J.C. Penney's award-winning "Speed Dressing" ad, in which 2 teens practice getting their clothes back on quickly in anticipation of hooking up in the basement while Mom is upstairs, is apparently a fake.  And the straightlaced, Texas-based department store is not pleased. 

In today's Wall Street Journal, Cheryl Lu-Lien Tan quotes the chain's chief marketing officer calling the ad "obviously inappropriate" and adding, "We're very disappointed that our logo and brand position were used in that way."  J.C. Penney lit up the telephone lines to its ad agency, Saatchi & Saatchi, which in turn has blamed Epoch Films, the independent production company that submitted the ad in competition. 

If lawsuits ensue, the likely response will be that the commercial, which concludes with the legend "Today's the day to get away with it," is a parody of Penney's "Today's the day to..." campaign.  However, the widespread belief that the ad was real and its entry in a contest as such won't help the argument. 

Of course, it's also possible that the ad is genuine and that Penneys is trying to both pacify its conservative customer base and appear edgy to a younger generation.  In which case some twisted marketing mind really deserves an award. 

Via Gawker. 

Posted by Susan Scafidi at 12:46 PM | Permalink

On the same day that the Catholic Church unveiled 7 new deadly sins, New York Governor Eliot Spitzer was revealed as having a bit of trouble with one of the old ones.  The professional moralizer, now known as "Client 9" of a high-end prostitution ring, may not remain in elected office for long.  But surely such a clever individual will land on his feet.  The counterfeiting industry, for one, could use his alleged money-laundering skills -- unless cross-border trafficking is more his style.

On a personal note, I only encountered Spitzer in the flesh, so to speak, on one occasion:  this past Valentine's Day, when I was in Washington for a congressional hearing on intellectual property and design and he was in Washington for...well, I guess now we all know.  A few of the other folks entering the Rayburn Building went over to shake hands with him, but I didn't join the queue -- good thing, too, given where those hands had just been.  No wonder the governor was looking so pleased with himself at the time. 

Photoshop image via Gothamist. 

Posted by Susan Scafidi at 11:03 AM | Permalink

Mark Halperin in his Time magazine blog noted an interesting and presumably unauthorized reproduction of a recent cover at an Obama rally in Texas.  Asks Halperin, "Who made money off of the sale of that shirt?"

The Clinton campaign, of course, denies having circulated the "dressed" photo. 

Posted by Susan Scafidi at 08:16 PM | Permalink

Attention New York tourists:  Canal Street is closed.  Or a least part of it is.  For the moment. 

After the police conducted a $1m raid Tuesday morning, Mayor Mike Bloomberg posed with a "CLOSED" sign among the trays of fake watches and piles of counterfeit handbags.  The bust involved 32 separate storefronts, all owned by the same estate and located in a triangular city block newly dubbed the "Counterfeit Triangle," bounded by Canal, Walker, and Centre Streets.  The counterfeit trade, according to the press release, is "standing in the way of the revitalization of Chinatown," and the mayor intends to make renting to counterfeit retailers "a losing business proposition." 

If the Counterfeit Triangle is anything like the surrounding blocks, however, its mystery is not one of unexplained disappearance but incorrigible reappearance.  Seize the merchandise, arrest the sellers, put up warning signs, raze the buildings, sow the earth with salt -- and still a runner will stand on the corner whispering a litany of familiar brand names. 

But hey, the mayor isn't running for President, so he's got to set up a podium somewhere.  Call it the politics of hope. 

Via the New York Times City Room blog. 

Posted by Susan Scafidi at 12:31 AM | Permalink

Why bother with crossword puzzles when you can test your cleverness with blind news items?  Fashion blog Jezebel's model mole, "Tatiana," reported the following from New York Fashion Week:

But Friday afternoon, well, rocked. I was working for a designer -- or, let's face it, design team-- that, like Wednesday's, steals shamelessly from vintage fashions, then reproduces them at minimal cost in the massive industrial sweatshops of China and Indonesia, only to charge absurd markups back home, and is owned by a parent conglomerate that also holds a sheaf of other global brands. Its founder is noted for having once donated to Rick Santorum. Yet I can muster nary an ounce of outrage; everyone was just too damn agreeable.

Apparently the fashion world is so fickle that mere pleasantries can dissipate the sternest ethical objections.  The real question, however, is what label the pseudonymous catwalker might have been referencing. 

