Monstre De La Mode: 2015

Steve Madden is a big player in the fashion world; mid-price range, trendy pieces and generally pretty accessible, the name-sake brand has become a powerhouse since its founding in 1990. Regardless of your interest in fashion, or maybe a lack thereof, you have probably heard of Steve Madden at one point or another. A brand that you are less likely to have heard of is Mansur Gavriel - the New York based design label focusing primarily on leather handbags founded by Rachel Mansur and Floriana Gavriel in 2012. To say that this label is less well known than Steve Madden is an understatement as on the day I am writing this, they do not even have a Wikipedia page. Their lack of recognition outside of the die-hard fashion obsessed is not warranted, however, as their designs are sleek and unique and carry some fairly hefty price-tags in the range of Michael Kors and Marc Jacobs. So what do the two seemingly unrelated brands have in common?

Their bucket bags.

Bucket Bags popularized in early 2014 because of their fresh, trendy appearance and practical size and design. Soon every brand from Old Navy to YSL had their own version and Mansur Gavriel was right there with them, and in my opinion had the hands down best version of the bag. Their's came equipped with beautiful Italian leather and a unique selection of brightly coloured interiors paired with neutral exteriors for a result that was definitely a winner and put their name on the map with a plethora of celebrities.

Mansur Gavriel Bucket Bag in Flamma

The connection with Steve Madden comes in when I was walking through my local Hudson's Bay store and spotted a bucket bag with Mansur Gavriel's quintessential black interior and crimson interior, however I could tell from a mile away that this was no MG original, but an impostor! Upon closer inspection I discovered the perpotrator of this heinous act of imitation was none other than Steve Madden, a brand that although not always my style, I had come to respect. The bag was so similar to the untrained eye, and yet had so many features that made it simply inferior to the MG version. Firstly the bag was made out of PVC, a popular synthetic plastic, rather than a good-quality leather, secondly the drawstrings were complete with horribly unfitting tassels that did not flow well with the overall look of the bag, and finally it was noticeable slouchier than the MG version, a feature that I personally dislike in handbags. Other than those details the Steve Madden Bgemma Bucket Bag (what kind of name is that?) was quite a fantastic copy of the Mansur Gavriel Bucket Bag, but that was just the problem, it is an evident copy. What I further discovered is that the name of the MG bag with the red interior is the Flamma, likely due to the fact that the red of the bag is like the red of fire and flamma is similar to the word for flame in many European language, and Flamma seems strikingly similar to Gemma (the name of the SM version), but maybe thats looking too far into it.

Steve Madden Bgemma Bucket Bag

It seems to me that Steve Madden, the popular and well-established brand, has made a significantly cheaper version of the bag that has become iconic in the fashion world. The coloured interior of the MG bucket bag is like the Red Sole of Christian Louboutin; although MG has not yet reached Louboutin status, the essence is the same.

Is is unfortunate that a brand so established as Steve Madden felt the need to take the design of Mansur Gavriel and pass it off as their own, without so much as permission or credit. Similar cases have occured with brands such as Chrisitan Louboutin, however because of Louboutin's established popularity, they were able to obtain justice when the iconic red sole was copied. It is unclear whether Mansur Gavriel will have any response to Steve Madden for their inexcusable actions, but I hope that in some form, Mansur Gavriel get the justice they deserve.