Much to the dismay of exclusive designers of high priced fashion accessories, the knock off handbag industry is really starting to come of age. Whether you call them fakes, knock offs, designer replicas, or “designer inspired” products, they are big business. The number of manufacturers of fake handbags has absolutely exploded in the past year, and it seems no one is safe, with replica versions of Louis Vuitton, Prada, Gucci, Burberry, Chanel, Kate Spade, Coach and just about every big name designer you could name being readily available for purchase.
But are they really a threat to the big design houses? The big design houses would certainly have us believe so, claiming that the fake merchants deprive them of profit, feed off their marketing, and damage their reputations by selling inferior quality handbags and purses which confused consumers think is the real thing. Some even claim that by supporting the knock off industry, consumers are helping to support organized crime. Successful raids and prosecutions of party plan vendors, street and flea market vendors, and online merchants have become a regular event, but this seems to be doing little to stem the tide.
The reasons why designer fakes have become so popular is obvious. Glamorous marketing makes the product desirable, and inhibitive pricing makes it more so. What could be more desirable than something other people can’t have? But of course, inhibitive pricing means there are a lot of people who want the merchandise, but can’t afford it, which is where the designer replica merchants step in.
The key to avoiding prosecution for knock off merchants is the degree of similarity of their designs to the high priced originals. If the handbag is identical to a Louis Vuitton original, particularly if the logo is used on the handbag or in the advertising material, the makers and sellers are in breach of copyright. But an increasing number of clever designer replica manufacturers are producing handbags which have a very similar look and feel to a Louis Vuitton or a Kate Spade, but without being a close enough copy to warrant a prosecution. What’s more, the quality of the products is virtually the same as the originals. At a hundred and twenty dollars or so, rather than a thousand or more, consumers are finding them irresistible.
Author: Sufi Fanning
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