Monday, October 15, 2007
What's All The Fighting Faux? Hermes & Christian Dior Sue Ebay, Gucci May Follow
Those hocking knock off's on Ebay need to watch out! Huge fashion companies are fighting back with lawsuits being filed... LVMH (Louis Vuitton Moet Hennesy) is the world'd largest luxury goods conglomerate, and is partly owned by Christian Dior, who was one of the first in line to file suit. Hermes now follows their lead, and Gucci is rumored to be next. "The head of French retailer PPR, owner of luxury Gucci Group, said in a newspaper interview in August that it could also take action against eBay if the company did not do more to stop fakes being sold by its customers." (Reuters)
Ebay says it does take action when it is notified that counterfeit goods are being offered for sale. I am guessing that this series of lawsuits will motivate Ebay to be more strict and severe in their punishment for those guilty of hustling the faux merchandise. As an Ebay user myself, I have always seen copies of the seasons "it bag" for sale there, however I always thought that it was okay as long as the seller specified that it is a fake and not authentic.
I have to assume though, that these huge companies wouldn't be filing a lawsuit unless the sale of these fakes was effecting their business. Though when buying the real deal you are paying for the quality of construction and materials, you are also paying for the actual art of the DESIGN of the bag. When buying a copy, you are scoring a deal, yes, and sacrificing quality... however you are also in essence, not giving the designer their share of the profit of the art they created.
Even if these companies manage to get Ebay to revise their rules in regard to imitations being sold, I'm not sure how much that will really effect the end result. From Chinatown in NY to Downtown LA, you can find copies of everything from Fendi to Marc Jacobs, and they arent always bad knockoffs. Some can really pass for the real thing! There will always be market for faux bags. We all want to have the authentics, but everyone cant afford them. A more effective solution, in my opinion, would be for the big labels to create more affordable versions of their "it bags", sold under a subdivision of their brand. Kind of like Marc for Marc Jacobs. Or DKNY. Make the designs accessable to the market they arent reaching. Because who wouldn't prefer the real thing?
Real Louis Vuitton "Speedy" bags labeled as "FAKE" by Korean artist Zinwoo Park, part of an exhibit on Andy Warhol and Korean pop art at Ssamzie Gallery.Labels: christian dior, dkny, fendi, gucci, hermes, louis vuitton, marc jacobs, serious baggage, the dress code ( of ethics )
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