A key clue here is Rick Santorum.  The president of Urban Outfitters, Richard Hayne, stirred controversy a few years ago when the chain advertised T-shirts with the slogan, "Voting is for Old People."  The media subsequently noted that Hayne had donated a substantial sum to the conservative Pennsylvania senator.  Who has since lost.  Badly.  (And somehow that T-shirt hasn't reappeared this year....)

Urban Outfitters also owns Free People and Anthropologie, the latter of of which previewed a new line called Leifsdottir during Fashion Week.  And yes, Anthropolgie is known for being, ahem, somewhat less than original, though vintage items -- as opposed to new designs still in production by their creators -- are free for the (rag)picking. 

So, whether Leif's fair young daughter has a dark side or some other brand has been cutting a few design and production corners, someone was watching.  And whispering.

Posted by Susan Scafidi at 09:59 PM | Permalink

Some dining options can be as tough as shoe leather.  And some actually are shoe leather -- counterfeit Nike shoe leather to be exact -- labeled as "refrigerated noodles" for purposes of avoiding customs inspection.

The U.S. attorney's office in Manhattan has announced the breakup of a major smuggling ring, with 10 people arrested and $200 million in fake fashion items seized, including counterfeit Coach wallets, Burberry handbags and Polo Ralph Lauren and Baby Phat clothing, as well as the creatively labeled Nike Air Jordans.  The operation brought goods into New York from China with the assistance of $500,000 in bribes -- to an undercover customs agent.  Now that's using your noodle. 

Want to hear more about what's on the menu in Chinatown?  Join WWD reporter Liza Casabona as she talks to strangers and walks down dark alleys. 

Posted by Susan Scafidi at 07:28 AM | Permalink

The Manolo and his elegantly shod readership have most graciously sent Counterfeit Chic a real turkey -- and not the tasty Thanksgiving variety. 

Yes, it's Steve Madden.  Again.  It seems that Mr. Madden, not content with pilfering Christian Louboutin's elegant shoe designs or signature red soles, may have turned to stealing photos of the master's shoes as well.  Compare Saks' picture of the Louboutin "Miss Fred Tacco" (left) with the Madden "Becks":

Which convinced you -- the identical patent leather reflections, the perfect camera angle, or perhaps the suspiciously similar shoelaces?  Although the background and red soles appear to have been erased, you are presumably not fooled by the many-colored wonders of Photoshop -- and nor is the law.

True, M. Louboutin's talented hands are probably tied, at least with respect to intellectual property law.  U.S. law does not protect his designs, and while he has applied for a trademark on his red soles, Steve Madden has finally learned not to copy that presumably protectable element. 

U.S. copyright law, however, has a thing or two to say about commercial misuse of a photo.  Assuming that the Becks shot is merely an unauthorized, altered version of Miss Fred Tacco's best angle, the owner of the copyright in the photo has a cause of action against Steve Madden.  That copyright holder could be the original photographer, or Saks Fifth Avenue, or even Christian Louboutin himself in the unlikely event that he supplied the photo. 

The fact that an image has been substantially changed does not eliminate the the cause of action in copyright; it merely turns the offending imitation from an unauthorized copy into an unauthorized derivative work.  And while copyright law includes substantial provisions for fair use, no lawyer who can spell "copyright" (that's "right," not "write" or "rite") would argue that taking one online catalog photo for use in another catalog fits the criteria. 

But what if the photographer were a freelancer who cleverly kept the copyright in the photo and licensed its use to both Saks and Steve Madden?  In that unusual scenario, there would be no cause of action in copyright.  It could still be considered fraudulent, however, to picture one item for sale and then substitute another.  As the Manolo muses, "this leaves the Manolo wondering exactly what the Becks looks like."  Not, of course, that our fashionable friend has any intention of finding out.

Bottom line:  Christian Louboutin cannot stop Steve Madden from copying his coveted designs.  Yet.  But the mere click of a shutter created an image that has infinitely more legal protection that the pictured shoe itself, and the copyright holder may not appreciate its reappearance elsewhere.  Moreover, it's not nice to fool potential customers with false representations of the goods.  So, legally speaking, Steve Madden may have stepped in it once again -- and his lawyers had better put down their Thanksgiving forks and pick up their pens. 

Many thanks to His Superfabulousness for sending the link, and to eloquent reader Victor Ramirez for asking Counterfeit Chic to comment on such "tomfoolery."

