I remember when I first started seeing fake Louis Vuitton bags on the street. I couldn’t believe it. I mean, designer brands like Louis Vuitton were supposed to be exclusive, and now I saw them everywhere. I guess people thought that if they couldn’t afford the real thing, they’d go for a knockoff instead!
At first, I was really angry about this. How could these people have the audacity to walk around with a fake? I had the same mentality as if someone had copied my artwork or something. Then, a friend of mine asked me why I was so mad. He said, “Why does it matter if someone has or wears a knockoff? It’s just a bag, and it’s all about how it makes the wearer feel.”
That was an eye opening statement. I realized that, to some people, having a knockoff Louis Vuitton was a way of feeling like they had the real thing, even if they knew it was a knockoff. For the most part, no one really knows that it’s not the genuine article unless they have been knowledged in fashion or have a keen interest. I’m not sure why, but people want to be seen, to be noticed, and to be classy. And having a knock-off LV can help with that.
The fakes look so convincing, too. They use the same fabrics, the same logo, and sometimes even a similar trademark treatment to make them look more genuine. And the price is always far lower than the original. The funny thing is, sometimes even the knockoffs have rip-off prices….but that’s another story.
I still don’t feel comfortable that some people may be walking around with a fake LV, but I guess it gives them the satisfaction of feeling just as good as anyone else. It’s kind of like pretending you are a movie star. In the end, these knockoffs still make people feel that they have the same prestige as those that can afford the real stuff.
But it doesn’t end there. As with anything, there are those out there who truly don’t care—the counterfeiters. Many of them make no effort to make the fake look genuine. They often have cheap materials, brown (not gold) hardware, and a sloppy execution of the LV logo. Not only is this taking away from the true beauty of the original, but it is also probably fooling more people who aren’t as experienced in identifying fakes.
I think that knockoff LV bags are a tricky situation. On the one hand, it’s nice to think that some people who couldn’t otherwise afford a designer bag get to have a version of one. But on the other hand, it’s not good for the designer. They invest so much into their creations and pay a lot of money to brand their products. And so they, of course, don’t like it when they lose out to a duplicate.
It’s never easy to spot a knockoff LV. To my surprise, there are many tips and tricks available online to help buyers know what to look for. But the truth is, even the most experienced consumer might only discover the truth when the bag arrives in the mail and has that “fake smell”. In the end, the only thing that really matters is that if you want a real LV, always buy it from an authorized retailer and not an auction site. Otherwise, you will run the risk of paying a lot of money for something that’s a total fake.
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