TO CREATE OR NOT TO CREATE: The Unspoken Risks of Gifted Collaborations
By Christy Kioko
Now, they say imitation is the highest form of flattery, but what if it comes with a missed paycheck?
On July 22nd, Seattle’s very own Mary Korlin-Downs was shocked to discover that her creative concepts were unfairly used in the recent Marc Jacobs partnership with Tik-Tok influencer Nara Smith. Eager to know more, we called Mary to get the inside scoop on the marketing idea that has received extensive praise from major media outlets such as The Cut, Complex, and The Independent.
Source: Mary Korlin-Downs on Instagram
THE SCOOP
On Monday morning, Mary was facilitating her weekly meetings running her startup, Crop’d, when she received a notification from our team member, Bee Nieves that Marc Jacobs had posted a video featuring Nara Smith “baking” a cherry red Marc Jacobs tote bag from scratch—a concept that Mary had done for the fashion house back in December last year. However, when she did it, it was a gifted collaboration between her and the brand, unpaid with no formal terms and agreements.
What makes it worse is the video that Nara created seems to be a mix of not one but two videos Mary had created as gifted collaborations, one with Marc Jacobs and the other with Levi’s, in hopes of developing relationships with the brands that would eventually lead to paid brand deals. Unfortunately, it seems that rather than paying her for her creative work, Marc Jacobs used the same concept to promote the same bag with a bigger creator, this time with a budget. Nara Smith, who has a massive platform on TikTok with over 8 million followers, used the concept of “baking” the infamous Tote Bag from scratch, which is very on-brand as her following has come from making food and drinks she craves from home. However, it’s not the first time Nara has been accused of “stealing” content from smaller creators, so this situation made us all raise our eyebrows in the familiarity of the accusations.
Though the video Nara created is not completely identical, there were many similarities, as Mary highlights in her response to those in Nara’s defense, which we applaud for her grace:
FROM THE EDITOR
I remember watching her original video when it came out in December, and thinking to myself, “This is genius!” When I asked her how she came up with the concept, she said, “I remember cherries being in trend at that time, and I had gotten the red cherry-colored Marc Jacobs bag a few weeks before. “So I just thought, let me just grab some cherries and throw it in the oven…you know, do a reverse shrink-a-dink and have it blossom into this bag like a loaf of bread.” She had a very clear vision: 1 singular cherry, 1 singular bag. And the song, “Cherry” by Lana Del Ray, happened to fit the clip perfectly.
Naturally, she has the right to be upset. Imagine having the opportunity to work with a major fashion brand like Marc Jacobs, only for them to knock off your video that they never interacted with or paid for! However, Mary did share with me that she’s “not that enraged about it”, and that, in her eyes, situations like these happen often in many industries. “It’s just so unfortunate that it’s really hard to copyright and make sure your ideas stay your ideas and no one else can steal them. But we are living in this world of creative people–how do you monitor that? It’s people’s brains!” While it’s true that there is not much she can do, Mary shares that she is “thankful for her wits” to have even curated such an idea in the first place. “Marc Jacobs, Nara, whoever…they don’t have my brain. They can’t think like me…it’s one idea, I will have plenty more, and unless they continue to take from me and other small creators, they are always going to be limited in their thoughts,” she told us. “It’s not going to stop me.”
Mary also exclaimed that if Marc Jacobs had simply communicated with her that they wanted to use her concept with Nara, she would have happily allowed them to do so, and would have helped promote the video. “To say that I could work with Marc Jacobs would be the coolest thing in the world. But they still have yet to contact me,” she said in regards to the situation.
Given the controversy around the partnership, we believe Marc Jacobs could have done more to protect the creators involved. Since Monday, the video Mary posted in response has garnered over 700,000 views on TikTok, while Marc Jacob’s climbed to over 11 million, and both parties are receiving waves of comments, many in defense of both Mary and Nara. “It’s a very sad situation, but no one knows what actually went on behind the scenes…but Marc Jacobs could have done more to prevent this outbreak of conversation, to protect me and Nara. Right now, I am giving her the benefit of the doubt.”
Source: Mary Korlin-Downs on Instagram
When I asked her if the experience changes how she sees the brand, Mary shared that she is willing to make amends if the opportunity presents itself. “I know this is common in the fashion world, and I know they will do anything for the views or the sales, so I don’t put it past them for doing this.” She added, “It’s upsetting because Marc Jacobs, Loewe, and Jacquemus are the three brands I look up to from a creative standpoint in the fashion world. But then it got me thinking, do Jacquemus and Loewe steal people’s ideas too? You never know.”
With the virality of the video drama, Mary has received some hate for her reaction to the video, with some comments being about race, and some labeling her a clout chaser by hardcore Nara supporters. “I think I handled myself very well…it’s going to be okay. This is all on my phone. People are commenting because they are bored, but I am not letting it bother me. I would say the majority of the internet is on my side.”
At least she can sleep knowing that Nara Smith knows who she is. More importantly, the controversy has gifted her with a bigger platform across her social media pages.
How does this situation change how you choose to partner with brands going forward?
“Well, I don’t usually accept any gifted collabs, but I chose to work with luxury fashion and beauty brands because I wanted to develop a relationship with them, but at this point, if a well-known brand comes to me with a gifted collab inquiry, it’s a hard no.” Get your coin, sis! Mary now knows that her ideas are worth BIG money. At the same time, she is seeing both brands and fans praising Marc Jacobs, some calling their marketing team geniuses, others saying the video is “the marketing campaign of the year”.
“It was very much a confidence boost where I was like, okay. Maybe I do have what it takes to do this.”
Moral of the story
While the situation with our friend Mary was very unfortunate, it poses a bigger question: How can creators protect themselves from theft when sharing ideas online? In a time where brands must do what they can to stay relevant in the digital world, we will undoubtedly see more creative fashion campaigns with giants like Marc Jacobs—but how do we know what’s original and what’s not? It's not yet possible to put a patent on digital ideas, and, if so, it would be extremely expensive. Patent attorneys charge $10,000 and above, with the entire process costing upwards of $20,000. There were also no legal terms or conditions formally agreed upon between Mary and Marc Jacobs. It’s safe to say that both brands and creators can learn from this experience, and there is hope that such atrocities won’t be repeated. Check out this article to read about how PR teams can avoid similar backlash.
Any advice for creatives?
“We are all going to be on this journey together…so make time in your day for you to step away from your obligations and be creative. Whether that’s brainstorming for 10-30 minutes, or getting off your device and thinking outside the box.” This is what surged her to come up with the idea for Marc Jacobs in the first place when she had been laid off from her job last year. Now, Mary spends at least 30 minutes each morning to write down new ideas. “The more you exercise your brain as a muscle, the more creative it’s going to be. Think of your brain as your body—when you work out, you feel better, so when you use your brain creatively, it’s only going to get stronger.” Mary also recommends reading the books, “Known” and “The Creative Habit”.
