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General Luxury and Fashion News
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| OpSec Study Reveals Risks of Purchasing Health and Beauty Products on Popular e-Commerce Platforms - Tuesday, September 20, 2011The findings point to a significant rise in health and beauty products that may be counterfeit, substandard, expired, or contain dangerous chemicals, which not only pose a threat to brand reputation, but also present a serious risk to consumer safety. read more ...
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| Philippines: Customs shreds counterfeit luxury shoes and bags - Tuesday, September 13, 2011Alvarez led on Tuesday, in the shredding of fake branded shoes, bags and accessories confiscated in 2010 and would have sold for P100 million in the streets. He said that in 2011 alone, the Bureau of Customs (BOC) had seized P1.3-billion worth of counterfeit products from January to August. read more ...
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| Counterfeit fashion meets high art - Thursday, September 08, 2011In a new show opening in New York on Thursday, photographer Luis Gispert documents the phenomenon of custom counterfeiting. read more ...
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| Manilla: Counterfeit bag warehouse busted - Thursday, August 25, 2011THE Bureau of Customs raided a warehouse in Binondo, Manila that was allegedly being used by counterfeit smugglers as storage area for imitations of expensive brands of handbags. read more ...
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| Counterfeit clothes at luxury malls? - Thursday, August 04, 2011You may think of counterfeit goods as being sold on street corners, out of car trunks and at flea markets ... but what about at your local mall? read more ...
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| Fake handbags getting more sophisticated and harder to spot - Thursday, June 30, 2011Fancy yourself a Chanel 2.55? An Hermes Birkin? Or perhaps a pretty little leather YSL satchel? Just make sure you're not buying a fake. The Wall Street Journal investigated the latest in luxury handbag counterfeiting and found this not-so-good news: counterfeiters are getting much more sophisticated and it's harder than ever to spot a knockoff. read more ...
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| The finer art of faking it - Thursday, June 30, 2011When one of the handles of Karineh Gurjian-Angelo's Yves Saint Laurent bag broke, she took the tote to a YSL boutique to have it fixed. Instead of repairing it, the sales associate told her it was fake. read more ...
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| Brand-i site aims to stop fake branded goods online - Tuesday, June 07, 2011A new website called Brand-i is being launched to help shoppers avoid buying fake branded goods online. The site will work like a search engine where the user looks for brands like Adidas or GHD and will be shown a list of approved retailers. read more ...
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| Counterfeit probe nets more than $1M in fake stuff - Saturday, April 30, 2011Shoppers at Scotty's Do-it-All Hoppy Shop on Jewella Avenue probably thought they were buying Gucci, Coach and Louis Vuitton handbags at discounted prices, but all they were getting were cheap knock-offs, according to authorities. read more ...
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| Woman who sold fake designer goods on eBay sentenced - Sunday, March 13, 2011A woman who swindled hundreds of people by selling them fake goods on eBay has been given a suspended prison sentence following an investigation by Wandsworth trading standards officers. read more ...
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| Counterfeit cull in Sydney - Monday, March 07, 2011Police in NSW have seized close to $2 million in counterfeit apparel and accessories, marking their second raid on the fake fashion trade in as many months. read more ...
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| Welcome to 'fakebay': how fake designer bargains are just too good to be true - Tuesday, February 15, 2011From cars to CDs, houses to handbags, these days you can buy almost anything on the online marketplace eBay - and millions of us do. But as well as being a fantastic place to pick up a bargain, or sell your old books or furniture, the website has also become a magnet for criminals, counterfeiters and fraudsters. read more ...
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| Customs seize $2.6 million in fake glasses - Thursday, February 10, 2011US Customs and Border Protection, also known as the CBP, seized nearly 10,000 pairs of counterfeit Givenchy sunglasses and 3,600 Giorgio Armani reading glasses at the Port of Los Angeles Feb. 2. read more ...