Continue reading "The Manolo's Guide to Holiday (Photo)Shopping" »

Posted by Susan Scafidi at 08:37 AM | Permalink

What happens when a real designer meets a fake handbag? 

Kate Spade presumably spent years stepping over and around (and perhaps even on) counterfeits of her work on the sidewalk outside her Soho boutique.  When she saw a phony fan carrying a replica of a new style, however, she crossed the street to investigate further.  The guilty party -- who recognized Kate immediately -- claimed that her husband had purchased the bag.  But Kate is still feeling the hate, according to New York magazine.  "Anytime you ask someone, they say that," she muttered. "'I don't know, it was a gift.'"

It may take a designer to spot a fake a 20 paces, but Kat at IHateCounterfeitBags.info has made it her mission to keep the rest of us from being fooled.  Compare a real Kate Spade label (top, note the spacing between letters) with a counterfeit (bottom), and then head over to Kat's website for more on the finer points of fakery.

And should you find yourself having made a faux pas, watch out -- Kate's approach is a bit more stern than Jack's. 

Posted by Susan Scafidi at 06:55 PM | Permalink

The World Series is upon us, and in a week or so the winner will be reward not just with a trophy, but millions of dollars in proceeds from the sale of championship merchandise.

However, that's only half the story.  Every year teams in contention for the playoffs and the World Series prepare thousands of shirts, hats and other items in anticipation of victories that never occur.   

Major League Baseball used to require the losers to destroy these erroneous goods.  This year, though, the League has announced that it will expand its charitable giving alliance with World Vision by clothing the needy in unsalable merch branded with the names of losing teams. 

Whether it's cruel or kind to deny Cubs fans the chance to buy 2007 National League championship t-shirts is a question we'll leave to sports radio.   However, there's also an important legal issue raised by this charitable endeavor, and it flows from the word "expand."

You see, before Major League Baseball decided to give away its unsalable authentic goods, it had a long-established policy of sending seized counterfeits abroad.

World Vision and the U.S. government have both praised the Major League's largesse, particularly for its efforts in Africa.  But is this something that African governments truly want?  Ghana, Uganda, South Africa, Tanzania and other African countries have been making headlines with their efforts to curb the importation of pirated goods.  Nonetheless, even as these countries are rewriting their laws and boosting their customs budgets, World Vision and other well-intentioned souls have been flooding the continent with counterfeits impounded in the West. 

If companies expect African governments to make headway in the fight to stop the flood of imported fakes, perhaps the time has come to do with counterfeits the same thing that baseball umpires do with unruly managers--

Throw them out. 

Posted by Susan Scafidi at 03:17 PM | Permalink

For O.J. Simpson, law and fashion are a lucky combination. 

When he was accused of killing ex-wife Nicole Brown Simpson and her friend Ron Goldman in 1994, the criminal jury found him not guilty, despite evidence including a bloody size 12 Bruno Magli footprint and a suspicious pair of Aris Light gloves.  Defense lawyer Johnnie Cochran made headlines with the glove found at the scene of the murders, infamously telling the members of the jury, "If it doesn't fit, you must acquit."  They did. 

O.J. didn't fare so well in a civil trial, in which the Goldman family was awarded USD $33.5 million -- which they have yet to collect.  The tide seemed to be turning for the Goldman family recently, when a California judge ordered OJ to turn over a gold Rolex Submariner watch (among other things) in partial settlement of the judgment.  The value of the watch, which O.J. had been spotted wearing in a photo on TMZ.com, was between $12,000 and $22,000.  Or so the Goldmans thought.

It turns out that the watch was a fake, worth about $125. 

The judge has since ordered the watch returned to O.J.  -- but why not sell the fake anyway?  After all, its celebrity associations are sure to draw interested bidders, and the Goldmans' lawyer has already received a $10,000 offer. 

Unfortunately for the Goldmans, the judgment exempts jewelry worth less than $6,075.  Simpson's lawyer successfully argued that allowing the sale of the watch at a higher price would create a precedent under which the Goldmans could attempt to seize any number of trivial items belonging to O.J. on the theory that they could be sold at a significant markup. 

Not to mention the fact that selling a counterfeit -- even one clearly acknowledged as such and sold as a pop culture artifact rather than as a substitute for a real timepiece -- is a crime.  Of course, O.J. can't sell the watch either, but in the U.S. it's perfectly legal to own a fake. 

At least the case has left us with one new legal rule:  If the watch is fake, you cannot take. 

