Hasta La Ideas

Sure to ruffle some well-coiffed feathers, a new study for the British Journal of Criminology, assembled by the European Union with assistance by the UK’s Home Office, has been released, saying that counterfeit knock-offs of designer clothing does much less damage to brands than has been previously thought. While raking in billions each year, as well as the constant ire of fashion labels, the study says that these copies do as little damage as “one-fifth of previously calculated figures.” If that weren’t enough to catch a good deal of push back from the brands most often affected, like Gucci and Louis Vuitton, the report goes on to say both a) the fight to stop knock-offs should be handled by the labels themselves and not the police, and b) that sometimes these counterfeits often actually help the brands by making people more aware of current trends. We’re thinking neither will be very happily accepted in the fashion design community. Here’s a bit:

A spokesman for Louis Vuitton said: “The sale of counterfeit goods is a serious offence whose revenue funds criminal organisations at the expense of consumers, companies and governments.”

A spokesman for Burberry said: “Counterfeiting is taken extremely seriously. Where a case is proved, Burberry will always push for the maximum penalty.”

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