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| Merchants killed over sales of fake handbags - Monday, January 31, 2011Two merchants were shot and killed last night just after 8pm in San Francisco’s Fisherman’s Wharf over a long-time rivalry for sales of counterfeit handbags.
read more ...
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| ICE seizes Nike, Polo Ralph Lauren, Oakley, Ray Ban, Coach counterfeit items at flea market - Wednesday, December 15, 2010New Orleans, Louisiana - More than $ 250,000 worth of counterfeit goods was seized at an Algiers, New Orleans flea market on Saturday by special agents with the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) Office of Homeland Security Investigations (HSI), U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) and Louisiana State Police (LSP) troopers. read more ...
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| Counterfeit Items Seized At Port; 9 Charged - Friday, December 03, 2010BALTIMORE -- Hundreds of thousands of counterfeit shoes, handbags and wristwatches are off the streets after an undercover investigation at the Port of Baltimore. read more ...
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| Vendors accused of selling $500k in counterfeit goods - Wednesday, November 17, 2010Police confiscated more than 5,000 counterfeit designer handbags, wallets, scarves, hats, jewelry, sunglasses and footwear, valued at more than $500,000 and said to be from such brand names as Oakley, Gucci, Coach, Dooney & Bourke, Chanel, Juicy Couture, Tiffany & Co., Uggs and Nike.. read more ...
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| Anti-counterfeit agreement explained - Thursday, November 11, 2010Fashion businesses keen to learn more about the proposed Anti-Counterfeiting Trade Agreement (ACTA) can do so at upcoming information sessions. read more ...
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| Counterfeit cosmetics seized in raid - Monday, October 04, 2010The Cosmetic Devices and Drug Regulatory Authority (CDDRA) seized more than 1,000 packages of counterfeit cosmetic products from seven retailers in the Pettah area throughout this week. read more ...
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| Fake designer sunglasses seized at L.A. Long Beach port - Wednesday, September 22, 2010The 78,600 pairs of sunglasses that arrived in three shipments from China look "confusingly similar" to designer brands such as Coach, Gucci and Emporio Armani, said officials with U.S. Customs and Border Protection. read more ...
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| Southern Californa counterfeit raids net $12 million in counterfeit goods - Tuesday, August 31, 2010Federal and local officials raided several locations in Los Angeles and surrounding communities during a week of sweeps that resulted in 30 arrests and uncovered everything from counterfeit iPhones to fake Ed Hardy T-shirts. read more ...
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| Feds charge merchants with trafficking $100m in counterfeit goods - Friday, August 06, 2010The owners and operators of eight shops in San Francisco's Fisherman Wharf district were charged in a 25-count indictment as part of the largest U.S. federal enforcement action ever taken against West Coast retailers. Authorities seized nearly $100 million in counterfeit jewelry and watches, designer apparel and accessories. read more ...
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| Bogus goods taken off the streets of San Francisco - Wednesday, August 04, 2010Gucci knockoffs, fake Nikes and $19.95 Oakleys may lose some of their ubiquity in The City’s tourist meccas after undercover federal agents busted eight Fisherman’s Wharf stores that sold the counterfeit items. read more ...
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Buyer Beware - Knockoff handbags hurt more than the designer
- -Designer Handbags Inspired
If potential customers actually knew the truth about that cute counterfeit Goyard bag, that it is the product of organized crime, that it was most likely made by child labor, that it is linked to human trafficking, that it supports terrorism networks and contributes to loss of legitimate employment and tax revenue, they might not think it was so cool or fashion-forward.
- The Luxe Chronicles, 19 June 2008
Luxury house Louis Vuitton Möet Hennessy (LVMH) spent more than $16 million last year o n investigations, busts and legal fees.
- “Fakes!”, Business Week, 7 February 2005 (p.51)
In Italy an estimated 10% of all designer clothing is fake, much of it produced domestically.
- “Fakes!”, Business Week, 7 February 2005 (p. 53)
We can no longer stand by and do nothing, so let’s say it out loud: Fake Watches are for Fake People!
