Dupes, Design and The Law: When Is Inspiration Theft?

When Dunnes Stores released a €15 tote in 2024 that looked strikingly like Longchamp’s iconic Le Pliage, the debate reignited: where does inspiration end and infringement begin? Dupes aren’t counterfeits, but they blur legal and cultural lines—praised as accessible by some, condemned as theft by others. The Longchamp case may reshape fashion’s uneasy balance between originality and imitation.