Marcelo Gaia designed a limited-edition pink silk Valentine's Day set called "Baby I'm Yours." A knockoff on TikTok Shop used Mirror Palais's brand imagery and sold thousands of units for $35, while Mirror Palais sold 18 pairs of shorts and 35 tops priced at $395 and $595. Gaia posted videos on Instagram and TikTok responding, calling out fast-fashion companies and saying the copying happened against his will. Gaia uses candid social media content, addressing "dupes" since 2021, sharing polls, pricing explanations, and behind-the-scenes fittings, which resonated as consumers grew more price-sensitive and trust in luxury brands declined. Mirror Palais has over a million followers across social platforms.
Mirror Palais designer Marcelo Gaia didn't expect fast-fashion companies to take the name of his limited-edition pink silk Valentine's Day set, "Baby I'm Yours," quite so literally. On TikTok Shop, a knockoff of the set - which was advertised using Mirror Palais's own brand imagery - sold thousands of units for just $35 - a substantial leap from the 18 pairs of shorts and 35 tops that Mirror Palais sold for $395 and $595 respectively.
It's the sort of off-the-cuff callout of the fashion industry's more nefarious practices - fast-fashion pedlars ripping off emerging brands' designs and using their imagery to promote counterfeits - that Gaia has become known for on social media. The Queens-born designer and former stylist has taken a decidedly more intimate and vulnerable approach to platforms like Instagram and TikTok: He's addressed "dupes" since 2021, but also shares polls asking customers to weigh in on upcoming designs, explanations of garment pricing and behind-the-scenes glimpses of fittings.
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