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British Jewellery, Giftware and Finishing Federation (BJGF) trace its roots back to 1887, and is a trade body representing the interests of firms working within the British luxury goods industry, estimated to be worth £22 million. BJGF provides a range of central support services to the Member Trade Associations, and they support Members trade development in overseas markets. Another objective for the Federation is to safeguard and maximize income from the assets.
Federation of the Swiss Watch Industry is a web-based resource for reporting any Internet site, online advert or any other information linked to fake watches.
The National Association of Italian Footwear Manufacturers (ANCI) was founded in Milan in 1945. Approximately 1,000 industrial enterprises belong to the Association. The purpose of A.N.C.I. is to “examine, support and promote projects of an economical, technical and scientific nature in the interest of the shoe industry and to represent the same on all institutional levels.” One focus of the Association is to safeguard and control the “Made in Italy” trademark and to fight the proliferation of imitations.
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Click here for counterfeit news and information relating to specific brands in the luxury and fashion sector.
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Crushed Fake Cartier watches used to create a piece of art, on display in the foyer of Richemont International Distribution, near Friburg Switzerland. The artist is Cesar Baldaccini, whose peculiarity is the use of new and popular material to create his master pieces. Baldaccini has collaborated for a long time with the Cartier Foundation. In the year the “fake watches cube” was produced - 1980 - it was estimated that 2 million fake Cartier watches were marketed every year, and the official Cartier production was 250.000 pieces per year!
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| Bagging a fake - Tuesday, July 20, 2010Well, quite apart from the fact that when you buy a fake product, you're supporting criminal activity, the counterfeit trade has been linked to funding of terrorist organizations, including Al-Qa'ida and Hezbollah. There's also a high likelihood that the fake bag you're carrying has been produced using child labour in a Chinese factory. read more ...
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| Counterfeiting: many risks and many victims - Tuesday, July 13, 2010Counterfeit goods may have a reputation for poor design, unsafe parts and toxic elements, but consumers don’t seem to mind. read more ...
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| Feds targeting counterfeit merchandise - Sunday, June 27, 2010Fake designer purses bearing Kate Spade labels lined a shelf last December in Gift World in Glen Burnie. County police and federal agents raided the store after getting a tip from a private investigator hired by brand-name purse designers. They seized $352,000 in counterfeit merchandise. read more ...
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| Two locked up in counterfeit handbag scheme - Sunday, June 13, 2010Two members of one of the largest counterfeit luxury goods groups were convicted this week for their involvement in an international manufacturing import and wholesale counterfeit business. read more ...
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| Fake designer boots are churned out by children in Chinese sweatshops - Sunday, June 06, 2010A Sunday Mirror investigation has found a Chinese village run by Triad gangsters paying workers and children just £20 for a 90-hour week as they knock out thousands of pairs of fake designer shoes for shipping to the UK. read more ...
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| $5.2 in counterfeit designer merchandise seized - Wednesday, March 24, 2010U.S. Customs and Border Protection officers at the Miami Seaport discovered and seized 92 cartons of counterfeit designer merchandise during a routine examination. read more ...
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| More than a fashion scam, fakes can pose health, safety hazards - Sunday, March 21, 2010Faking a pair of designer shoes, clothing, handbags, or anything else is unquestionably taking money from the pockets of the designer, but more serious is the fact that the counterfeit industry is fertile ground for organized crime, funding of terrorism, advocacy of child labor, and other horrors too numerous to mention. read more ...
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| Fake goods worth GBP 200,000 seized in raids in Bellshill, UK - Wednesday, March 17, 2010Fake designer shoes, jewellery and electrical goods worth more than £200,000 have been seized in raids in North Lanarkshire. read more ...
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| Cops bust ring of counterfeit handbag dealers - Thursday, February 25, 2010NYPD cops on Wednesday busted a ring of counterfeit handbag dealers who made millions, lived in fancy homes, drove flashy cars - and were all scamming the welfare system, police said. read more ...
