Why is it wrong to buy a fake designer item?

[Eric Waroll]

This is quite fun because I had this conversation about fake stuffs with a colleague the other day.
I never bought (and hopefully never will) a counterfeit. But as far as I'm concerned, it depresses me to see so many people with the same "Givenchy/KTZ" top in Paris. It's a real nightmare.

Just to put yourself in the designer's shoes. I wouldn't like to see my work being copied cheaply and produced in a not-very-legal factory based somewhere lost in a poor region of the world.

When you buy the original piece, you not only pay for the "beauty" of it, but you pay for its quality as well. Buying a counterfeit is like buying something from Primark: you keep it for 2 months then throw it away because the quality is not there.

Buy the original and wear it a long time.

 

[Nymphaea]

What I don't understand is why anyone would want a fake. I will happily admit I can't afford many of the luxury market items I'd love to own, but having a knock off would never satiate my desire for the real thing. And that's on top of all the ethical reasons to not purchase knock-offs. I don't really like products with lots of branding or logos, though. LV, Coach, Gucci, Chanel.... I see people wearing fake versions of those brands with the logos splashed all over every day, but even when I see someone with the real thing, I always wonder if they actually loved the product or if they chose it just so people can see them carrying a particular label. It's not style, it's just consumerism. I wish that people who can't afford the real deal but have no problem buying many knock-offs would just save the money they'd spend on multiple knock-offs to purchase one classic, quality piece from the brand they love. Everybody wins if that happens.

Can't agree more, exactly my thoughts.

 

[fashionista-ta]

eizhowa, I don't know if they were buying the bags or not, but they certainly were available with what I considered premium pricing, so I assumed the demand was there! There is just no part of that equation that is right. The selling of something that was free to start with ... the buying it with the intent to deceive someone ... and worst of all, the poor recipient, with God knows what inside It was 'genuine' though!!

 

[squilliam]

On a side note, I recall my uncle saying that long ago on a trip to Thailand, he said that the markets were selling designer labels...just the labels, not a shirt or bag or something, just a label with a designer name on it

 

[fashionista-ta]

^ I suppose those could well be real, and stolen, if being sold in quantity ...

 

[BerlinRocks]

i thought this image nailed it ....
for this thread ...


spotted on 5th Av. on Dec, 25th ...
in front of Louis Vuitton, and all the way down to Rockefeller. It was like Fake Bags Day .... LV, Chanel, Goyard, and Michael Kors.
Didn't spot any Coach bags ... Not even the all-over logo ones.

- my photo

 

[eizhowa]

^No police officers on that street huh? So sad.

 

[fashionista-ta]

^^ Very nice! I'm sure the folks who work at that store would be apoplectic if they saw your photo! All those fakes right outside their door ...

This is what I don't understand. I think Coach and Michael Michael Kors are very reasonably priced ... it's a bit of a mystery to me why they need to be faked. Goyard, I wouldn't spend the money on myself (but I also don't care for the look).

 

[BerlinRocks]

There was A LOT of people, tourists, and even more people in the Apple-Store-to-Rockefeller area this night... I was suffocating at one point ...

So I'm sure there were cops everywhere, but because of the tourists, the joy of christmas etc. i guess they wanted to be discreet.
~ It is real safe in Manhattan ... it is like Switzerland ...

The guys selling fakes are always in touristish area - so this area on xmas day was pretty much expected. I was surprised to spot some watches sellers, too, though - coz these are usually more on canal st. but i don't know ...

They lie the bags on these big blankets so they can go faster easier if they see cops.



i sometimes want to go and pretend with these guys like i work for lv, or chanel or whatever ... just look at them, smile and say "you know i work for lv ...", smile still, and just leave.

that's why i just usually laugh when i spot them...


~ i like taking pictures like that ... i have a small collection of homeless people sleeping near the door of madison shops, or some home decor stores - with bed in window displays, and a homeless sleeping near it outside ......
la vie, quoi ...

 

[VogueDisciple93]

If anyone is in NYC I say check out the Museum at FIT's exhibit on knockoffs "Faking It: Originals, Copies, and Counterfeits" http://www.fitnyc.edu/22937.asp. Very informative on this topic with numerous video installations explaining just how hurtful the counterfeiting industry is.

 

[eizhowa]

Thank you for the link! I am not in NYC, but it was interesting all the same!

 

[*Bianca*]

I know there is interest here at tFS in knockoffs ...

Yep, there sure is. In fact, one of the largest threads on tFS (up to #13 continued threads so far) is on where to buy replicas..

 

[BetteT]

Yep ... a huge interest here.

In the interest of member demand .. we allow the thread to discuss bags of any type. But we do have a rule not to ask about or give info about "where to buy" or "contact info of sellers" in those threads. If we see anything like that, we remove it. But .... it's actually impossible to stop the discussion about where to find fakes.

So ... yeah .... there is a huge demand for fakes/counterfeits. And, as long as there is that demand ... there will be people who produce and sell them ... and I really don't think that legislation and policing helps a bit.

 

[eizhowa]

^Really? Is that what the ioffer bags thread is? I never understood what the point of that thread was

 

[fashionista-ta]

I hope that anti-counterfeit education helps ... like US Bazaar's anti-counterfeit campaign. I have noticed, though, that there are a significant number of people whose only question about anything is, What's in it for me? Probably no education (other than a severe penalty experienced first-hand) is going to help there ...


But hey, I won't even wear fake nails. Never mind a fake accessory or body part ... To me, there is a real ick factor to anything that isn't genuine. (As well as to some things that are genuine, of course )

 

[inwhiterooms]

In my opinion, there's no better feeling than buying a designer item with money that you earned yourself. That feeling just doesn't compare otherwise.

 

[Les_Sucettes]

To be honest i really could not care less about the poor fashion houses that have their items copied. The mark up on designer pieces is absolutely obscene, so they are more than compensated for their losses. Plus this idea that everytime someone buys a fake the house is making a loss, is one big fallacy beloved by big corporations. The overwhelming majority of fakes are bough by people that would not have access to the real deal in any circumstance or I can even concede, that do not feel that the item in itself is worth the asking price. At the end of the day even with fakes people are still endorsing the brand and the person that designed it, the same cannot be said about "inspired" items.

I would NEVER EVER buy a fake simply for the reason that i do not know in what conditions they are made and what sort of terrorist organisations they are funding. It's hard enough to control the production of things being sold in legit business now imagine what must be going on in this parallel market.

 

[neonsprinkles]

If anyone is in NYC I say check out the Museum at FIT's exhibit on knockoffs "Faking It: Originals, Copies, and Counterfeits" http://www.fitnyc.edu/22937.asp. Very informative on this topic with numerous video installations explaining just how hurtful the counterfeiting industry is.

^ Awesome find.

Within that link, that "Homies" play on "Hermes" brings up a different issue altogether. Brands that re-appropriate existing luxury labels and create a brand that isn't luxury but a parody off it- it becomes less of a "copy" trying to hide itself among the other legitimate pieces, but more of making fun of the actual product.

Case in point, the "Ain't Saint Laurent without Yves" parody
http://www.whataboutyves.com/

 

[smartarse]

Fake goods: Ethically and morally wrong to buy fake and pass it off as the rightful owner (Designer's name)

Economically: (Fake goods) may be affordable to low budget consumers but you're being a fake yourself. Which is morally and ethically wrong as well.

Being a fake will not do you justice both the consumer and the manufacturer who practice such.