Posts Tagged ‘counterfeit’

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Carrying a Knock-off Causing Political Trouble

Friday, December 11th, 2009

elainepaulsevuittonknockoff

Bitou, South Africa DA councillor Elaine Paulse is in some hot water right now for the knock-off handbag she carries.  Apparently, Paulse challenged ANC Mayor Lulama Mvimbi for wasting tax payer money on bodyguards and a fancy BMW X5 he's driving as his official car.

So now, the ANC secretary of Bitou, Lingo Sulani is claiming that Elaine Paulse's handbag (the bag pictured above) is an authentic, Louis Vuitton valued at over $2650!  The problem being that Paulse did not declare this valuable gift as the Councillors’ Code of Conduct requires.  Looks like Bitou ANC councillors are going forward with disciplinary proceedings and are trying to get the bag authenticated and appraised.

So Jacquie Myburgh, a columnist for South Africa's Times and a former fashion magazine editor came out and said “there’s not a single LV monogram in sight, which ... is what clearly denotes the coveted Vuitton brand.”  But apparently the ANC wants to bring in "an expert" for an evaluation.

Uhhh, honestly.  Does this one really require an expert?  Ew!  This thing is so clearly fake it's comical.  It's almost not even trying.  The closest Louis Vuitton's come to that style is the Louis Vuitton Monogram Ellipse- and this is a stretch:

louisvuittonellipse

The pattern in the monogram in the knock-off is not anything like what's in an authentic bag.  The bag that Elaine Paulse carries was obviously inspired by the iconic Louis Vuitton monogram- but it's so far off, it's hardly recognizable.

The problem here IMO isn't the value of the bag- but the idea that anyone- particularly someone in political office would carry a knock-off in the first place.

Ms. Paulse- ditch the fake.  There are so many options out there in that are stylish and economical- but that don't try to be something they aren't.

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Posted in Fakes | No Comments »

What Can You Do with a Fake Handbag?

Tuesday, September 29th, 2009

jessesiphonecase

I get asked this question a lot.  There are a lot of reasons why an honest person who doesn't want anything to do with a fake bag- could get stuck with one (whether they got it as a gift, or they bought it on eBay- thinking it was real, etc.)  So what do you do with it now that you've got it?

Well we have tons of bags that have been sent to us- by clients who thought that they were real- but alas, they were not.  We don't deal with fakes period.  So we've got a big trash bin that's got a bunch of nasty fakes that have accumulated over the years.  We don't even like trashing them- because our, oh so efficient local dumpster divers could end up putting them up on eBay.

Well, Jesse- our talented web guy (and my brother!), was an Industrial Designer first- and I guess that instinct took over- when he cut up an ugly fake Chloe Paddington, and made it into this cool little case for his iPhone!  It's all lined and even has space for a few credit cards!  He figured, the leather's still perfectly good- and why not put it to use.

jessesiphonecase

He's not using any of the counterfeit logos or labeling- (he'd not have done this with a Louis Vuitton monogram fake for example- cause then, he'd have just made his own fake, and that's not the goal!)- but just the unmarked leather, and fashioned it into a cool and really practical case.

Nice way to re-purpose an item that can only otherwise be fit for the trash, into something so attractive and useful!   It's a really Green solution as well- reducing the mess in the landfill, and a great way to recycle!

Hmmm, that was a pretty big bag!  I'm hoping there's enough leather for him to squeeze out a couple more for his sisters!  What do you think of Jesse's creation?

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Posted in Recycle | 9 Comments »

Stick with the black leather bandaids…

Sunday, July 5th, 2009

Uh... yeah.  The black leather bandaids, I could see.  For those injured goth or rocker types.

Luxist wrote on the leather version, and I thought... "hmmm, interesting concept- and looks like they're getting some press." I mean, at our house, we've got "Camp Rock" bandaids, and Hello Kitty bandaids and Camo bandaids- but nobody's doing cool bandaids for folks over 11.  What about white patent?  Or Leopard?  I think people might buy those...  But the whole unauthorized Louis Vuitton monogram version was a turn-off.

What do you think?

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Posted in art | No Comments »

Jim Jones’ “Louie Vitton” Recording Studio

Wednesday, April 8th, 2009

Yikes... can't imagine Louis Vuitton's going to like this much. Especially after how they went after TI and his Rag. LV's really been coming down on the whole "unauthorized use" thing (think Britney, Ruben Studdard, Danity Kane, etc. etc.). With their trademarks being counterfeited left and right, they do their best to defend their intellectual property rights. Smart to keep the value of that name up.

I'm totally shocked that the Louis Vuitton monogram doesn't give Jim Jones flashbacks. He's found himself in a legal mess because he brawled Ne Yo in front of the Fifth Avenue Louis Vuitton boutique.

Source: NY Daily News

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Posted in Jim Jones | 2 Comments »

Three Kings Downer

Saturday, February 28th, 2009

Three Kings Movie Vuitton

Why does my husband enjoy these war movies?  I just can't handle them... really.

Anyway, I finally sat down with him and watched this old flick- and there are tons of fakes in this movie.  Piles of fake LV to transport gold bullion.  Literally dozens of clearly fake bags Louis Vuitton pieces, in styles never made.  I mean, they say that counterfeits fund terrorist groups and support in the all kinds of illegal and scary behavior... so I guess it makes sense.

