Why do we love the brands but buy the fakes?

[MATTAMORPHIS]

I dont believe in buying fakes.

It makes me die a little inside when people decide to buy fakes.

If you cant afford the real thin then buy vintage. It's even more fabulous to say "oh this is a vintage Lanvin"

 

[shelleybean]

So fun to see this thread active again!.........Maybe neither of us are wrong....and here's the thing that I NEVER hear brought up regarding the luxury industry: You AREN'T paying 3k for the quality of the bag!!!!!! You're paying for the A list celebrity in their ads who has a multi million dollar contract. You're paying for their rent space on Rodeo drive and all the other ritzy locales....you're paying for decor, associate's salaries and to line the pockets of the people who own these companies. Finally, somewhere in those masses of dollars you just plunked down (or, in many cases, in the plastic you handed over and will be paying off for months) you pay for the bag itself. The leather, stitching, hardware...the label. The bag you're getting is NOT worth the price you're paying. It can't be, otherwise there would be no profit for the company........distinguish the best reps from auth...why would I pay more?

Oh baby, I've missed you!
Karma and good vibes up the wahzoo for that post, sister! Thanks for telling it like it is.
Basically.... yeah, what she said!

 

[shopholic]

Well said babybluestar! I have always been wondering why replicas can use the same leather and hardware but charges only less than 10% of original's price and still make profit? How much markup the original makes between the manufactures and the boutiques? I sure love to stay with the authentic if I could afford them. But those name brand designers really make their mercandise unreasonably expensive. Like babybluestar said - when a bag is not worth what we are paying, why would we pay more? However, on the other hand, trade replicas as authentic cannot be tolerated.

 

[William_St_Girl]

who would call themselves interested in fashion and buy fakes??? I'm lost?!?!?!

 

[Anutka]

I will never understand this people, especially those, who tell everyone that it`s real LV\Chanel\Gucci\Prada and buy fakes....it`s rather stupid. I understand that not everyone can afford himself to spend 500-1000€ and more for 1 bag....but there are enough other variants. It`s better to buy real furla bag than fake Prada or Balenciaga, or even it`s better to wear Zara, than fake bag. Because everyone has his own eyes and can detect that it`s not real....

 

[amethyst_sparkle]

who would call themselves interested in fashion and buy fakes??? I'm lost?!?!?!

when the replica is made out of the exact same material as the authentic, what exactly makes it fake? because both are manufactured on an assembly line in a brick-and-mortar factory...why, then, does it matter what country's soil that factory operates upon?

is a bag made out of cotton coated canvas trimmed in cowhide honestly worth two thousand dollars?? Does the cotton cost a thousand to loom? Did the land the cattle grazed upon require special fertilization? What, then, makes a bag worth thousands of dollars if the materials required to produce one account for no more than a mere 10% of the inflated retail price???

 

[amethyst_sparkle]

"fake" used to be an appropriate label for these bags because the material with which which the knock-off was made was indeed fake; fake leather, pleather, pvc, etc. the logo was not even printed in the same font, the stitching was horribly askew, the alignment of locks and color of hardware were dead giveaways...
but times have changed and so have the "fakes". sure, the fugly canal street frankenbags still exist and are sported by the blissfully unaware...but the discerning fashionista knows better and has found better...
the 'fakes' are so good now they're being paraded through Bergdorff's, Saks and Neiman's, fawned over, petted and drooled upon.
they pass undetected inside the very boutiques for which they are replicated, with sales associates bending over backward to charm another $1900 swipe to your visa.
chances are more than likely that you've had lunch with one--dinner too--blithely unaware that your friends, co-workers, esteemed six-figure income executive's wives are bold enough to, yes, gasp, sport fake.
and don't be fooled by the name-brand clothes, the mercedes, or the half-a-million dollar home. 'fakes' are being carried by the very people who can afford the 'real deal', and in large numbers.

at any rate, everyone knows dropping several thou on a purse, pair of shoes or a dress does not make one fashionable.

 

[CarolineRose]

babybluestar, I really agree with you! My biggest problem with designer bags is that although they're good quality, you are paying for the brand, not the materials. For example, the PS1 is my favorite "designer" bag, but since I like leather and not more exotic skins (which make me sad), it's basically just a messenger bag with a slightly nicer and more innovative design. But still, it's a messenger bag, not a reinvention of the wheel. And there's no way I'm paying $2000 for that!
I feel like the new answer to the insane prices of these bags is individual artisans. People want quality more than the brand, or at least more than before do - naturally there will always be those crazy brand fanatics, but you know what I mean. With esty and the internet these things are more readily available.
Personally I get my bags custom made in a saddle shop in a little ranch town in central CA where our family friends breed cutting horses. The quality of leather is sublime(because it is made to withstand being beat up), and the most it's ever cost is $200 for a duffel for my cousin. I also just bought a bag from Clare Vivier for $180 after a discount- she handmakes her bags in Los Angeles and the leather is really lovely.