Posted by Susan Scafidi at 05:26 PM | Permalink

Kids love stickers.  Geek kids use them to decorate notebooks, slacker kids use them to personalize skateboards, and jock kids add them to football helmets. 

Some adults love stickers, or their embroidered equivalent, too.  Especially since certain add-ons can turn generic, legally imported merchandise into far more lucrative lucrative counterfeit goods. 

WWD's Ross Tucker and Liza Casabona report that with the crackdown on counterfeit goods at U.S. borders, there is an increasing trend among counterfeiters toward bringing in unlabeled knockoffs and adding the fake labels and logos stateside. 

This practice of finishing goods in the U.S. in order to evade anticounterfeiting enforcement activities isn't new.  Even at the point of sale, it's not uncommon to buy an unlabeled fake and have the seller stick on a fake logo afterwards.  I've regularly mentioned this practice as one reason among many that a law against design piracy makes good sense -- why should the government spend time and money on other anticounterfeiting legislation if enforcement can be so easily evaded?  In the absence of laws against copying designs, however, smart counterfeiters are apparently taking ever greater advantage of their ability to import unlabeled goods, manufacture the small and easily hidden labels locally, and bring the two together when the coast is clear. 

Of course, not all counterfeiters are particularly good at this sleight of hand.  Some get caught with stacks of fake labels or rooms full of embroidery machines.  Others simply can't match the label with the product.  Every now and then online auctions include Burberry plaid handbags with Kate Spade labels, for example, or a mixed tangle of Prada and Chanel charms.  My personal favorite is a dead ringer for a black Fendi "B" bag -- with a triangular metal Prada label stuck right in the middle. 

All of which gives a whole new meaning to "sticker shock." 

Posted by Susan Scafidi at 08:48 AM | Permalink

...that Elizabeth Arden's PR department is working overtime to deal with this -- ahem! -- oversight in its ad campaign for the Britney Spears Believe fragrance.

True, nobody is likely to confuse Britney with a charity (of late a charity case, perhaps), and fragrance and socially conscious t-shirts hardly fall into the same category.  The use of a typeface and colors so extremely similar to Mondonation's just doesn't pass the smell test, however.  Stealing is bad; stealing from a social enterprise is worse. 

What does it say about the modern era when you wake up and put on a save-the-world-type t-shirt, only to find yourself a walking billboard for celebrity perfume? 

Posted by Susan Scafidi at 01:48 PM | Permalink

Thanks to fashionable reporter Kelly-Anne Suarez for exploring the counterfeit question in the wake of a Pennsylvania flea market bust -- during which the cops may have engaged in a bit of false representation of their own.  According to the article:

Sophia Petryszyn of Hopewell Junction, N.Y., was there last Sunday, when the undercover police made their move. She said she'd just asked a vendor if she could exchange a pair of leather sandals she'd purchased for her husband.

''And a cop turns around and says, 'If you want to get arrested for receiving stolen property,''' Petryszyn said. ''I was so scared, I just turned around. I didn't want them to take my bag away.''

She laughed and adjusted the fake, brown Coach purse slung over her shoulder. She'd bought it for $30 minutes before the raid.

What the police officer didn't tell the counterfeit customer is that in the U.S., unlike in France or Italy, neither buying nor possessing fake merchandise is a crime, even though selling it is.  And while the flea market vendors in question may have participated in the theft of "Coach" and other trademarks via unauthorized copying, the goods themselves were not stolen property in the legal or traditional sense. 

On the other hand, the logic of the cop's statement is clear.  If intellectual property is indeed "property," then it follows that taking it without permission should constitute "stealing."  The fact that the law differentiates between taking the trademark via copying and taking the handbag or other tangible object in which the trademark is embodied demonstrates the unique nature of intellectual property -- and the reason why some scholars still debate the utility of the term.

A nice conundrum for a Monday (and yes, those quotes are from your humble blogger). 

Posted by Susan Scafidi at 12:46 AM | Permalink

Around the same time that Macy's was exploding Fourth of July fireworks over New York's East River, MTV designer Rich Browd was exploding at Macy's. 

The reason?  According to an email forwarded to Counterfeit Chic, Macy's lifted a T-shirt design for the MTV Store and "plastered it all over handbags in its flagship location," Herald Square, New York. 

