a sandwich and Dad?.
mad cat
mad cat on Dec 03 '07 at 9:38pm
That sucks!!
Pizazz
Pizazz on Dec 03 '07 at 9:40pm
wow...
starr226
   starr226 on Dec 03 '07 at 9:43pm
Pizazz on Dec 03 '07 at 9:07pm

how do these idiots think that nobody is going to notice?



not every place has the same copyright laws as the US.
WearingInfluences
WearingInfluences on Dec 03 '07 at 9:47pm
Oh you can certainly go to jail or be fined hefty sums of money for this in NZ. I'm sure we're not as strict as the US but this is illegal.
WearingInfluences
WearingInfluences on Dec 03 '07 at 11:43pm
Just remembered, they had Bobshopping too - it is the shirt that is behind the pole in the photo. That actually is designed by a New Zealander...
valorandvellum
   valorandvellum on Dec 03 '07 at 11:51pm
So can anyone do anything about this? Who would you report these people to?
MikeHarding
   MikeHarding on Dec 04 '07 at 12:59am
If the store is called 'Kolektiv' then Threadless have already been notified. Mr Rocks apparently saw it down there and snapped a photo, which was passed on to Glennz who told me of it.



It totally sucks that a store would rip off designs like that, let alone an NZ store ripping off LOCAL designers!
WearingInfluences
WearingInfluences on Dec 04 '07 at 2:05am
Like I said, they have no name out front, it still says Tisdalls (the previous occupants). I remember seeing Kolektiv on the wall tho, so I guess its the same one.



And yeap, it totally sucks.
59 days later
jstarnz
jstarnz on Feb 01 '08 at 1:16pm
Hey, I also emailed Threadless when I first saw them but never heard back. They are alos selling them at the gypsy type stores at the summer events. I was so mad. The other day I went past and none of the copies are hnaging on the wall units or window anymore, but still on the racks.
37 days later
kwest
kwest on Mar 09 '08 at 8:03pm
These people had a stall selling these rip-off shirts at the Womadelaide Festival in Adelaide, South Australia yesterday. I overheard the bloke running the stall saying that he had a 'team' of designers producing these designs for him. Not only were they charging more for their shirts than Threadless, but the t-shirts themselves looked to be very poor quality. They were advertising their website (www.kolektiv.co.nz) but, of course, that's just an 'under construction' home page with no actual company details, like the counterfeiting cowards they are.
Spam69
Spam69 on Mar 09 '08 at 8:09pm
Obviously Threadless own the copy on the designs but if I remember correctly you can't have copyright on slogans.



The more Threadless becomes more and more popular the bigger the problem will become.



I really want bobshopping will someone pick me up a counterfeit please? * joke*
quister
   quister on Mar 09 '08 at 8:42pm
Are they redrawing the designs or are they the originals? Maybe buy one and compare it to an original, (a complicated design would be best). I'm not sure, but I don't believe that the cut dots along a halftone effect can be made exact if they're being re-rendered, (unless they're hiring the same guys that counterfeit money). If they are exact, they must be getting the ORIGINAL vectors from some where, (mmm the plot thickens).
kwest
kwest on Mar 09 '08 at 11:15pm
My partner took pics of a couple of their shirts. He's gone to another music festival today (we wondered whether they'd be selling there too) and will try and post some pics later today, when he comes home with the camera!
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