amen.
if you cant afford the real one. dont get the fake.
its as simple as that.
most fakes are obviously so, and when wearing/carrying them you dont look chic, stylish or creative in your individual style.
vintage/thrift store finds + basics (even if they are from f21) mixed with a hint of your own personal style (ie: fav color, or hat or jewelry/scarf/belt/etc.) will look a million times more fashionable than the knock-off’s fashion victim look.
seriously i HATE fakes. if it isnt on sale at barneys than i’ve never purchased it at barneys… but i’d never buy a ripped off version elsewhere!!!
PERSONAL STYLE + confidence= stylish women at every budget(+the end of knock offs because WE ALL boycotted them!!!)

One issue is the outright knockoff. Reproducing the Chanel logo on a handbag and passing it off to a consumer who wants to carry what appears to be a Chanel, but who can’t afford a Chanel. That, IMO, dilutes the very quality of Chanel and is a disservice to the people who carry real designer merchandise. I enjoy carrying my LV bags (given to me by my mother) but feel annoyed when I spot someone who is carrying what I know is a fake. I (well, my mom) worked hard for those bags, and there’s pride in owning what can be interpreted as a piece of art. And when someone buys the knockoff, it takes away from that.
Now, buying the $30 dress that looks similar to the $3,000 D&G, I don’t mind. There’s a difference there – it’s what appears to be similar, but definitely isn’t the same. Copying trends, passing them down to the consumer, that’s fine. After all, where would high fashion be if it weren’t for consumers in the grocery line buying canned goods along with the Vogue?
But copying logos, passing them off as real, that just irks me.

granted i would support smaller designers if i could, but my issue is not necessarily with the price points, it is that the knock off’s go up to my size. A small designers collection often only goes up to a size 8 at the largest whereas i am a 12 at the smallest, and places like topshop and co go up to my size. So maybe if the designers were willing to use a couple of inches of extra fabric so that i can invest in their quality clothing i would.

As someone who has shopped at Mayle since she launched Phare, I have to say that I am sad. Yes prices rose, but as did the costs of her production, expenses and fabrics. Her $700 dresses were amazing quality, exquist lace and worth every penny. I rarely see someone on the street wearing Mayle – but I always see people wearing the same old Philip Lim stuff. F21 didnt put Mayle out of business the business is putting Mayle out of business. How about little editorial support? for one Jane didn’t even her her own post about this – i mean she is lumped into another article which is really sad. Also as someone who has shopped there forever customers complained when the dresses were $400 and the tops were $250. Everyone always waits for the sample sale-and buys then (not me – i do go to buy the “maybe” pieces). I have spent $80K there in the past 5 years and I am proud to have supported this small business and wear her new pieces each season. I am so sad that I am not going to have anywhere to shop anymore where the sales girls are nice and the clothes are so chic. I plan on buying as much of fall and the holiday resort as I can. And I hope that one day Jane starts a new line.

listen GOD DAMN it not everyone can afford luella or proenza and what you people in the fashion industry don’t seem to understand that when you label clothing as “affordable” and its 200 dollars some of us in the real world can’t even afford these “affordable” brands shit some of us can’t even afford 50 dollars for an american apperal hoodie, so what are we supposed to do wear tacky shit from wal mart HELL NO thats why us non-snobs shop @ h&m and gap and your least favorite of the actual affordable stores forever 21 we all love the up and comers but what about the real people who dont have paris hilton dollars who don’t know how to sew but find inspiration in these beautiful clothes and just want to own a piece of beautiful or trendy clothing, what i’m really trying to say is get off your high horse and understand that all of us are not rich but we still want to look good

this is getting so old.
seriously, everythings been said already thats worth saying for either side.
can we move on please?

p.s.
big fashion companies benefit from all this thievery because it’s all free press. the 1000′s of Vuitton or Chanel knock-offs walking the streets posing as the real thing. and it helps create the desire on the streets, and gets many people to save a little money every month until they can walk into the flagship and buy the sunglasses, perfume and The Ultimate – the IT-BAG of the season.
and all this copying, is helping make designer prices GO UP.