I think the only designer bag I would ever buy from a store, as opposed to from a vintage shop or something, is a Chanel 2.55. Every other bag I've seen is just thousands of dollars more than I think the bag's quality and design is worth! Plus I would just feel guilty spending that much on a bag...

As for fakes, I don't buy them myself and I hate that they're often connected with horrible criminals, but I can sort of understand why many people do buy them.

 

[modern jap]

its because we want more than just ONE bag... we want many bags of many brands, and since we can't afford all the real ones, its easy to buy the fakes since us girls get tired of bags so quickly. with fakes you can recycle forever

 

[jun3machina]

So fun to see this thread active again! I sent Pam (the OP) a PM back when she started the thread and told her my opinion/experience. She is very gracious.

Let me start by stating that I fully see and understand how it's "unfair" to buy replicas...it IS an illegal copy of a luxury item. From that perspective, replicas are wrong. However, replicas still pay homage to authentic and in their way, advertise for the authentics. Think about it...if a chic, well dressed woman is carrying a mono LV bag with a nice patina and 9 out of 10 people who see her think "She's lovely, and I LOVE that bag...." THAT is business for LV. Because MOST people will assume her bag is authentic, whether it is or not. She's elegant and carries herself well, her bag doesn't scream fake, therefore it's authentic and I want that bag too.

The replica industry isn't exactly ripping off companies in the way most people portray it to... Think about when someone invents something....this invention was their baby...they worked on it for years...but as soon as it's released to the masses, someone somewhere will be figuring out how to make one almost exactly like it, only cheaper. Then the original has to defend it's title as best with lines like "don't be fooled by imitators!" Or "the original is still the best!". It seems unfair...but that's business.

There is a hair product line called Wen. It was developed by a celeb stylist blah blah blah. They paid some F list celebs to endorse it, you get extras free for calling in the next 10 minutes, etc. Well, the whole thing is about $80. I was interested in the main product so I did some research and read tons of reviews. Turns out there's a brand at Sally's called Hair One. It's the same thing for only $11.99. It's a fantastic product. I will never buy Wen. Now, am I wrong for wanting the better deal or is the maker of Wen wrong for charging so much?


Maybe neither of us are wrong....and here's the thing that I NEVER hear brought up regarding the luxury industry: You AREN'T paying 3k for the quality of the bag!!!!!! You're paying for the A list celebrity in their ads who has a multi million dollar contract. You're paying for their rent space on Rodeo drive and all the other ritzy locales....you're paying for decor, associate's salaries and to line the pockets of the people who own these companies. Finally, somewhere in those masses of dollars you just plunked down (or, in many cases, in the plastic you handed over and will be paying off for months) you pay for the bag itself. The leather, stitching, hardware...the label. The bag you're getting is NOT worth the price you're paying. It can't be, otherwise there would be no profit for the company.


It's a BUSINESS and it's about a PROFIT. Just like anything else. They aren't handmade. Only Hermes hand makes their bags. Only Hermes is a true luxury brand anymore.

I'm fully supportive of people who only buy authentic and truly believe in supporting the original designer....but don't buy in to the price being justified by the "quality and craftsmanship" because it just isn't true. And don't get on your high horse and lecture the little people about how we're ripping off an artist! A true artist is about their art, not about greed. Any "artist" who designs for LV is at least partially in it to make bank and they will. No one is hurting here. LV's prices continue to go up.

That's my take on replicas. I see both sides and understand both sides. Eventually I'll have an Hermes Birkin.... But knowing as much as I do now about the top grade replicas, there's no way I'd buy authentic canvas LV.....or pay $1500 for a Bal when my reps are genuine italian goatskin leather.

People used to be able to spot a fake "from a mile away" but it's not like that anymore. The pros over on tpf can't tell without looking at date codes. If those are the only way to distinguish the best reps from auth...why would I pay more?

1: true but the opposite is also the same. i think many designer labels have loss a lot of their high end luxury cred because you have prostitutes, badly dressed women, tacky men, etc riddled with the fake stuff turning a luxury monogram into something utterly repulsive.