The good news for MTV is that while neither typefaces nor short phrases are subject to copyright protection, graphic designs are -- and the substitution of "Macy's" for "MTV" is hardly convincing evidence of original design.  And while as an employee Browd probably doesn't hold the copyright himself, when MTV's lawyers get hold of this photo, the real fireworks should begin.

Many thanks to my creative Fordham law student Kevin Bodenheimer for the tip!

Posted by Susan Scafidi at 03:00 PM | Permalink

Ahem.

Federal officials announced one of the biggest counterfeit busts in years yesterday, charging 29 people with importing approximately USD $700 million worth of illicit luxury goods in over 950 separate shipments.  Unlike street raids, which target low-level retailers and hardly cause a ripple in the flow of counterfeits to consumers, this coordinated action targeted major suppliers who collaborated to circumvent customs inspections.

Three separate complaints detailed the alleged activities of the smashed smuggling rings, including:

• Providing false descriptions of merchandise to crooked customs brokers, who act as the conduit between U.S. Customs & Border Protection and importers, in order to conceal counterfeits or avoid paying duties on expensive merchandise (e.g. labeling containers of counterfeits as children's toys or shower curtains);
• Fraudulently obtaining permits to transfer merchandise between ports of entry and bonded facilities to await clearance -- and then delivering merchandise to their own or customers' warehouses instead;
• Keeping "dummy" containers of innocuous merchandise (like those toys) ready for customs inspection;
• Stealing the ID numbers of legitimate importers in order to disguise counterfeits;
• Falsely avoiding inspection by claiming that merchandise was simply passing through the U.S. and was destined for Canada or Mexico;
• Bribing Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents (who were working undercover) to file false paperwork or to release goods; and, of course,
• Money laundering.

The entry points for illicit merchandise spanned the nation:  Newark, NJ; Houston, TX; Long Beach, CA; Staten Island, NY; and New York's John F. Kennedy Airport.  The list of luxury brands involved is even more extensive, including Coach, Chanel, Louis Vuitton, Rolex, Balenciaga, Nike, North Face, Gucci, Fendi, True Religion, Seven for All Mankind, Kate Spade, Timberland, and A Bathing Ape in categories ranging from shoes and sunglasses to watches and handbags.  (Any company left out should count its blessings -- and then worry that its brand is no longer "in.")

As apparent from the WWD photo, New York officials wasted no time in processing the first batch of defendants -- or parading them in front of the waiting press.  And no doubt some of the Homeland Security folks responsible for coordinating the investigations enjoyed a hard-earned beer after wrapping up the sting.  It's all up to the prosecutors and the courts now. 

Still, one wonders:  Why are there so many apparently simple ways of avoiding customs enforcement?  Just how porous are U.S. borders, anyway? 

And, of course, will souvenir-seeking New York tourists who would otherwise buy counterfeits by the bag go home empty-handed this Fourth of July? 

Thanks to my sharply dressed and national security-minded Fordham law student, James Creedon, for forwarding the press release.

Posted by Susan Scafidi at 09:18 AM | Permalink

Fleet Street is abuzz with anticipation for May 1st launch of the new Kate Moss line at Topshop.  However, not all the news is good.  A number of reports in both the UK and US focus on the derivative nature of her designs, whose chief inspiration seems to be clothes that Moss had previously worn. 

Beyond tabloid jabs such as "DupliKate" and "Copy Kate" established designers have been highly critical of the collection.  In fact, several have seized on the occasion to criticize celebrity labels as unoriginal and deleterious to the future of innovative design.  Here, for example, is the lively response of two-time British Designer of the Year Jeff Banks, who asserts that "to claim the product has actually been designed by the celeb beggars belief."

"Can Kate sharpen a pencil or draw a matchstick man? Banks asked. "I wouldn't put money on it. I'll bet [Kate Moss] just grabbed one of her many Prada bags, rifled through her wardrobe ... and turned up at Topshop's head office in Oxford Street for a quick hour's briefing with the in-house designers and buying staff." 

Malcolm Burkinshaw, a fashion educator & former Benetton designer, likewise observes that

looking at the Kate Moss range, every item is a copy of a piece from her wardrobe or a version of it, which isn't design, it's rip-off. The lowest ends of fashion do this.

Will the celebrity design bubble burst?

Posted by Susan Scafidi at 12:13 PM | Permalink

A knockoff shopping expedition lasted longer than expected for 12 tourists visiting New York's Chinatown yesterday.  The New York Post reports that when police raided the building, the counterfeit retailers refused to let the would-be customers leave the basement -- for 2 hours.