I love fashionista but I always need to take it with a pinch of salt, and this post demonstrates exactly why. There are good fashion bloggers who can intelligently think about the socio-ethical concerns in the fashion industry, but you’re not one of them, so stick to what you do best.
As plenty of other commentators have said, your arguments are weak, lazy clichés at best here – there are more hypocritical holes than in a pair of alexander wang’s tights. Of course outright copyright theft is wrong and shouldn’t be tolerated but there is a difference between the filtered-through effects of mass market fashion and a plastic chanel bag from some market stall. Apart from the self-righteous feel-good piety, what exactly is the message of this post – for a person who may not have the disposable income or access to purchase “authentic” designer goods – resign to wearing blah generic uniforms with no reference to any trends? scrimp, scrimp, scrimp for a teeny wardrobe of a handful of overpriced authenticity? And the supposedly more ethical brands you mention – topshop, h&m – please what a joke! a) their clothes are no more resilient than anyone else’s; b) have you looked at the labels to see where they are manufactured recently? This fantasy of clean, well paid factories for these high volume manufacturers is just that – a dream.
And re- thrift/vintage – what about someone taking references from contemporary designers, eg, the lace trend, and then finding a vintage piece? isn’t that taking income away from the original??
Of course, what is most annoying is that fashionista hasn’t yet deigned to reply to any of these objections and justified this pretentious post in the first place.

I don’t know #67, I think the current crop of writers are really talented.

#69, I don’t think you understand the limits of some people’s budget. It’s not a matter of, “Well, mommy and daddy pay for my tuition and rent, but I only get a certain finite allowance to spend on myself, so I’ll just save up that allowance til I can afford something nice rather than blow it on F21!” Yes, that makes sense for those people.
But for others, they’re paying for everything. Their own rent, their own tuition, food, gas, everything. And does it really make sense in this case to blow $900 on a dress? That’s just ridiculous.
#66, your comments are spot on.

As someone who has been on their own paying their own rent/bills and the such since the age of 17 when I graduated HS, I have to say that its all about Budget. I love designer clothes and I love the freedom of being able to purchase them. I work and make a good living as a freelancer and I have to say that if you want something – really want it you will save up to buy it. People always gave me a hard time back the mid 90′s when I would buy 2 Gucci bags a season ( and they were only $600 then) but they made me happy and I saved for them – or used my tax refund. seriously i almost purchased a balenciaga le dix bag knock off once and it made me so ill that I just opened a Barneys card and bought the real thing (and got 10% off to boot). I don’t support going into debt to stay ahead of the fashion game but if you want something, you will think of a creative way to buy it. That said I do like F21 – they have great accessories. And if you are ok with the fact that these accessories are going to break/fall apart in a week then shop for them there. I have to say that I am really taking Mayle closing hard. Genius designs, gorgeous patterns/fabrics – this is a true shame.

I’ve always loved knockoffs, but you guys have converted me. xoxo

75 and others–I’ve been so poor that clothes weren’t in my budget, F21 or otherwise, so I know how that is and I look like I could be heading back there soon in this economy. But I doubt many people here are really so desperately short of money that they can’t save at least $20 or $30 a month and then buy an item when it goes on sale.
There’s this conception here from those of you defending F21 that you can’t go elsewhere. I think F21 has been singled out here because it rips off designers for most, if not all, its stock whereas Topshop, H&M work with trends and maybe get very close to ripping off designers here and there but also offer original, trend/fashion influenced pieces. F21 seems to be a limit case–generally bad quality and completely unrepentant about stealing the work of others.
At the other end is the assumption that all designers are expensive. There is huge price variation between the major collections, contemporary brands and independent designers. All of them also have sales and with the internet, 50-70% reductions can be had by more people than in the past. I’ve got contemporary and independent designer clothing for $75-$125 this way. I save for the sales and wait to see what I want–as well as what is left in my size.
Even in the F21 price range, you can do better. Sales at Club Monaco, Gap, Urban Outfitters, H&M offer better quality clothing at low prices (I’ve gotten many great finds for under $30 at Club Monaco that last years). Obviously some of these store have ethical issues regarding production but if we return to the Adventures in Copyright issue, they aren’t stealing other people’s designs as egregiously as F21.
It’s never easy to save–and I’ve done it in grad school on next to nothing and no trust fund either–but there are very few people who can’t find somewhere to save. That $20 F21 dress, the $3 coffee and the $4 magazine can all be renounced and used to get the dress/top/shoes that you really love and will have for some time–even if it is from Club Monaco’s sale rack rather than from some designer. If you can’t save, can you afford to buy that F21 item which ultimately will come with a high cost per wear (the true measure of affordability) as it likely won’t survive more than a wash or two.

