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The geopolitics of fake goods
The market for counterfeit luxury goods has exploded in recent years. © Studio Pachamama

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The geopolitics of fake goods

The counterfeit market has exploded in recent years, from fake Hermès Birkins to fake Chanel 2.55s, fake luxury trainers to fake Rolex watches. Thanks in part to the internet, but first and foremost to the current global geopolitical situation, the quality of counterfeit luxury goods is improving - to the extent that even experts have a hard time distinguishing real from fake. Moreover, the networks trafficking fakes between Paris, Hong Kong, Ankara and Moscow are becoming better organised.

The geopolitics of fake goods
The market for counterfeit luxury goods has exploded in recent years. © Studio Pachamama

France
Saint-Ouen flea market in luxury brands' firing line over counterfeits

Three months on from the Paris 2024 Olympic Games, which prompted a series of anti-counterfeiting operations, the flea market north of the French capital remains a hub for counterfeit products. But local mayor Karim Bouamrane, who nurtures higher political ambitions, is reluctant to take on the illicit traders.

LogoSubscribers only Entourage 14.11.2024

France, United States
Chinese counterfeit site DHGate slides into front row fashion

The Chinese counterfeit site popular with football fans looking for cheap player shirts is branching into affordable luxury.

Free access Entourage 19.09.2024

France
Counterfeiters quick to thrive on Celine's quiet success

As a pioneer of the "quiet luxury" trend, Celine and its bags have become the target of a major imitation operation.

LogoSubscribers only Houses 05.09.2024

France
Paris shuts some 30 shops in pre-Olympics clampdown on counterfeits

The French authorities have clamped down on counterfeit activities in the Paris region in the build-up to the Olympic Games, especially near to where the athletes will be competing.

LogoSubscribers only Entourage 25.07.2024

France
Second-hand luxury retailers cut deals with likes of Cash Converters

Companies that sell second-hand luxury goods are increasingly signing contracts with more mainstream operators such as Cash Express and Cash Converters. It's a handy way of offloading less popular items and cutting down on storage costs at a time when the market is slowing down.

LogoSubscribers only Entourage 13.06.2024

Turkey
Counterfeiters selling out their hot fakes on Shopify

The Canadian firm's online sales services, which are used by a number of luxury brands, are also used by copycat companies to sell their fake goods.

LogoSubscribers only Entourage 30.05.2024

Spotlight | Europe, United States
Anti-fraud services and tax authorities target Instagram 'live' luxury sales

The rising numbers of Instagram accounts selling luxury bags, jewellery and clothing items are getting a close look from anti-fraud services on both sides of the Atlantic, as well as from tax authorities. In providing a distribution channel with little regulation, the app is being used by counterfeiting networks and money launderers alike.

Fraud investigation services are closely monitoring sales of counterfeit luxury goods on Instagram.
Free access Entourage 22.02.2024
Fraud investigation services are closely monitoring sales of counterfeit luxury goods on Instagram.

Spotlight | France
Luxury resale specialists: are Monogram's discount goods the real deal?

By selling discount luxury items that are impossible to find elsewhere, second-hand retail site Monogram has elicited the incredulity of fashion houses and the suspicion of France's consumer watchdogs.

The second-hand retail site Monogram regularly offers rare luxury items at discounted prices.
LogoSubscribers only Entourage 01.02.2024
The second-hand retail site Monogram regularly offers rare luxury items at discounted prices.

France
Counterfeiters concoct fake VIP gifts

Gifts offered by luxury houses to their best customers have been popping up for sale online in recent weeks. The trouble is, they're fakes.

LogoSubscribers only Houses 18.01.2024

Europe, France
Counterfeiters hone in on luxury

European customs authorities have recorded a significant decrease in seizures of counterfeit products. But while the number of seizures has dropped, the value of products seized is steadily increasing, as counterfeiters shift their focus to luxury products.

LogoSubscribers only Entourage 14.12.2023

Italy
Quiet luxury label Loro Piana plagued by counterfeits

The LVMH-owned Italian brand made its lack of logo a defining feature, but Loro Piana is now facing a sharp rise in fakes on a major resale website.

LogoSubscribers only Houses 12.10.2023

United States
The RealReal still under fire from Chanel

It is a legal dispute ongoing since November 2018. The US second-hand luxury site The RealReal is still struggling to settle the lawsuits Chanel brought against it.

LogoSubscribers only Entourage 07.09.2023

France
Intellectual property trial not in the bag for Hermès's Birkin

While Hermès has for now always managed to defend the intellectual property of its Birkin bag against counterfeiters, the leather goods group will face an unprecedented challenge in May.

LogoSubscribers only Houses 16.03.2023

China, France
Credible fakes pose real problems for Hermès

For just a few thousand euros, a discreet Chinese retailer has been providing the French brand's demanding customers with fake Birkin and Kelly bags that are nearly identical to the originals.

LogoSubscribers only Houses 23.02.2023

Spotlight | Russia, Turkey
Putin weaponises counterfeit luxury goods amid Ukraine war

One of Russian President Vladimir Putin's responses to Western support for Ukraine has been to make it much easier for fake luxury products to transit through - and be manufactured in - his country.

Vladimir Putin facilitates the transit of luxury counterfeit goods through Russia, as well as their manufacture.
Free access Entourage 09.02.2023
Vladimir Putin facilitates the transit of luxury counterfeit goods through Russia, as well as their manufacture.

Europe
Chanel bags: Vintage experts struggling to tell the originals from the fakes

Websites that sell second-hand products have had to review their procedures for identifying counterfeit Chanel goods as the workmanship of the fakes catches up with the originals.

Free access Houses 26.01.2023

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The market for counterfeit luxury goods has exploded in recent years.

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