Fake It 'Til You Make It

I

 images via Google Images and theCut.com

 FAKE IT ‘TIL YOU MAKE IT
By Alexandra Fizer

ATLANTA—Fashion designers and other industry fixtures across the nation are pursuing stricter legislation regarding the protection and copyright of their original designs.

Over the past year, designers and their respective parent companies have taken legal action not only to ensure that the counterfeits, or “knock-offs”, of their designs are attributed but also that the design house responsible receives their due profit.

Certain areas in major cities, such New York City’s Canal Street, have become unofficially designated for catering to the fashion conscious hoping to score a version of the latest It bag for far less than its actual market value.

An experienced counterfeit buyer, Patricia McCombs doesn’t see the harm of her purchase in the moment, “I’ve become so used to looking for a version of a bag I can’t actually afford that getting knock-offs has become sort of natural,” she said. “Not because I seek them out, but because everybody sells them.”

McCombs isn’t the only member of the fashion crowd to take notice of the now ubiquitous presence of knock-offs.

Belinda Henderson can’t seem to tell the difference, “they’re everywhere now it’s so hard to tell which one is fake and which one isn’t,” she said. “There are some good ones out there.”

But despite the careful detail put into many of these counterfeit items, the distributors can’t fool fashion’s head honchos.

In March 2010, the Congressional Apparel Manufacturing and Fashion Business Caucus was established on Capitol Hill with the goal of passing legislation to help eliminate the manufacturing and distribution of impostor designer goods.

Also, Diane von Furstenberg, famed designer and president of the Council of Fashion Designers of America, founded her re-election in her mission to secure copyright protection for designers by re-examining the Design Piracy Prohibition Act.

The significance of this legislation isn’t lost on those playing less central roles in its making. 


Susan Scafidi, the academic director of Fordham Law School focuses particularly on the importance of having such regulations in place to protect designers.


On her blog, Counterfeit Chic, the professor wrote, “law enforcement resources are limited, and pursuing counterfeiters is expensive.”  


“This issue is especially controversial in less affluent countries and in countries without major creative industries that would benefit from enforcement,” she wrote, adding “ and let’s face it, the market responds to consumer demand.”


But some consumers in demand seem to believe knock-offs will live on despite the industry’s efforts to put them to rest. 


“I’m not sure if there’s a way to completely stop it,” Henderson said strolling around a table of embellished accessories at the Inman Park Festival. “Designers are going to keep taking each others’ ideas, now they’re just going to be better at protecting themselves from backlash.”


If the manufacturing of others’ creative designs is, as consumers would believe, unstoppable, what additional action can industry figures take to protect themselves?


Katriesa Raines, an Atlanta-based prop and wardrobe stylist and owner of Olive and Paisley Umbrella boutiques, works around the pitfalls, “I go straight to legitimate sources and boutiques, stores that carry authentic merchandise,” she said. “If I am styling ‘a look’, I choose to do an interpretation of the garment or accessory, not pawn it off as real.”


And when distinguishing between real and almost real, Raines asserts it’s all in the details.


“Knock offs are made in cheaper fabrics, logos are not correct or chopped in half on garments or accessories,” she said. “Knock offs are sold in shady areas like street markets, garages or the back of individuals' car trunks.”


McCombs echoes Raines’s intent to find an equally fashionable alternative to more recognizable brands without purchasing a faux Fendi.


“I try to steer clear of the questionable places to buy them like at a street vendor, at stores that don’t look legitimate,” she said. 


Henderson however takes a less ethical approach to her shopping, “the whole point of getting a knock-off is that nobody can tell the difference,” she said. 


“If people can’t tell, why let the cat out of the bag?”






For more information on the CFDA, click here.

Also, check out Susan Scafidi's blog here.