November 17 2009
How Do You Sleep?
posted by Ana Samways at 4:18 pm
The above images are of a a high-end Orla Kiely designed duvet set (left) and The Warehouse’s Republic Revolution “Glendhu Bay” duvet set (right). Similar huh?
Republic Revolution is a designer homeware brand for The Warehouse, procured by Peter Reid and Graham Dickie, who run Ponsonby Road retailer Republic Home and appear on various television makeover shows.
Glendhu Bay, which is on the shores of Lake Wanaka, sounds fairly local and while manufactured in Asia, was designed by Reid and Dickie. According to the Warehouse’s Andrea Kenworthy, the pair “seek inspiration from overseas, but wouldn’t copy another design.”
I find it hard to believe that any designer worth their salt hasn’t heard of Orla Kiely or would be unaware of her signature design above. With sales exceeding £100m in the past seven years, and a Hollywood following you’d have to be living under a rock.
According to the Times Online : “Her 20-year career has seen her work with Heal’s, the Tate, Harrods, Marks & Spencer, Sainsbury’s, Dulux and, most recently, Maggie’s Centres. Kiely and Rowan have maintained control over their company, despite many buyout attempts. They employ 46 people in the UK and have 16 stores worldwide, with 12 in Japan, where she enjoys almost cult status.”
Small Acorns, the New Zealand retailers of Orla Kiely bed linen in New Zealand, have notified Orla Keily Ltd and have been told no permission have been granted in this case. And I’d say Kiely would be hopping mad at this Warehouse imitation.
UPDATE: The Warehouse has pulled the range of bed linen off the shelves saying the design was very similar to that of internationallly renowned designer Orla Kiely.
I asked the designers of the Warehouse product, Peter Reid and Graham Dickie, if they were aware of the Orla Kiely’s Stem Print.
“The sample we brought back to New Zealand a year ago, along with hundreds of other products collected on that trip, was Orla Kiely’s multi-coloured small stem and leaf print. We were unaware she had designed a larger stem and leaf print, or that other colours existed, until last week.”
So, they copied it, but made it bigger? I then asked if they thought their Glendhu Bay duvet design was the same as the Orla Kiely one.
“We see a lot of similarity in the product purchased in Wellington and our Glendhu Bay duvet cover, however we were unaware that such a similar product existed until this was brought to our attention last week, as the Glendhu Bay range was interpreted from the multi-colour small stem and leaf pattern which differs in more elements than the products now being compared.”
So they didn’t know anyone in New Zealand stocked Orla Kiely, so thought they wouldn’t get caught out? And all this went through a PR filter…
November 12th, 2009 at 9:53 pm
Are Small Acorns & Orla Kiely going to even more pissed when they see the great job spareroom has done giving the Warehouse knock-off a free plug? Why not title this page “save $86 on your duvet cover”?
November 13th, 2009 at 6:58 am
I think that is a really unfair comment Ubu.
If Orla Kiely sues The Warehouse for copyright infringment, any increased public awareness about the duvet generated by this post will hardly be of a positive nature.
It amazes me how a pair of wealthy retailers/designers who have arguably ripped of a major international designer and are making money out of it, is not what gets your back up… what seems to make you indignant is that our site features a Warehouse product.
November 13th, 2009 at 7:08 am
Good on spareroom to point out this lameness. Even if Republic is a shop load of cheap Indonesian knock-offs for styleless metro goobers, they should be taken to task. There’s a nasty trait in NZ to falsely claim originality and work of others. Katherine Mansfield nicked Chekhov wholesale, even Witi’s been caught out recently. In biz TradeMe was venerated as a kiwi original ignoring Ebay. Take a listen to NZ music, often appallingly derivative, but is applauded and even wins awards. No, better to speak out, it’s about more than uncovering dirty duvet business.
November 13th, 2009 at 8:37 am
Haha, the Warehouse have pulled the page of their website. Looks like someones going to get a grumpy phonecall…
November 13th, 2009 at 8:48 am
There’s still an Orla Kiely “inspired” cushion online!
November 13th, 2009 at 9:19 am
Wow – great minds think alike but thinking identically?
By the way Ana, I’m loving that Kiely hold-all in raspberry. Steep price but still…
November 13th, 2009 at 10:49 pm
Not at all Ana – I commend you for highlighting the potential copyright infringement. I work in an industry that depends on IP rights so fully support you in this issue – it is the fact they appear to have blatantly ripped off the design that gets me. I’m not indignant its the Warehouse, it wouldn’t have mattered which retailer it was, from some backyard weekend market operator right to an international brand. But if I was you I wouldn’t have included the link to the (in this case) knock-off site and possibly not have even named the knock-off retailer, and therefore have driven customers to purchase from them, that’s all. I hope the Warehouse gets everything that’s coming to them. Hopefully you can see we’re on the same page here – I would have done my bit to stick up for the original designer and not done anything to support those who might be infringing their IP.
November 16th, 2009 at 1:13 pm
I doubt anyone who reads this article is going to be driven to buy the knock-off via the Warehouse link Ana supplied. Any blogger worth their salt would supply a source link, and furthermore I think a ‘name and shame’ is actually entirely appropriate in this case.
Chill, ubu, chill.
November 17th, 2009 at 9:23 pm
Well, my friend Kebabette was questioning her taste as she thought the duvet set rather fetching, but from the Warehouse?
Imagine her relieve when I informed her that she was feeling lustful over something ripped off from an upmarket European designer.
November 18th, 2009 at 8:41 am
I’m with Clint on this one, the boot needs putting in. This is more than Reid & Dickie ripping off a duvet design, it’s about them ripping off the designation ‘Designer” Their comments give them up, maybe they’re run of the mill importers of Indonesian junk, two-bit merchants of mediocre tat – possibly, but ‘designers’ they are not.
November 18th, 2009 at 10:46 am
If anyone wants one…i saw these on still on sale yesterday at The Warehouse Lyall Bay. I noticed because i had heard last week via Small Acorns blog about the ripped off design.
November 19th, 2009 at 9:29 am
Leah, what a strange post to make – did you read the above article at all?
Anyone who buys this duvet cover, knowing that it is a blatant rip-off, is pretty much as bad as the so called designers, in my opinion.