The Latvian design brand “mammalampa” is widely known for Ieva Kalėja’s work – the airy paper braid lamp “Līgava”, the price of which on the brand’s website ranges from 444 to 788 euros. The popular trend “do it yourself!” or DIY representative Aiva created something similar herself, and boasted about what she achieved on social networks. The young aspirant received reprimands for plagiarism, profanity, stealing ideas, including upsetting Kalėju herself.
The idea of making a lampshade for a floor lamp out of culinary baking paper has been in her head for a long time – Aiva had seen similar ideas on the Internet, but she did not connect them in any way with the work of the domestic designer, which has already gained recognition in many parts of the world.
“Many defended the authors of the fake, saying that the girl made it only for her own needs. But the social network factor is important here. If she had really made it only for her own needs, no one would know about it and there would be no problem. But by making the work public, she has a kind of advantage – to gain popularity by presenting someone else’s idea as her own and receiving compliments for this idea. It is not quite as innocent as it might seem at the first moment. Even if she does not have a commercial intention,” said Kalėja.