im totally against knockoffs, bcuz even if theyre not ripping the designer off financially, theyre stealing their original, creative ideas. fashion is an art and what’s any form of art with no idea? its like wen 5 year olds do abstract art; its nice, but not inspired and totally meaningless. however, as someone else had mentioned, i don’t care if one cheaper store takes inspiration from the runway. even the two dresses u posted were very different. i mean, yes, they hav the same button style, same length, and almost the same collars, but come on, it’s a different look. and someone talked about the DIY posts. i believe that is quite a shame as well. i mean, its like saying “i wont buy a knockoff, but ill make 1,” which is outrageously ridiculous. in the DIY sections of magazines like Teen Vogue, at least the designer is essentially getting credit – within the magazine at least – and probably money, or at least publicity.

Great, great, great, great article!

I can totally understand where Advs/Faran is coming from. Sometimes seeing women swarm the knockoffs at the flea market makes me a bit nauseous. But it’s their money, their choice, their happiness.
But…apparently everyone is forgetting that Forever 21 shoppers, for the most part, have no freaking clue who Mayle or Philip Lim and the like are! Faran, and others, when was the last time you all strolled into an F21 in the middle of America? I live in St. Louis, MO, and I can tell you that if you said to one of the teenagers or early/mid 20 yr olds shopping there, “OMG, I can’t believe you bought a Mayle ripoff–you biatch!”…they’d look at you like WTF are you talking about?? And would probably go off because you were blocking their shopping.
For the most part, these girls don’t identify with the name of the designer–they identify with the celebrity that wore that outfit last night at the VMA’s or some crappy ass awards show. All they’re thinking is I want THAT. But I can’t spend $1000 on it and if someone can get it for me at $50 then I’ll buy it. There’s no thought of ethics, sweatshops, poor kids in China…they’re aware that it exists but you know what? For some of them, it doesn’t even matter.
I don’t know what grudge Fashionista is holding against F21–and don’t really care–but seriously, we’ve now reached the threshold of pain tolerance when it comes to mentioning that silly store. I think everyone is in agreement when I say…
Ripping off designers SUCK. But as long as us greedy, materialistic, fashion following biatches exist…so will they. When the divide between the haves and the have nots/never will haves (and growing every single day) ceases to exist, then people will stop worrying about the latest fashion and just wear what they want. Regardless of the cost. And unless something major happens, we all know that won’t happen either.
-SOME designers, high/low end, mass market retailers or whatever, aren’t ethical. For every retailer/designer that doesn’t use this or that, there are another 10 that DO. Throwing stones won’t do a damn bit of good cause the minute you think that you’ve found a bad guy, well one you thought wasn’t, is.
-Being able to wear what your favorite celebrity wears is what counts for many of the people out in the “real world.” Those of us who aren’t fortunate enough to wear the latest and greatest $200 tee shirt but can afford the $25 one cause well hey, maybe I can’t BE a Gossip Girl but I can wear something close enough that I’ll FEEL like one.
All the back and forth in the world doesn’t matter. Sure, people can be lofty and feel superior because they can afford it (and for those who say well I save and save–good for you–you apparently don’t live in the “gotta have it NOW” world that most of the rest of us subscribe to), but in the end, you saying you paid $250 for a shirt just because so and so designed it and it looks like ass means absolutely bupkus to the Average Jane walking the street.

SERIOUSLY? Do you really believe what you wrote?
I think you need to read Gomorrah by Roberto Saviano. Like some of the commentors wrote, just because that dress cost $5000 doesn’t mean it wasn’t made in a sweatshop. It doesn’t mean that little kids weren’t forced to work, people killed and lives ruined.
Do a little research before you spout nonsense.

When you talk about sweatshops I think you guys have the best intentions in mind. However, it’s silly to think that you can fix the problem by not buying lower end lines.
First off, with child labor, it’s not like these children have a lot of other options. Would you rather having them working in a factory or begging on the street, digging through toxic trash, etc.? Because those are generally the other options and judging by their actions these children would rather work. It’s not like once they’re off the hook from making clothes they’ll just skip along to school.
It’s admirable to want to improve the working conditions of workers around the world, but you have to consider whether your actions will have any impact, or whether the impact you have will be the one you intended vs. a negative, albeit unintended one.