One lesson I learned early on in my marriage is that if I wanted to be able to watch all the sports I wanted, Id have to succumb to quality time with my wife watching Gossip Girl, The Bachelor slash Bachelorette, Dancing with the Stars, and Americas Next Top Model. As painful as these shows are to watch, sometimes theyll surprise you, like in the beginning of this clip from ANTM, with some helpful information.
Update: Skip to 1:10
Posts Tagged ‘Fakes’
France to Amp Up Fight Against Online Counterfeits
Wednesday, December 16th, 2009
France takes the whole counterfeit thing seriously. They seem to really "get" the harm that this under-market causes not only brands that are being faked- but society in general.
As part of a general effort to protect intellectual property and regulate what goes on in the web.... French lawmakers have come up with a Charter to help cooperation between all of the various companies who have interest and control in keeping fakes off the web. The charter is being called "a statement of best practices" and would standardize the way that companies (luxury labels, cosmetics, apparel, pharmaceutical and other companies that are regular victims of counterfeiting) cooperate with the e-commerce platform sites in their efforts to get rid of the fakes.
It's not only the counterfeiting companies that get busted in France. They don't take kindly to the buyers and users of fakes period. In fact, France just passed legislation that totally denies internet access to consumers caught illegally downloading movies and music.
They're so headed in the right direction here. But until people stop wanting fakes in the first place- counterfeiters will keep finding a way to make and sell them. Until the masses "get" how uncool fakes are- it's going to be a constant battle to shut them down...
What do you think?
Two Buyers Held Hostage in Fake Bag Bust…
Friday, March 20th, 2009
My husband snapped this picture of me at the airport in Nice, France. The French do not kid around in their anti-counterfeit efforts... and even target those "buying or carrying" fakes!
But, anywho... it must have scared the pants off the couple who was in NYC shopping in the back of a van for some counterfeit bags, when they were all of the sudden sucked into a major NYPD "Fake Bag Sting."
The NYPD Trademark Infringement Unit (I did not know the NYPD had one of those!!!) confiscated 7 vans filled with 2000 fake Louis Vuitton, Coach and Burberry bags with a street value of around $125,000. Apparently the shoppers were at the very wrong place at just the right moment, and when the fakers realized what was happening, they quickly closed up shop with the shoppers inside. Oops!
Anyway, the couple got out unharmed... but I bet they'll stick to the real stuff from now on!
Read the whole story from the NY Daily News.
Louis Vuitton wins $3.5 Million Counterfeit Case
Monday, October 20th, 2008 
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
Duh! The Worst Fake in the World.
Saturday, October 18th, 2008
No... not that one. The bag above is the amazing, authentic special order Mon Monogram Speedy that fellow blogger But follow me here- this is an unreal story!
So I was sooooo interested in the most recent post on
I guess the brilliant fakers thought "FB" stood for "fabulous bag" or "freaking beautiful"?
Check it out:
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.
The Worst Article in the World…
Saturday, October 11th, 2008 
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
Yet another reason never to attend a “Purse Party”
Tuesday, October 7th, 2008Beyond 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
Louis Vuitton doesn’t play that game
Saturday, September 6th, 2008 
I mean... when will people learn. Louis Vuitton REALLY doesn't like it when people use their marks without their permission.
So there's this kind of clever game out there called Fakes for Real. It includes 60 cards and is a "Memory" style game where you match up pairs. But, instead of being matched sets of two- there is a real card matched with its fake. So... the real Mona Lisa and a repro, Bavaria’s Neuschwanstein castle and Sleeping Beauty's Disneyland castle, the Villa Rotonda and its look-a-like "the White House", an aerial picture of downtown Toronto and one from the computer game The Sims. I actually really like the concept!
However, the box and packaging are clearly inspired by the Louis Vuitton trademark logo pointed quatrefoils as well as the overall multicolore dress.
It's temporarily offline- and here's what the www.fakeforreal.com website looks like right now:
Ha! I totally LOVE what they did to most of the offending marks game in that pic:
Anyway... I mean, I get it. A game of fakes and they're using the logos of the most historically faked brand satirically. But that's just the problem. Louis Vuitton doesn't want to be associated with anything counterfeit... let alone a game of fakes. (And quite frankly, they are vigilant in quashing the unauthorized use of their marks at all. Remember Britney, Ruben Studdard, Da Brat, BMG and the infamous Darfur shirt?)
Here's an interesting read about it.
Here it comes…
Sunday, June 29th, 2008 
The Louis Vuitton v. eBay decision that is. It should be here on the 30th- tomorrow that is.
Are you ready?
After that amazing Candadian decision- $1 million for a fairly small fashion store (with only a couple locations)... and the $30,000 eBay had to pay Hermes last month after a decision against them in a French court for allowing 3 (yes, three) fake Hermes on the site... I'm DYING to hear what the French Courts are going to say in the Louis Vuitton lawsuit against eBay Inc.
Louis Vuitton, et al, is seeking 51 million Euro ($80 MILLION) in damages for negligence and the illicit sales of counterfeit bags on their site.
(As an aside- as someone who's been on eBay since 1999, I will say that eBay has done a pretty good job in the last couple years at getting, I'd estimate 95% LESS fake Louis Vuitton listed on the site than they did years ago...
There was a day when the vast, vast majority of the Louis Vuitton bags listed on the site were fake. Now, the opposite is true.)
This is the part that scares me...
Part of the decision will answer perfume brands Dior, Guerlain, Givenchy and Kenzo who have an issue with eBay even when they allow AUTHENTIC goods to be listed. They claim that even this is illegal because these companies hold tight control on their distribution chains and ONLY permit specialist, authorized dealers to sell their goods.
I can't wait...
Authentic v. Fake Louis Vuitton Cabas Raye Pleaty Patch
Monday, May 19th, 2008We've been asked about this before, so I thought you might want a good close-up.
Notice the subtle differences. The authentic Louis Vuitton Judy Blame Limited Edition Denim Cabas Raye Pleaty patch pictured above has:
- really rounded, even embossed font- the o's, a's and e's are circular, not oval in shape
- even and regular stitching
- the same stitch count on every bag: thirteen stitches across the top and bottom and eight stitches down each side
- tall "d" in the word "Edition"- it's slightly taller than the capital E
- tall "l" in the word "Blame- it's slightly taller than the capital B
- notice that in this font, the letter "u" has no tail
Compare these features to the patch in a replica Judy Blame Cabas Raye Pleaty:
It differs from the authentic patch in that:
- the font is too large on a patch that is too small for the bag
- the o's, a's and e's are too oval in shape- should be circular
- the stitch count is off... ten stitches by seven instead of thirteen by eight
- the "itt" in Vuitton should be closer together
- the spacing is off, and uneven- see "Louis"- the "Lou" are spaced wider than the "uis", the "P" in "Paris" is too far from the "aris"
- the "u"s should have no tail- the font in this patch has a tail on the u
- the R in ® should be larger in relation to the circle
Another fake embossing patch:
Although this patch has picked up on the circular o's, a's and e's... it's off in many ways:
- the lowercase letters are too big in relation to the capital letters- notice the "a" in Paris next to the "P"
- the red coating on the outside edge of the patch is too red
- the stitch count is off
- the spacing is irregular and off
- notice the little half stitch- stitching is irregular
- font is wrong
Hope this is helpful... if you'd like any other side by sides- or more detailed explanations, be sure to request them.
The replicas are getting more and more accurate- be careful buying online.
Check my guides for more authenticity help. We not only want you to buy from us- but we want you to be able to avoid fakes wherever you might be buying...
