Intellectual Property rights in fashion in China and the knowledge of young Chinese designers on this topic

With the reopening of Chinas market to foreign trade in 1970, the country has grown in a fast pace. China’s imports tripled from $225 billion in 2000 to $600 billion in 2005, and the country accounted for about 12 per cent of the growth of global trade where it was 4 per cent in 2000. With this immense fast pace of growth, China has made important changes to cope with its foreign investors. Since the country is renowned for its manufacturing capacity, and the large amount of fake goods that are produced, sold and exported China has to level with international standards on the topic of international Intellectual Property rights. Although China has signed several international treaties to reach this goal and is making an effort to improve the situation, the production of fake goods is still a point of discussion for the country itself as well as its business partners. While articles on China’s difficulties on this topic are mainly focussed on problems with laws and regulation, this thesis is concerned with the view of young Chinese fashion designers on the topic of IP rights in fashion in China. What do they think about the problems, and how does this stroke with their own believes? Besides the information derived from qualitative interviews with fashion students who study in China, interviews are held with experts on the topic of IP rights in China. These interviews are an addition to the literature studied on the development of IP rights in China, the differences between countries concerning IP rights, the development of the fashion industry and the way this industry copes with the lack of IP rights in its field. Concluding, this thesis will answer the question to what extent fashion designers and their entourage are protected by IP rights and what should be changed in the field of IP rights in fashion to improve the situation for young Chinese designers in China.