Yuck all the way around.  Can't we watch a nice chick flick?

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Posted in Louis Vuitton | No Comments »

eBay Wins Counterfeit Battle Against Rolex

Friday, February 27th, 2009

 LV eBay

First Tiffany & Co, now Rolex.  eBay's on a roll.

The decision found that once eBay had been alerted to the issue with fake Rolexes... that they'd done a fair job at keeping them off the site.  The decision said "that Rolex couldn’t show that any similar counterfeit goods were offered on EBay after the company had been alerted to the sales".

Don't get me wrong, there are still those pesky little (cough) Hermes and Louis Vuitton cases that they took a major hit on!

And don't forget, they're facing L’Oreal any day now!

Bloomberg

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Louis Vuitton wins $3.5 Million Counterfeit Case

Monday, October 20th, 2008

 Fake Louis Vuitton Bucket

WWD's reporting that Louis Vuitton won another big one.

Apparently, Judge Alvin K. Hellerstein was hoping to make a statement with his $3.5 million award in favor of Louis Vuitton.  He said, "Defendants have shown by their willfulness in obstructing this litigation and violating plaintiffs’ trademark rights that a slight damage award is unlikely to deter them from continuing their illegal business."

Hopefully this will deter Joyce Chan and Chong Lam from continuing their business selling counterfeit handbags that infringed upon Louis Vuitton’s trademarks.  But who knows.  From a Reuter's article earlier this year (at the time of their arrest), it looks like they'd benefitted to the tune of $16 million from their sales of fake Louis Vuitton, Gucci, Chanel and Coach.

Picture Credit:  WWD

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Posted in Fakes | No Comments »

Duh! The Worst Fake in the World.

Saturday, October 18th, 2008

FALB Mon Monogram

No... not that one.  The bag above is the amazing, authentic special order Mon Monogram Speedy that fellow blogger F~A~L~B introduced to the world in mid June of this year.  But follow me here- this is an unreal story!

If you aren't familiar with Louis Vuitton's Mon Monogram- it is a special Speedy 30 that you can customize with your choice of 2-3 initials and vertical or diagonal stripes in 16 possible colors.  These options leave the variety and possibilities almost endless! 

So I was sooooo interested in the most recent post on F~A~L~B's In LVOE with Louis Vuitton blog.  It seems that since F~A~L~B's pictures of his Mon Mono were the first to hit the web- those where the pictures that the counterfeiters used to produce their fakes of this bag... right--down--to--the--color--and--choice--of--initials--to--the--color--of--the--stripes.

I guess the brilliant fakers thought "FB" stood for "fabulous bag" or "freaking beautiful"?

Check it out:

Fake Mon Monogram

So sad.

I used to not think that big-time counterfeiters paid much attention to info/pictures they found on the web.  The fakes today are so close to the original, that I just figured, they're buying a real one- ripping it apart and copying it.  But this just goes to show...

Read the story from his blog.  And be shocked.

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Posted in Fakes | No Comments »

The Worst Article in the World…

Saturday, October 11th, 2008

 Fake Examiner Louis Vuitton Looping MM

I always got a kick out of his "Worst Person in the World" segment in Countdown with Keith Olbermann.  And when I saw this article, I immediately thought... this is for sure, this week's "Worst Article in the World".

Go ahead, check out the Examiner.com article written by Kelly Saxton Lindner, the "Dallas High Society Examiner".  Wow.  There is nothing high society about what Kelly advocates.

The article is called, "Five ways to get good fake designer handbags."

I'm not going to get into all of the lowlights of the article, but Kelly, honey- fakes are not only tacky and cheap looking (trust me- more people know than you think) but they support a lot of really yucky and scary stuff***.   Carrying them just isn't honest.

The "Louis Vuitton Looping MM" pictured in the Examiner article is not authentic.  The monogram alignment is wrong, the monogram is flipped near the zipper- so the LVs are laying horizontally (where they shouldn't be showing at all- and for sure not aligned that way), the zipper pull isn't shaped correctly and neither is the strap.

If you're looking for a Louis Vuitton handbag for less than retail- don't buy a fake- buy pre-owned.  While the Monogram Looping MM costs $1030 from the Boutique or eLuxury.com, we have authentic pre-owned Louis Vuitton monogram Looping MM bags on our website for anywhere from less than a third of that- only $325, to $550.

Buying pre-owned authentic bags, you'll not only save some money, but you can hold your head high carrying a bag that you love, knowing you've made an authentic choice, and a "green" one, to boot!  Win, win, win!

***  A little background reading:

BBC:  Fake Goods Linked to Terrorism

Times Online:  Designer Fakes 'are funding Al-Qaeda’

IHT:  Counterfeit goods are linked to terrorism

Harper's Bazaar:  Fakes are never in fashion

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Posted in Fakes | 6 Comments »

Yet another reason never to attend a “Purse Party”

Tuesday, October 7th, 2008

Beyond the obvious, of course (ya know- the whole, funding terrorism thing, etc. etc.).

The Purse Party of No Return: Louis Vuitton Brouhaha Leaves One Injured, Two in Jail

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