When cops cataloging fake merchandise finally received a call alerting them to the presence of unwilling guests downstairs, they found not only visitors from Spain, Georgia, and Florida, but also a cache of counterfeit Cartier and Rolex watches.  Apparently the tourists were relieved not to be in legal trouble themselves, but the same can't be said for their hosts, three of whom have been charged with unlawful imprisonment as well as counterfeiting. 

Having witnessed similar (albeit much shorter term) behavior by merchants anticipating a raid, I can imagine the tourists' discomfort at their predicament.  Then again, it could have been worse -- at least they weren't stuck on JetBlue.

Posted by Susan Scafidi at 01:30 PM | Permalink

Some savvy discount shoppers examine handbags the way that picky produce buyers select ripe melons, using their olfactory expertise.  Real leather or fake pleather?  The nose knows.

Now the MPAA has found a way of sniffing out counterfeit DVDs as they pass through customs, using canine rather than human detectives.  Lucky and Flo, two black Labradors, have been trained to detect the smell of polycarbonates used in the disc manufacturing process.  While the dogs can't distinguish between original and copied movies, a test run in Malaysia showed that they can quickly identify shipments of pirated discs labeled as other merchandise. 

Can more little doggie noses, wrinkled in disgust at the smell of processed plastic purses or counterfeit cologne, be far behind?  Obviously the range of possible faux odors makes this a complicated proposition, but the idea is an intriguing one.

Posted by Susan Scafidi at 10:45 AM | Permalink

CFDA President Diane von Furstenberg has declared war on counterfeiters and copyists of her signature wrap dresses and other designs, according to WWD:

"I want to say, 'Beware,'" von Furstenberg said, her voice firm, in an exclusive interview.  "There is no money, there is nothing that will stop me from going after you."

The designer's intelligence operatives in this campaign include would-be DVF customers who are tricked into buying fakes (mainly by online sellers) and who first alerted her to the problem.  She has since created an email address for such reports, stop@dvf.com.  In addition, the company allows customers to send in dresses to ascertain whether or not they are genuine, a particular problem with mid-priced merchandise like DVF's.

Although the commander-in-chief did not reveal the cost of the campaign, it's safe to say that her resources exceed that of many other designers.  Still, from DVF's perspective, a rising tide lifts all boats.  "I am doing it as myself and as the CFDA president and representative of my fellow designers."

Of course, going into battle requires a proper uniform -- perhaps the military-inspired DVF Utility (left) or Clive dresses?

Posted by Susan Scafidi at 12:03 PM | Permalink

When it comes to advertising, don't believe the hype -- especially when the source is a prankster posing as a Gucci model.

A Swiss paper, SonntagsZeitung, was tricked into running the ad below after being contacted by its creator.  The cost of the 2-page spread, approx. U.S. $50,000, was to be billed directly to Gucci. 

The "model" is apparently under investigation for fraud, but the ad poses something of a counterfeit conundrum for Gucci.  Like all luxury goods companies, its image and advertising are carefully planned and controlled -- but then again, this guy isn't exactly hard on the eyes.

HT:  BoingBoing

Posted by Susan Scafidi at 09:20 AM | Permalink

Courtney Love showed up at Paris Hilton's birthday party in L.A. wearing Chanel couture -- or did she?  The august fashion house says that only one original dress has ever been made, and that runway sample is still hanging in Paris.

While the test of true couture is the workmanship, which is best viewed in peson, the photographs appear to show differences in both the trim and size of the neckline.  Also, the patch pockets on the original are not visible on Love's dress.

Although copies are legal in the U.S., France protects fashion designs under both copyright and design laws.  WWD reports that designer Karl Lagerfeld is furious (a departure from his past statements about copying) and that Chanel officials are considering whether to take any action. 

Chanel original (left) and Courtney's alleged copy.  Photos: Giovanni Giannoni.

A word of advice to Ms. Love:  The copy may be lovely in pictures, but it won't travel well -- especially to Paris.

Posted by Susan Scafidi at 02:58 PM | Permalink

Christian Science Monitor reporter Patrik Jonsson analyzes the fact that local police around the country are stepping up enforcement against counterfeiters -- and quotes your humble blogger.  From Watson's Flea Market in Raleigh, North Carolina, to Canal Street in New York, the new motto is caveat venditor.  Thanks for the article, Patrik!

