I remember almost ten years ago in primary school when we had a Design & Technology project to complete - we had to design and make a T-shirt, showcasing our ability to use dye and fabric paint. My first thought was, "finally, a fashion assignment in school." By this age (age 13), one has already become brand conscious and materialism has also started to creep in. Instead of using my project as a means of replicating a branded Tee I could not afford, I cut off the tags on branded (using the term loosely here) clothing from mine and my sisters'cupboards and sewed them on the now pink colour-bleed Tee. I used black fabric paint to write "No Time..." across the front and "...to Fake it" across the back. I, along with a now fashion design graduate, both got "Best on Show" for our respective pieces of art. Yes, a proud moment.
Nine years later, I posted a YSL blog post, where I was wearing the "highly acclaimed", most coveted YSL Tee. I did also put out a disclaimer that my student budget does not stretch far enough to purchase such luxuries - they were a gift from my brother. I now know that he has a friend that traverses the world and purchases luxury brands to sell in South Africa. There exists many of this kind of entrepeneur in SA lately, some even selling handbags, Coco Chanel pumps and weaves from their car boots. This raises the following question; do people really think a pair of Coco Chanel patent leather pumps is only going to cost them R799? R799 is reasonable for your average high end retail store, but for an item from a luxury brand as huge as Coco Chanel, it is incredibly cheap. What baffles me about people who buy into fake designer label clothing and accessories is that they would much rather spend a few hundred rands or thousands on replicas of international brands rather than spend that same amount of money on genuine pieces from local brands that are designed and created just as immaculately as any international brand.
My brother is based in KZN and the only APSLEY Group stockists in South Africa are in Cape Town and Johannesburg. YSL is part of this group, so initially I was quite curious as to where he had purchased these gems, but I've always been told it is rude to look a gift horse in the mouth, so I did not ask my brother any questions. I appreciate the gift, because he knows how much I froth over monochrome fashion. The YSL letters on my tee's are black (and ivory) hyde cut-outs and there is a Yves Saint Laurent tag on the back, but doubt still lingers in my mind. Thing is, in China, you get three variations of each respective fashion house; the fake, which is the kind where you'll buy an LV handbag for R200, the rich cousin fake, which is slightly more expensive (kinda like factory outlet prices), but still not the real thing and then the real thing (rare, but it exists). This is where the car boot entrepreneur stocks up.
An article I read reported on an iStore in China that was completely fake, yet so well engineered that even its employees did not know that they were working in a counterfeit iStore - enough said.
As a result of the growing market of "FongKongs" we're nearing a point whereby we will not be able give a compliment without asking, "Is it the real thing?" Those three words: the real thing, what do they even mean? What is the "the real thing?"
One of the biggest online stores in the world, eBay, provides an array of guides on how to spot the real from the fake. The most popular one being the fake vs. real Louis Vuitton bag, because we all know that every street vendor, every backstreet store and cellphone repair store has that traditional "Louis Vuitton" Monogram Toile canvas handbag, wallet or cellphone cover. I have also seen mannequins in backstreet stores and "R5 stores" (yes, believe it) wearing sequinned Armani Tee's with Coco Chanel handbags hanging off their dislocated porcelain shoulders and just thinking to myself, "Make it stop." The worst part is that there are people who genuinely believe that these are real and that they have been lucky enough to find these high fashion items at such bargain prices. On the flip-side, there are people who are quite cognisant of the fact that these are fake, but still purchase them anyway, because fads, fashions & Instagram likes.
One of the biggest online stores in the world, eBay, provides an array of guides on how to spot the real from the fake. The most popular one being the fake vs. real Louis Vuitton bag, because we all know that every street vendor, every backstreet store and cellphone repair store has that traditional "Louis Vuitton" Monogram Toile canvas handbag, wallet or cellphone cover. I have also seen mannequins in backstreet stores and "R5 stores" (yes, believe it) wearing sequinned Armani Tee's with Coco Chanel handbags hanging off their dislocated porcelain shoulders and just thinking to myself, "Make it stop." The worst part is that there are people who genuinely believe that these are real and that they have been lucky enough to find these high fashion items at such bargain prices. On the flip-side, there are people who are quite cognisant of the fact that these are fake, but still purchase them anyway, because fads, fashions & Instagram likes.
