When - quite a number of years ago - The Saint Bede Studio began designing vestments for the Sacred Liturgy, several decisions were made about how this work would be conducted. One of those decisions was that the Studio would never copy the work of contemporary vestment-makers, but always look to much older extant vestments and Sacred Tradition for inspiration. This was regarded as a question of integrity, as much as an attempt to create quite distinct and different designs.
In more recent years, increasingly I have found (usually quite by accident) images on the internet of the Studio’s designs being reproduced by vestment-makers and others. What seems to be occurring is that our Blog is being examined by persons seeking examples of vestments, these persons then passing these images onto other vestment-makers to make up our designs. Unfortunately, in such cases, permission to re-create the Studio’s designs was never sought. The distinctive characteristics of our vestments is comprised of :
The shape of our vestments
The way we combine ornament, and
The braids that we use.
Each of these has been developed by the Studio for the Studio's customers, they are not imitations of the work of other vestment-makers, but are grounded in Tradition.
On the one hand, there is a natural desire that good vestment design will flourish and the Saint Bede Studio is very pleased to be considered part of that endeavour. On the other hand, finding the Studio’s designs being reproduced by others and passed off as their own - and for commercial gain - seems to lack a basic respect and sense of propriety. Some might go so far as to say that reproducing the work of others for commercial gain is theft and immoral.
Balancing what is required of charity and what is just, it is necessary to make something clear to businesses or persons inclined to reproduce the designs of the Saint Bede Studio for vestments, braids, fabrics or other ornaments without obtaining explicit prior permission. Reproducing our work without permission is a violation of our artistic property. Henceforth, where instances of such violations are discovered we will be adopting legal advice in order to protect the Studio’s rights to its own artistic creations. We hope never to take such action.
If you are in doubt, please send us a message, there is always an opportunity for discussion : stbede62@gmail.com
The Saint Bede Studio
1st February 2018.