Close Encounters With the Fake-Kind: Real vs. Fake, Why You Should Care

One of the factories we visited while in Mainland China

Recently on a trip to Clothes Mentor, I couldn’t help but notice a sign at the front counter stating that “all name brand items brought in and requesting to be bought by Clothes Mentor would need a proof of authenticity”. I can only imagine that what may have spurted that notice was some poor sap’s attempt to bring in counterfeit goods because until now I have never seen that type of sign at a resale shop. Seems that counterfeits are virtually everywhere; online auction sites, apps, even new places like clothes mentor are at risk of filtering in counterfeits without knowing. But is this really that big of a deal? What am I hurting getting an exact replica for a fraction of the cost?

In my opinion it is a huge deal and a even bigger “no”. When I was over seas in China, we got to visit outdoor markets with tons of counterfeit products. Exact replica look-a-likes from various name brands: Chanel, Marc Jacobs, Fendi, the list was endless. Unfortunately to say, at the time I did indulged in a replica Marc Jacobs bag and a Fendi bag. At the time I didn’t understand what I was doing.

Counterfeiting is a huge business that profits billions of dollars in illegal activity. Even worse than that, there is a high chance that the working conditions of the people in those types of environments are very poor. We got to see the factory campuses where legit legal products were made in China. Even though conditions were probably much better than that of factories producing counterfeits, it is hard to view it coming from an American culture as “great conditions”; so I can only imagine how much worse the conditions are than those I had seen in a good factory.

Illegal activity to make counterfeits can also involve slave or child labor. The other day on the Kelly Couric show, the topic was slave labor and how it is still very present today. Can you imagine some poor 10 year old kid working like a slave to produce counterfeit goods? Places that produce these kinds of goods don’t have the same regulations and laws that the actual brand owner will go through in order to be 100% compliant and authentic.

So while that bag or pair of jeans you have may be so close to real that no one will ever know the difference, think more about the behind the scenes of how it was made and came to be present in your wardrobe. That is a pretty big difference. Keep it real-KG

P.S. Try out this quiz. It shows, based on your lifestyle, potentially how many slaves work to make your lifestyle possible and how to help fight slave labor.

http://slaveryfootprint.org/