2: this is very very true, but one of the main differences between fakes and the real deal are the work ethics and law in effect with those people sewing the bags for the companies. at least with the real companies, for the most part, they hire people with skills and pay them fair wages plus benefits to do what they do. whereas the people who are making the fakes are being payed next to no pay, working under-aged with long hours against labor codes and ethics, under bad conditions. that is a very important difference that i feel was not discussed...

3. many bag companies do a large majority of the construction and sewing by hand still. MJ, chloe amongst others are still assembled by hand, with other details done on a machine, but that machine is still being operated BY HAND by someone....perhaps hermes is the only one who has people so everything stitch by stitch but to disregard the rest as factory/assembly line work is a bit much IMHO.

good post though. karma. you brought up some excellent points

 

[Mask OF Life]

Oh baby, I've missed you!
Karma and good vibes up the wahzoo for that post, sister! Thanks for telling it like it is.
Basically.... yeah, what she said!

Also another reason for the significant price mark up is to retain the "exclusive" reputation that these luxury brands depend on.

Prior to 2008 when the economy was doing well, the mass market were beginning to purchase luxury items such as CK, BMWs and Mercedes. The brands were losing their "prestige", as the mass market were buying more and more, hence some brands were dubbed "masstige". Many companies increased their prices to eliminate accessibility to the mass market and to compensate for potential losses. When you purchase a $3000 bag your paying for the brand, not the materials/labour.

 

[KhaoticKharma]

Most expensive fake purse ever purchased by tourist

June 14th, 2010 by Doug Lansky Goto comments Leave a comment

The province of Venice, Italy is trying to send a message to tourists: “don’t even think about buying knock-off products here.” Jursula Corel, a 65-year-old Austrian tourist found out the hard way when was fined $1,195 for buying a fake Louis Vuitton purse from a street seller.
“We have a duty to combat this phenomenon, which is becoming unmanageable,” said Francesca Calzavara, head of the province of Venice. That’s one way to crack down on the problem. No word on what happened to the person who was actually selling the fake purses.




Source: Venice newspaper Corriere del Veneto

titanicawards.com

This is sure to be an unpopular opinion, but I don't really think this is fair. For starters, it's clear they're making an example of this man- if you're going to charge this fine to one man, you might as well go around the world stalking every girl wearing jeans and a Hollister tee shirt carrying a big Chanel or Louis Vuitton bag. Going along with that, it'll be damn near impossible to ever stop the production and consumption of replica designer bags because, at the end of the day, but they aren't willing to take out another mortgage to buy a bag. Even those who are in the fashion industry can have difficulty detecting the bags; I remember reading an article in Harper's Bazaar about a woman who got a Louis Vuitton bag as a gift from her boyfriend, only to attend a social function and have a Vuitton employee inform her that she was carrying a fake.

The function of an actual replica/knockoff doesn't really bother me- it's the politics behind it (child labor, sweatshops, etc) that is problematic.

 

[champ]

Annoyed to see fakes?

Annoyed to see fakes?
Hi,
A friend of my friend came over from Paris. We met for dinner and night out. She complimented my bag (with her French accent) then she asked was it real! She asked me politely so I shouldn't be angry at her. I don't want to blam her because there are fakes everywhere. I laugh on the inside when very urgly fakes. I always tell my friends to buy cheaper brands but real rather than getting fakes.

I want to know how do feel when you see fake bags or hear bad news about the brand? Do you defend for it?

 

[oceanhue]

'Cause I'm poor, LOL.

 

[GreenHornet]

titanicawards.com
The function of an actual replica/knockoff doesn't really bother me- it's the politics behind it (child labor, sweatshops, etc) that is problematic.

You do realize many genuine luxury or "brand" named items are produced in sweat shops, etc. Especially clothing and shoes.

 

[purplethistle]

Annoyed to see fakes?
Hi,
A friend of my friend came over from Paris. We met for dinner and night out. She complimented my bag (with her French accent) then she asked was it real! She asked me politely so I shouldn't be angry at her. I don't want to blam her because there are fakes everywhere. I laugh on the inside when very urgly fakes. I always tell my friends to buy cheaper brands but real rather than getting fakes.

I want to know how do feel when you see fake bags or hear bad news about the brand? Do you defend for it?

Personally if I see someone wear a fake I tend to be a bit condescending. I hate it when I see someone lets say using and "Louis Vuittion" bag and dragging it along the ground (treating it really badly) or the leather just doesn't hold up, or just wearing an odd mix for an outfit eg. dressed like your moving house ready to lift and shift all that furniture and then randomly having a band name bag. I don't understand why they bother using it if everyone can tell its a fake in one split second.