Truth is, in our turbulent economy not many people have the cash to just splurge on a R40 000 handbag.
Yes, we may think we can tell a fake from a real offhand, but this requires a lot of in-depth knowledge of each brand. Intricacies such as stitching, font, ink and placement of graphics have to be taken into account, but the ever-expanding market of fake products comes with really well made fakes, which makes it quite difficult to distinguish between a real and a fake. Even so, I maintain that the trick is in the pricing and store - if it seems too good to be true, then it probably is. If it has a price tag on it chances are that it is fake as well, because major fashion houses do not actually place the price tag on their merchandise. Why? Simply because that kind of price tag is too heavy.
American brand, Abercrombie & Fitch, burns their faulty and unsold clothing, because they do not want people who cannot afford their clothing to wear their clothing. An unnamed A&F official even stated the following: “Abercrombie and Fitch doesn't want to create the image that just anybody, poor people, can wear their clothing. Only people of a certain stature are able to purchase and wear the company name.”
Chanel and Louis Vuitton also burn all their unsold merchandise at the end of each season to avoid having any of their items on sale, which, according to them, taints the item's image and value. Elitism is the tool used to market such fashion brands - nothing else. There is this notion that buying merchandise from international fashion houses gets you a spot in the elite circles.
Yes, we may think we can tell a fake from a real offhand, but this requires a lot of in-depth knowledge of each brand. Intricacies such as stitching, font, ink and placement of graphics have to be taken into account, but the ever-expanding market of fake products comes with really well made fakes, which makes it quite difficult to distinguish between a real and a fake. Even so, I maintain that the trick is in the pricing and store - if it seems too good to be true, then it probably is. If it has a price tag on it chances are that it is fake as well, because major fashion houses do not actually place the price tag on their merchandise. Why? Simply because that kind of price tag is too heavy.
American brand, Abercrombie & Fitch, burns their faulty and unsold clothing, because they do not want people who cannot afford their clothing to wear their clothing. An unnamed A&F official even stated the following: “Abercrombie and Fitch doesn't want to create the image that just anybody, poor people, can wear their clothing. Only people of a certain stature are able to purchase and wear the company name.”
Chanel and Louis Vuitton also burn all their unsold merchandise at the end of each season to avoid having any of their items on sale, which, according to them, taints the item's image and value. Elitism is the tool used to market such fashion brands - nothing else. There is this notion that buying merchandise from international fashion houses gets you a spot in the elite circles.
My friend once bought a Marc Jacobs blazer at a store in Cavendish Mall. The blazer is stunning and I asked her if it's real and she said, "I don't care, it's Marc Jacobs!" This I admired, because for her, purchasing that blazer wasn't about her showing off, but rather about how it made her feel. Still touch and go, but okay.
As a fashionista and avid magazine collector, I often feel the need to visit the mall every week to, as I call it, "liven up" my wardrobe, which is why I shop smart. Unlike our parents, I am not yet at a point whereby I can pay Luminance a visit like once a month, where most of us can only afford an iPhone cover (if even that). Anyway, the reason why I say I shop smart is because I am more of a "sale-gal" and I don't do shopping sprees. I don't need to do shopping sprees, because I go shopping often - if there is no sale I buy two items at most or sometimes I just let my parents bankroll my swag (have to admit). My point is that in order to look good, you do not have to emulate the lifestyle of someone who is in an income bracket that you do not fall under.
Just because something is expensive doesn't mean it's great or that everyone around you knows how much it cost you. Also, if you really feel like you just cannot live life without some brand name sprawled across your chest, remember that thrift stores and factory outlets are your friends - genuine brands at incredibly reasonable prices (I once bought a United Colors of Benetton sweater for only R30)! and not to brag or anything, but there are very few brands I do not have in my cupboard.
That said, the fun in fashion is not found in the number of brands in one's cupboard, but rather the feeling you get when you look good - that extra push of confidence and cultivating an image for yourself. I'm just fortunate enough to always find star buys.
Ok, Stay Stylish.