Posted by Susan Scafidi at 11:27 PM | Permalink

Would you hit a guy wearing glasses?  Well, what if he hit you first?

Last week, Toronto journalist Peter Silverman found himself on unfriendly territory when he attempted to investigate an optical shop alleged to sell counterfeit designer eyeglasses.  The thing about attacking a TV journalist, though, is that the cameras tend to be rolling. 

The follow-up report didn't include any information about the counterfeit goods, so who knows -- maybe the guy was framed?  Or perhaps he just needs his glasses adjusted?

Posted by Susan Scafidi at 04:52 PM | Permalink

Remember when police busted up parties because teenagers were playing their music too loud?  Now it's their moms who have to worry. 

A front-page story in yesterday's Washington Post reports that a father-and-son team are scheduled to go on trial today for supplying counterfeit purses to everyone from suburban hostesses to mall kiosks in the D.C. area.  Following up a tip from a purse partygoer who suspected -- shock! -- that $40 Prada bags and their ilk weren't exactly on the level , federal agents ultimately seized some 30,000 handbags from a Northern Virginia warehouse. 

Perhaps even more interesting were over 100 phony Kate Spade labels stashed in a desk drawer at the warehouse, waiting to be affixed to otherwise legally untouchable "generic" bags -- which may just happen to look exactly like the designer originals.  As the article notes:

Court documents say the Ohris were told by some malls to stop selling counterfeit goods but ignored the warnings. But Suzette Timme, general manager of the Fashion Centre at Pentagon City, where the family operated two kiosks, said mall security never noticed any problem.

"They were just selling generic bags with no labels," Timme said. 

Sounds like this time the authorities found the smoking glue gun.

Many thanks to both my former Georgetown law student Jacob Howley and my father for sending the story (told you I was a native Washingtonian!).

Posted by Susan Scafidi at 10:48 PM | Permalink

Cool urban streetwear is hot -- so much so that a recent counterfeit bust in New York netted more fake streetwear items than luxury items. 

The catch in creating a brand based on attitude rather than luxe, however, is that anything less than real is likely to lose respect -- fast.  Check out Complex.com's must-read post on the Puma sneakers (below right) versus the more recent BAPEs.  Once you discount the color schemes and the different logos, the designs are suspiciously similar....

Many thanks to Bucky for his sharp eye and sharper prose!

Posted by Susan Scafidi at 08:09 AM | Permalink

One of New York's most cherished modern Christmas traditions is the WPIX-TV Yule Log, a 6 1/2-minute film of a roaring fire in a handsome brass grate that is broadcast for hours on end, accompanied by a holiday soundtrack.  The faux flames, which burned from 1966 to 1989 and then returned to the screen in 2001, are the perfect holiday touch for apartment-dwellers and others more accustomed to gathering around the television than the hearth. 

Naturally, there's a knockoff -- the high definition version on INHD.

In the spirit of Christmas copying, Counterfeit Chic offers the "Canal Street Yule Log," a seized property "burn" sent courtesy of a fabulous reader.   It may not flicker, but you get the picture.  Holiday screensaver, anyone?

And like the real fake flame, you can pan out every so often to get the big picture:

Now, who's got the marshmallows?

Posted by Susan Scafidi at 10:48 AM | Permalink

Remember the old joke about the two immigrants who get off the boat in America, walk down the street, and see a group of people buying lunch from a cart that advertises, "Hot Dogs, 10 cents"?  One says to the other, "Do they eat dogs here?"  The other says, "I guess so -- and since we're American now, we should try it."  So they get in line and buy their hot dogs, at which point the first guy looks down at his lunch, looks at the other guy, and says, "Hey ... what part of the dog did you get?"

Happily for our bold gastronomes, sometimes a dog isn't really a dog. 

A version of the same debate, however, is going on this morning -- not with respect to food, but with respect to clothing. 

Macy's has removed from its web site and its stores 2 styles of Sean Jean hooded jacket after the Humane Society found that they were advertised as being trimmed with faux fur -- which was actually real.  Still more shocking are the headlines announcing that the jackets were trimmed with "dog fur," although the actual animal involved is the wild "raccoon dog," which is native to Asia. 

According to the Humane Society, tests on coats purchased at stores ranging from J.C. Penney to Saks Fifth Avenue, and on brands from Baby Phat to Calvin Klein and every price point in between, reveal that 9 out of 10 coats labeled "raccoon" or "coyote" are actually made from raccoon dog -- a form of mislabeling that violates federal law.  Moreover, although the raccoon dog is not a domestic animal, and more strongly resembles North American raccoons than dogs, the Humane Society will petition Congress to ban the use of its fur because of its genetic relationship to dogs kept as pets. 

