Is upcycling designer fashion innovation or infringement?

Upcycling a fashion item to extend its usability instead of trashing it might be a sustainable and even rewarding practice for consumers. But what about companies that produce those items? It turns out they harbor mixed views on the practice. The issue surfaced last month when Louis Vuitton lost a court battle here against a repair shop in Seoul’s Gangnam District that for years repaired the brand’s handbags and other items for customers, changing their designs. While the French luxury brand argued trademark infringement, its defeat highlighted the growing practice among Korean consumers of modifying their products and raised new questions for fashion firms about how freely their items can be altered. Some companies said the consumer practice can create concerns about brand image. They argued that if the upcycling job was done by inexperienced crafters and resulted in a poorly constructed product emblazoned with the brand's logo, the brand's public image could be damaged. The consequences could be more damaging for more luxurious and high-end brands. “With the Supreme Court’s dec