If its a good fake I still get a bit annoyed. It can take everything out of what was meant to be a compliment. I was once wearing a real Armani leather jacket (I know this about handbags but the principle is there) and someone said "that's a nice pleather jacket." I was ready to slap them in the face I wouldn't hurt a fly, but being young there is just an assumption that if you have something nice or with a logo 'it must be a fake' or something along those lines. This in turn can make people who can actually afford the real thing to not buy it and simply takes away the 'status' that may be looking for.

In my opinion if its an obvious fake why bother, if its a good fake then its going to be you and those who make the enquiries that know its a fake. If you can live that, fine have the fake. Just know that if we cross paths this will be something that makes me peeved.

 

[Margaret24]

Many people buy fakes because they are cheaper, it also depends on where you live. If you live in a small town or city the average person that walks by you doesn't know the difference, but I imagine if you go to a place like Beverly Hills a lot of people are very fashion oriented and would likely know the difference between a real and a fake.

 

[Blodeuwedd]

You do realize many genuine luxury or "brand" named items are produced in sweat shops, etc. Especially clothing and shoes.

This is so true, people forget that when they walk into Target or Old Navy or Nike and see labels of items made in Vietnam, El Salvador, Hong Kong - how do you know how the labor laws are monitored or are they being hidden? But hey, we love a bargain everywhere else, don't we?

When you buy food & produce you are more than likely buying cheap labor - both in the U.S. and overseas. If you haven't heard what the company DOLE/Chiquita is doing to its workers in Nicaragua, you are missing the big picture. One documentary: http://www.bananasthemovie.com

Do any of you own any Apple products? They are not above having miserable work conditions for their workers in China either, for example, making them work 90 hours of overtime without being paid for it and forcing them to sign anti-suicide clauses: http://www.guardian.co.uk/technology/2011/apr/30/apple-chinese-workers-treated-inhumanely

These are just some examples. Everything from ballpoint pens to flatscreen tv's to cleaning products are made overseas in factories that may have conditions we may object to, this is not including animal factories that provide leather.

I remember reading on the TPF forum a while back that the Chinese factory that produces Alexander Wang's 'real' bags is the same one that produces the fakes, to their horror. For them it's just a different design but another day at work. If one really cared about such exploitation of their workers, then you would look at the label of the product and if it's made in some third or second world country you should not buy it, regardless of the store shelf it's sitting on.

 

[amethyst_sparkle]

This is so true, people forget that when they walk into Target or Old Navy or Nike and see labels of items made in Vietnam, El Salvador, Hong Kong - how do you know how the labor laws are monitored or are they being hidden? But hey, we love a bargain everywhere else, don't we?

When you buy food & produce you are more than likely buying cheap labor - both in the U.S. and overseas. If you haven't heard what the company DOLE/Chiquita is doing to its workers in Nicaragua, you are missing the big picture. One documentary: http://www.bananasthemovie.com

Do any of you own any Apple products? They are not above having miserable work conditions for their workers in China either, for example, making them work 90 hours of overtime without being paid for it and forcing them to sign anti-suicide clauses: http://www.guardian.co.uk/technology/2011/apr/30/apple-chinese-workers-treated-inhumanely

These are just some examples. Everything from ballpoint pens to flatscreen tv's to cleaning products are made overseas in factories that may have conditions we may object to, this is not including animal factories that provide leather.

I remember reading on the TPF forum a while back that the Chinese factory that produces Alexander Wang's 'real' bags is the same one that produces the fakes, to their horror. For them it's just a different design but another day at work. If one really cared about such exploitation of their workers, then you would look at the label of the product and if it's made in some third or second world country you should not buy it, regardless of the store shelf it's sitting on.

AMEN. What a brilliant, well-written post. Finally, someone tells it like it is. I would be mortified to be so classless as to threaten a total stranger with bodily harm for insinuating their purse, jacket or whatever was "fake". Were you raised by wolves? Newsflash: being gullible (i.e. stupid) enough to buy into the hype, propaganda and marketing of "luxury brands" by forking over thousands of dollars for COWhide leather trimmed canvas bags does not make you a classy, educated, sophisticated contributing member of society. It just means you funded a 9 to 5 employee's salary.

 

[emanuelle]

I haven't bought a fake because I'm afraid of getting ripped off and being thought of as a status seeking social climber, but I totally understand the appeal. If I bought two nice real bags a year I could afford to live in the lower east side and ride the subway, or I could buy 5 good fakes a year I could still afford to move to the west village and drive a BMW. I've learned to compromise on all fronts by living in a good neighborhood, taking taxis, and buying one or two real bags in a basic design from flash sales and whatnot.