Sean Jean has, of course, stopped all use of the fur.

Will consumers who have bought the "faux fur-trimmed" jackets line up to return them?  Interesting question.  Some may be anti-fur in general -- but many diehard animal rights folks won't even wear remotely realistic faux fur, lest their stylish example provoke demand for the real thing.  Others may read as far as the headlines about "dog fur," take one look at a cherished pet, and foreswear Macy's forever.  On the other hand, some may simply shrug -- after all, if you bought a cubic zirconia ring and later learned it was actually a diamond, would you mind?  The media elision between the wild "raccoon dog" and the family dog, moreover, is more than a bit sensationalistic.  Would a headline reading, "Macy's pulls Nyctereutes procyonoides fur jackets," have stopped traffic?  Hardly Cruella de Vil material.

While the politics of fur are debatable, misleading labeling is simply wrong.  Then again, so are misleading headlines. 

For more on the great fur debate, click here or read Julia Emberley's history of the subject.

Posted by Susan Scafidi at 10:41 AM | Permalink

An Idaho physician was recently sentenced to six months in prison for injecting patients with counterfeit Botox.  One presumes that his victims, upon hearing the news, remained impassive. 

Posted by Susan Scafidi at 12:52 AM | Permalink

Counterfeiters target particular brands on the basis of consumer demand.  The greater the brand awareness and the popularity of certain styles, the more likely they are to be copied.  Of course, the reverse is true as well.  As one individual told me, he knew a certain line was "over" when purse party hostesses asked him not to bother bringing along those particular fakes.

When it comes to imitating official logos, however, I've frequently wondered whether it's just business, or whether some counterfeiters take wry pleasure in taunting the powers that be.  After all, it takes a particularly brazen retailer to sell fake NYPD baseball caps and T-shirts right under the nose of the beat cop.  Talk about waving a red flag in front of a "bull."

In New York, city officials decided last year to fight the flood of fakes with hologram hangtags on authentic goods.  A year later, the New York Post reports that sales of the real deal are up 10%, with police and fire department merchandise remaining the most popular. 

Cause and effect?  Perhaps.  But it seems that not everyone got the memo.  A law-abiding lawyer recently told me that he attempted to purchase an authentic item, only to be told by a helpful city employee that it was unavailable -- but that plenty of copies were for sale just around the corner. 

Posted by Susan Scafidi at 09:34 AM | Permalink

Posted by Susan Scafidi at 12:21 AM | Permalink

For those of you who read last week's Knockoff News and wondered what a million pairs of shoes look like, check out my closet this slideshow, courtesy of my student Louis Abrams. 

Below:  One very satisfied-looking German customs official (in sensible shoes, of course) presides over the shredding of the counterfeits. 

Posted by Susan Scafidi at 10:57 PM | Permalink

What happens to counterfeit merchandise after it has been stopped at customs?  Some is destroyed, some is redistributed (a controversial practice), and some is altered and made legitimate by Barry Forman.

The middle column of today's Wall Street Journal reports that "Mr. Fix-It," a rag trade veteran, has established a business that corrects errors made in overseas garment factories but not discovered until the merchandise reaches the U.S.  From sleeve lengths to weak seams, mistakes that would otherwise result in rejection of the goods can be corrected by Santa Fe Finishing.

Among the problems that call for Forman's expertise are counterfeit goods that have been confiscated by customs.  While some are presumably beyond repair, others can be salvaged with minor alterations that remove the offending trademarks.  As the WSJ reports:

In late August, for instance, 17,000 denim pants made in a Chinese factory were confiscated at the port of Long Beach, after U.S. customs officials determined that the zippers on the garments were counterfeits of a Japanese fastening brand called YKK.

To get out of the jam, a representative for the brand called on Mr. Forman.  Fifteen employees headed to the warehouse and set up a makeshift factory, complete with lamps, tables, and tools.  They spent the next five days grinding off the fake YKK marks with handheld drills.  Because the pants now had generic zippers -- rather than counterfeit YKK's -- U.S. customs officials approved the change and let the jeans enter the country, just one week late.

If that's all it takes to fix a fake, then let 'er zip!

Posted by Susan Scafidi at 08:40 AM | Permalink