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| Fake perfumes may contain bacteria, anti-freeze, even urine: report - Wednesday, January 27, 2010Counterfeit fragrances run cheaper than designer brands - but you may be spritzing yourself with harmful materials, including urine.
read more ...
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| Online counterfeit luxury bag stores proliferate - Friday, January 15, 2010The counterfeit business has been getting a lot bolder. For consumers, that designer knock-off is just a mouse click away, but those clicks can have significant economic and social consequences. read more ...
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| Raids crack down on counterfeit goods - Saturday, December 19, 2009DALLAS - When federal and sheriff's investigators showed up with a search warrant at Bargain Corner Jean Store here, they found about $130,000 worth of fake True Religion, Ed Hardy, Affliction and other high-end jeans, T-shirts and sneakers.
read more ...
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| Ethics: taking the fun out of handbag shopping in NYC - Saturday, December 05, 2009I've always been against software piracy and the like. When it finally dawned on me that selling these knock-off designer labels is virtually no different from that and is a federal crime, I realized just how unethical my actions had been. read more ...
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| $77,000 in counterfeit designer good seized - Thursday, December 03, 2009Gwinnett County police have seized $77,000 worth of counterfeit merchandise and charged two individuals with selling fake designer goods. read more ...
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| Feds seize fake labels at 2 San Diego-area markets - Saturday, November 28, 2009OCEANSIDE, Calif.—Federal agents have raided a pair of San Diego County flea markets and seized thousands of pieces of what they say is phony brand-name clothing. read more ...
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| $105,000 counterfeit goods seized - Wednesday, November 25, 2009The Secretary of State’s Office and the Anderson County Sheriff’s Office partnered to conduct a sting at the Anderson Jockey Lot and Farmer’s Market on Sunday, November 15, 2009, that resulted in the confiscation of approximately $105,305.00 in counterfeit merchandise. read more ...
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| Police crack down on counterfeit goods in Derry - Tuesday, October 20, 2009DERRY — After police warned vendors at the Grandview Flea Market that it was illegal to sell knockoff purses, clothing and wallets, there were fewer people selling the counterfeit merchandise. read more ...
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| How to spot designer fakes - Sunday, August 30, 2009Do your research. Know what designs are currently available from a given designer. Learn the colors and patterns offered. read more ...
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| Tourists warned over fake designer goods - Saturday, August 22, 2009Holidaymakers shopping for fake designer goods on the continent may find themselves facing criminal charges. read more ...
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| Look out for luxury phone clones - Sunday, May 31, 2009The top 5 fake luxury phones; they may look good at a glance but the quality is poor and they’re not worth the money. Save up for the real deal instead. read more ...
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| Fake sunglasses snagged at LAX - Tuesday, May 26, 2009Customs officials at Los Angeles International Airport have seized a shady shipment of sunglasses. read more ...
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| Authorities seize $15,000 worth of fake t-shirts and arrest 15 - Wednesday, May 13, 2009Darlington County law enforcement officials say the seizure of more than 600 t-shirts with fake logos and emblems, about $6,000 in cash and the arrests of 15 people at Darlington Raceway over the race weekend make it possibly the largest bust for selling counterfeit goods at the track ever. read more ...
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| eBay wins French lawsuit over sales of L'Oreal fakes - Wednesday, May 13, 2009eBay Inc, the world’s largest Internet auctioneer, isn’t liable for sales of counterfeit L'Oreal SA perfumes on its Web site, a Paris court said today. read more ...
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| Don't fall for the counterfeit designer handbag - Saturday, May 02, 2009Designer handbags have that one-of-a-kind look that fashion-conscious women love, but it takes a hefty budget to love their price tag too. That’s why many women buy designer knockoff handbags instead of the real thing. Unfortunately, it’s easy to be taken advantage of by unscrupulous merchants if you make this type of purchase without the knowledge to protect yourself. read more ...
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| Counterfeit goods could be funding terrorism - Monday, April 13, 2009Police said counterfeit handbags for sale are illegally made and may be funding terrorism. read more ...
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