Knockoff News 53
A weekly (or thereabouts) collection of news about counterfeits, fakes, knockoffs, replicas, imitations, and the culture of copying in general around the globe:
- Doggone it: Should LVMH parodist have budgeted for legal expenses?
- Twisted sisters: Fakes at sorority lead to arrest
- Status symbol: Atlantic Monthly reviewer regrets fake handbag purchase
- Tipping point: Tanzanian trade minister calls for new limits on counterfeits
- Nigeria faces counterfeit scourge
- Full of beans: Ethiopia disputes reports of agreement with Starbucks
- Internet time: eBay fake seller gets prison term
- What a Croc: South African shoe seizure raises questions about law
- Separated by a common language: "Fake footy kits seized at docks"
- Toff luck: Retro soccer company loses trademark case
- The purse party's over: Woman faces prison for fake sales at home
- Fakes ahoy! Chinese pirates shanghai Dubai
- Troubled waters: Saudia Arabia blames UAE for fake flood
- Dam that metaphor: The rising tide of counterfeits in the UAE
- Gray area: AGMA calls for new anti-counterfeit legislation
- Sustainable knockoffs? H&M extends success to new organic line
- The Maltese fakin': Half a million counterfeits seized by Malta Customs
- Paisley vice: UK fashion firm fined for selling fakes
- To buy or not to buy? That is the question in Canada
- So that explains it: Piracy makes Canada a "laughing stock," says critic
- The sting: Fakes seized at flea market in South Carolina
- Brown out: UPS fake shipments lead to FBI arrest
And finally, it seems that rampant commercial copying has sparked a bit of do-it-yourself imitation as well:
A shopper-style bag with a gold chain handle, the Tribute Patchwork is made up of samples of 15 bags from the Louis Vuitton spring/summer and cruise collections.
However, it is the most counterfeited brand in the world - just one per cent of all products claiming to be made by Louis Vuitton are genuine. With this in mind, the Tribute Patchwork was created not just for aesthetic effect but in conjunction with the company's anti-counterfeiting unit, which is confident that this may be the first Louis Vuitton product that cannot be faked.
A Louis Vuitton insider said: "It takes all the best parts of the season's creations and rolls them into one. We are confident that the bag is utterly exclusive and that it will remain so."
Well, I've got bad news for Louis Vuitton - I've made my own.
Not only does Brooklyn designer Kate Cusack have to contend with alleged copying by The Gap, but enterprising crafters are working on -- and publicizing -- their own versions.
