According to today’s WWD, a Thursday raid in Queens turned up $5.5M in counterfeit luxury goods. Faux Louis Vuitton, Chanel, Gucci and Prada handbags — 50,000 in all — were confiscated.
Along with the bags, 65,000 pairs of Nike shoes and 6,000 Bathing Ape jumpsuits were also seized. First of all, are Bathing Ape jumpsuits so hard to get or so expensive that you’d buy a budget version on Canal St.? The answer to that may actually be “yes” — Bathing Ape and/or jumpsuits were never really my style.
Knock-offs suck and if you don’t believe me, read Dana Thomas’s Deluxe: How Luxury Lost its Luster (and let me know how it is). By now it’s been well-publicized that imitation luxury goods support child labor, sweatshops, organized crime, terrorism and anything else that would bum you out. But the most important question here is not why we’re willing to throw money at such a skeevy industry.
Rather, it’s why do we have such terrible taste? Of all the things that can be reproduced, we want a rainbow Coach bag that looks like a first grader designed it and giant baby clothes? A momentary lapse in morals can be excused, but we all need to take a stand against the popularization of adult-sized infant wear.
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April 4th, 2008 at 12:40 pm
That hoody-PJ combo is so hot right now. Very good post Ms (soon to be Mrs) Lewis.
April 4th, 2008 at 12:46 pm
I’m soon to be Mrs. Lewis? Is there a Mr. Lewis I don’t know about?
April 4th, 2008 at 1:01 pm
“Of all the things that can be reproduced, we want a rainbow Coach bag that looks like a first grader designed it and giant baby clothes? A momentary lapse in morals can be excused, but we all need to take a stand against the popularization of adult-sized infant wear.” fucking brilliant! although now we have to return the matching hoodie PJ combos we got you and Ray for christmas. ( Ray’s was checkered flannel with gold plated diapers.) Seriously though, this post is hilarious and so true! I mean, death by rainbow goach bag?(the awesome gucci-coach combo) How low can we go…real low, real low.
April 4th, 2008 at 1:31 pm
Finding and buying real Bape isn’t easy or cheap. 99.99999% of the shit you see kids wearing is totally fake. Before the New York and London stores, you had to go to Japan. And I think, way back, you had to be a member to go inside.
April 4th, 2008 at 3:39 pm
and can someone tell me why that sweatshirt — for adults — has ears?
April 7th, 2008 at 1:45 pm
Bootleg kamakazi-inducing Japanese offensive clothing funds terror!!!