FACT: Creatives don't like to be copied 🚫
ANOTHER FACT: Creatives copy all the time 😅
Clint419 is an embodiment of both of these facts. And Corteiz has been both a victim and perpetrator as far as copying goes ©️
In August, I came across a post where Jeff Hamilton called out Clint for creating a "knock-off" of his iconic LA Lakers 2001 Championship Leather Jacket, which was eternalised by Kobe Bryant (RIP) 🥀
Again, today I saw Jeff make the same comment on a Corteiz post, denouncing Clint's rendition of the popular jacket 😬
Clint has directly called out a number of designers and brands, including Boohoo and Maniere De Voir, that have copied his designs in the past. But he has also produced a number of Corteiz products that are based on another brand's work🤷🏾♂️
Items like the CRTZ 'little bag' backpacks (based on Nike Brasilia Just Do It bags) and the plastic drawstring bags (based on JD Sports bags) can pass as paying homage. An ode to British youth culture (last slide) 🎒
The CRTZ Skydive leather jackets look similar to an Avirex Icon Bomber jacket. Clint even used the fact he rejected Avirex's late proposal for a collab to promote his own leather jacket. But tbf the design is fairly common and would be based on creative inspiration at worst (slide 8) 💭
But the Jeff Hamilton inspired leather jacket would be the equivalent of copying someone's homework verbatim, then using a thesaurus to change a few keywords 🤣
The game is the game, I guess 🎮
I would like to see a CRTZ x Jeff Hamilton collab at some point. Jeff collaborated with Supreme 5 years after they did a collab with Nike which copied his style without crediting him. So a Corteiz collab isn't necessarily off the table