What’s the deal with all these counterfeit Louis’?
When you live in a major metropolitan city its not uncommon to walk past markets or street stores filled floor to ceiling with counterfeit designer bags, belts, wallets, and shoes. In fact, the counterfeit business is extremely large and expands to almost every country. For a large majority of our population, interested in designer items, these counterfeit items are useless, but to foreigners these can be a real gold mind.
With the rise in social media, and the overwhelming constant need for people to fit into what society is promoting, the idea of a counterfeit designer bag doesn’t sound too bad of idea. But why do we feel this way? We have created a culture where some feel such a strong need to fit in with what Instagram influencers, celebrities, and models are doing, even if they can’t afford it.
Now enter the counterfeit market and we have ourselves the perfect match. As long a there is a market for people willing to buy fake designer bags, these scammers will remain in business. And that is the problem we are facing.
And even worse, fakes are getting more and more realistic. A few years ago distinguishing a fake from a real bag was fairly straightforward. However, with our technology constantly increasing, so is the authenticity of these fakes. There has been an explosion of what some are calling “super fakes,” “Triple-A fakes” or “line-for-lines” over the past five or so years. So much so, that the untrained eye, they look like the real thing.
What is so detrimental about this business is that it diminishes the original product and the brand’s overall worth. It also can potentially drive business away from the real designer which decreases the value of the brand. However, as of 2017, top designers are deciding to fight back against these counterfeit markets. More and more designers are starting to address these issues on the catwalk as well as in the courtroom.
Alexander Wang referenced counterfeits at his spring/summer 2017 show after-party, where 4x4s were spray-painted with “stop leaking my shit.”
Louis Vuitton filed a legal suit against Beijing’s Haidian District Court regarding the sale of counterfeit goods on TaoBao, Alibaba’s (China’s biggest online commerce company) e-commerce marketplace in January 2016.
Will these efforts be enough though? Personally, I don’t understand why anyone would want to buy a counterfeit bag. And I’m not saying that because I can afford a bunch of real designer bags because I cant’t. But to me, I would rather not have it at all then have it be fake.
The word fake sends a shiver down my spine. There really is nothing worse than fake things, fake people, fake news, and fake bags. Let’s put an end to this era of fake(ness).
-Stephanie
Modern Legacy 