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argument by the fashion community that their work is art may actually be counterproductive. The second conclusion is that fashion is not art.129 Even though a principled method for conceptually distinguishing fashion from art may no longer exist, the two categories remain distinct, and we can quickly identify fashion by its wearability. However, even if fashion is not art, by exposing the place of fashion in relation to contemporary art, it is easier to understand the arguments of those who desire increased intellectual property protection for fashion. Whereas the argument that fashion designers need economic incentives to create is unsatisfying, it is understandable that in a contemporary culture where it is no longer clear that a principled line exists between fashion and art, members of the fashion community find it increasingly difficult to accept that their work exists within a starkly different legal regime from that of art. III MORAL RIGHTS IN FASHION DESIGN “Design piracy denigrates the integrity of the style.” —Nicole Miller 130 Although the assertion that fashion is art may be misguided, or at least an incomplete solution to problem of design protection, it is undeniable that fashion
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See, e.g., ARNOLD, supra note 51, at 33-34: In [some fashion] designs and presentations, artistic methods are used to comment on the practice of fashion, but this does not necessarily turn their fashion into art. . . . Like other design forms, such as architecture, fashion has its own particular concerns that prevent it from ever being purely art, craft, or industrial design. . . . In fashion’s case, focus on body and cloth, and the fact that it is, usually, designed to be worn and sold, distinguishes it from fine art. However, this does not prevent fashion from being meaningful, and the art world’s continued fascination with fashion underlies its cultural significance. 130 Kristi Ellis, Copyrighting a Dress: Congress Mulling Bill to Protect Designers, WOMEN’S WEAR DAILY, Apr. 26, 2007, at 13.