Knockoffs: Articles of Interest #8

Brands hold immense sway over both consumers and the American legal system. Few know this as well as Dapper Dan, who went from street hustler to fashion impresario and has spent time on both sides of American trademark law.

Dapper Dan, image via video by Ashley Graham (CC BY 3.0)

Articles of Interest is a limited-run podcast series about fashion, housed inside the design and architecture podcast 99% Invisible. Launched in 2018, the show encourages people to rethink the way we look at what we wear and what it says about us.

This second season of Articles of Interest features six interlocking episodes examining luxury and our collectively held ideas of glamour across the United States, from Chicago to Canal Street. Think of it like a podcast concept album, with recurring themes and threads that examine the ways we signal success and authenticity in America.

 

Articles of Interest was written and performed by Avery Trufelman, who spoke with Dapper Dan, Tuesday Bassen, and Kal Raustiala for this episode. This season of the show was edited by Chris Berube, scored by Rhae Royal and fact-checked by Tom Colligan; mix and tech production by Sharif Youssef with additional mixing by Katherine Rae Mondo; theme songs by Sasami; photography by Austin Hobart and graphic design by Helen Tseng.

Special thanks to Chris Sprigman and Ariele Elia. Thanks as well as the whole 99pi team for support, insights, and edits, including Joe Rosenberg, Emmett FitzGerald, Vivian Le, Sean Real, Lasha Madan, Kurt Kohlstedt, Delaney Hall, and Katie Mingle. And Roman Mars is the Real McCoy of this whole series.

  1. Kriss

    I’m afraid I HAVE to scream NO at your pronunciation of ‘sobriquet’. Please just LOOK FOREIGN WORDS UP!

  2. E Valentine

    Love the series, really enjoying the new episodes.

    I do wish the website posts would have more images of what Avery describes.

    I often come to 99percentinvisible.org when listening to an episode to get some extra context, and the images really help when it’s an audio only media.

  3. J Parranto

    I actually stopped listening to this episode when I felt like the producer felt it was okay for Dapper Dan to rip off Guchi, Fendi, and the other fashion houses, but it was not okay for them to take an unregistered design (that was using its own logo) and make it their own. I guess I don’t see how making illegal clothing is okay because it was shot at successful companies. I don’t think Tuesday would have appreciated it either.

  4. Dan

    Love to listen to a pod that tiptoes around how messed the economic system of the world is and it unevenly distributes power without using the word capitalism once.

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