Academic Integrity

SUMMARY OF CMU ACADEMIC INTEGRITY POLICIES

Carnegie Mellon University prohibits academic dishonesty. This includes plagiarism, and may consist of: submitting the work of someone else as one’s own; failing to cite assistance you received; or the failure to properly cite materials or ideas from other sources. Many of these problems can be circumvented if you’re clear and generous in giving credit where credit is due. Please read the University Policy on Cheating and Plagiarism (link above) carefully to understand the penalties associated with academic dishonesty at Carnegie Mellon University. I reserve the right to determine an appropriate penalty based on the violation of academic dishonesty that occurs. The penalty for plagiarizing may range from failure on the specific plagiarized assignment to failure in the class. Repeat offenses can result in severe penalties including, potentially, expulsion from the university. If you have any questions about this policy and any work you are doing in the course, please feel free to contact the professor(s) for help.

How Does This Affect This Class?
Fashion operates in a unique space where past cultural styles, a shared repository of knowledge, inspiration, trends, and reinterpretation are integral to its evolution. While it’s true that designers often draw on shared cultural, historical, and aesthetic influences, there is a delicate balance between drawing inspiration, reworking ideas, and outright copying while presenting something as entirely your creation. Unlike many creative fields, the foundation of fashion rests on the collective act of replicating, adapting, and altering patterns, making it a shared and iterative process.

Because of this, fashion design has historically lacked robust copyright protections, particularly for fundamental garment shapes and construction methods, which are considered functional rather than artistic. Much of fashion’s knowledge is considered a shared human inheritance due to its pluralistic historical evolution. However, unique elements such as logos, proprietary prints, or highly distinctive design details and innovations may still be trademarked or copyrighted to prevent direct replication.   

In this course, you will engage with the very basics of patterning, replicating functional and widely recognized styles to build your foundational skills. Even though copying or cloning clothes is an accepted practice in learning and development, students will be adding their unique touch, no matter how small, to the garments they create. This practice helps foster creativity while respecting the collective heritage of fashion. For this reason, plagiarism is not a primary concern in this course, as the emphasis is on skill acquisition and personal interpretation rather than original innovation.

It is hoped that students will gain an appreciation for the labor and expertise involved in drafting basic garments, recognizing the skill and effort that small independent pattern designers invest in their work.