Where Is the Harm in Counterfeit Fashion?

*This photo is courtesy of www. kimberlymahle.com* "Africans selling knockoff purses in Venice, Italy."

We see these purveyors of counterfeit goods all of the time. Whether its the lady in the parking lot hawking goods for a "purse party", or a man on Canal Street in New York City convincing you to buy a Kate Spade bag from a black plastic garbage bag, counterfeit fashion goods are everywhere.

They are even on the internet. Try googling knockoff purses and you will find countless website offering you "replicas" of designer handbags.

"With the increasing interest in high fashion and recent developments in technology, counterfeit and knockoff artists have reached their peak. Not only are fraudsters able to sell items they recreate on the Web with little overhead or cost, but within minutes of the conclusion of a runway show exact reproductions of the garments are in the process of being mass produced. Often the replicated designs are obtainable before the original designer has even made his garments available for sale, causing many in the industry to cry out for protection." Lynsey Blackmon, The Devil Wears Prado: A Look At The Design Piracy Prohibition Act And The Extension of Copyright Protection To The World of Fashion, 35 PEPLR 107, 111-112 (2007).

The use of the internet in order to make a quick turnaround of counterfeit goods has turned this seemingly innocuous business into one that harms creativity. It takes designers a long time to create their designs. It takes only seconds to take that design and reverse engineer it for copycats: "Although these tactics were common practice at one time, improvements in technology mean knockoff artists no longer need to wait for the design to become available before making it their own. With one digital picture the lag time is decreased to near nothing, and computerized pattern-making and order-taking make the process a cinch." Id. at 119.

It is this use of technology that makes it harder for copycats to claim that they are "inspired" by designs introduced on a fashion runway. They are basically copying the design stitch for stitch.

This is a dress designed by Vera Wang for Keira Knightley for the Oscars. Within days, ABS Allen Schwartz was able to upload photos of the dress, have a computer reverse stitch, and create replicas of Vera Wang's design.

This dress was offered before Vera Wang had the ability to create one for her pret-a-porter line. But this is not Allen Schwartz's concern. He claims that his business is to offer what the consumer wants: "In the words of designer Allen Schwartz: 'If [you] can put a well-made, great-looking suspender pant in a store for $190 and it's sitting 20 feet away from a similar suspender pant by Donna Karan that retails for $450, which do you think the average consumer is going to want?' Consumers are proving Mr. Schwartz right. Without more safeguards than those currently afforded actual garment designs, knockoffs will continue to permeate the market allowing knockoff manufacturers to profit from the investment of the original designer." Id.

However, it is not just the designer being harmed by knockoffs.

Consumers are harmed too. Consumers may spend more on a knockoff bag by Anya Hindmarch than on the original just because of the "snob factor" of the limited numbers of the originals. For example, Anya Hindmarch created an "I'm Not a Plastic Bag" canvas bag that was sold in limited numbers in select Whole Foods Markets. There are currently dozens of counterfeit versions of this bag being sold in New York City's Chinatown for more than double the original price at $15! In fact, I asked a vendor how much his counterfeit bag costs an average consumer and he told me the bag costs $35! Consumers who buy this more expensive counterfeit will also be faced with quality control issues. Where can the consumer complain? I looked at the bag being offered and noticed poor quality stitching, poor quality canvas, and crooked lettering.

Another issue are the work conditions for the workers making these counterfeit products. Typically, the conditions for making these goods are very poor. Operations need to be mobile because of the fear of police raids. The workers are typically illegal immigrants and can sometimes include children as young as fours years old:

"Keeping pace with counterfeiters can be exceptionally difficult, Lipkus said, noting that they work quickly, collapsing their operations within hours of being discovered.
In one recent raid in Markham, Ont., an investigator found a team of workers sewing brand-name labels onto knock-off clothes.
Lipkus said while the investigator was contacting police, one of the counterfeiters pulled a van up to the plant to take the goods away.
"The landlord was contacted on the facility and when they opened up the doors there was not a stitch of anything in [there]," he said. "They had moved everything, lock, stock and barrel within two hours."
While officials were not able to determine the working conditions or wages of the workers at the Markham plant, Lipkus said counterfeiting factories in Asia are typically shocking. " -http://www.cbc.ca/news/background/consumers/counterfeit.html

Will consumers scale back consumption if they realize how harmful counterfeits are?