According to a report by Europe’s Office for Harmonization in the Internal Market (OHIM), counterfeit products cost European brands the value of 9.7% of their total sales every year- about $28.7 billion – and these figures focus only on the European brands. Add up American and Asian companies and the numbers become unbelievable.
Today, buying fakes or knock-off fashion items is a common practice and people have become used to the idea of being surrounded by “designer” items, which are not “designer” at all. Sometimes, these products imitate the original items more or less precisely and try to pass as originals and sometimes they don’t – a change of a letter (Gucci becomes Pucci) should be enough to make things clear.
There is a strong market for this type of goods and it is rare that people look deep inside the roots of why so many people want to buy fakes, knock-offs and replicas.
Evolutionarily, humans are programmed to showcase status in order to have a safe life and, in most cases, to be able to find a good partner with whom they will pass their genes on. A part of showcasing social and, more importantly, sexual market value, is to showcase that you have money and power. As long as humans have had a history and a culture, there have always been physical markers of wealth and power. These were always more or less the same, but they usually consist of owning things that others can’t afford; which is what basically defines the idea of luxury. In short, luxury is something which is very much sought-after, but which most people can’t afford. For example, in the desert, water is a luxury. People with wealth and high status have always had items that have showcased their position in society and these have most often come in the shape of clothing, accessories and other products such as luggage, cars and more. In short, modern luxury brands have, little by little, become synonymous with power, money and elegance. And, speaking of elegance, luxury brands like Chanel, Gucci or Prada are also strongly associated with personal values. Sports brands are also associated with values such as health, dynamism and strength. This why, in many communities you will see people desperate to showcase these labels, even though they all know that they are not real items – they try to communicate that they are sporty, which means that they are healthy and have good genes.
Interestingly enough, fakes cost brands only 10% of their business and generally, it appears as though these brands are not especially bothered by people using their trademark logos. The reason for this is quite simple: most people who buy authentic things from Prada, Louis Vuitton or Hermès do so from authorized shops only or from their official online stores. You will rarely find a billionaire buying a vintage Chanel bag from the back of a truck on a wet alley thinking it’s a real item. The two groups (those who buy originals and those who buy fakes) generally don’t overlap. Sometimes, though, people start with fakes, and, when they see their social power, they switch to the real thing.
There have been cases where huge dramas appeared around fakes. In the 1980s in Japan, there were women who had received Chanel bags from their husbands and, when the bags broke, went to Chanel stores to have them fixed. Once they arrived there, they were told that the bags were in fact fake. We’re not sure whether any divorces came from this, but hysteria and anger did appear for sure.
Thinking symbolically, the world of fakes is best framed by Mark Twain’s 1881 novel The Prince and the Pauper, in which two boys, who looked almost identical, once prince and one pauper, exchange lives for a while. The story concentrates the idea that while two elements can look (almost) exactly the same, their origin, background and inner spirit is what tells them apart. This is why, at the end of the story, the prince returns back to the throne and becomes king. This is just one of the reasons why wealthy people prefer to spend lots of money on something that is almost as good as something that is fifty times cheaper. It’s the background and the origin that count.
This does not mean that fakes are worthless: this is why in The Prince and the Pauper, the new king protects his friend from whom he has learned a lot.
It is said that “imitation is the biggest form of flattery” and, in many ways, this is true. Having people imitate you indicates that you are a model for them and that you represent something to look up to for them. Of course, the only bigger flattery is to take one’s lessons and make them your own.
Symbolically, the doubling of something usually implies a (great) difference or creating an opposite. While a mirroring in a surface tells the truth, the doubling of something usually implies a difference (à la the evil twin motive in telenovelas).
Sometimes though, fakes can be very useful too. In the end, a very popular phrase many people use is “fake it until you make it”.