On Designer Fashion: Original Vs. Faux

The debate about the merits of purchasing original vs. faux designer fashion has raged on for years, and I think that the time has come for me to throw in my 2 cents. After all, my personal belief is that fashion is very much a wearable art form. Some pieces of art are worth more than others, and some artists command higher attention as well.

I find that while Gucci and Prada and Louis Vuitton pieces are incredibly expensive, as pieces of art they are legitimately priced. If you can afford it, I don't see anything wrong with purchasing original designer bags. (If it puts you out of house and home, however, it's best to start considering alternative purchases.)

However, if you ask me if I condone the purchase of fake items, I would have to say that I have no strong moral stand on it. Buying a fake bag is akin to purchasing a print or even a painted copy (forgery is such a dirty word) of the Mona Lisa. You buy it because you appreciate the piece but can't afford to buy the 100 million dollar painting hanging in the museum, but not because you want to show it off to your friends and pretend you own the real thing.

I don't agree with purchasing fake designer bags if you want to social climb or show off the labels. Anyone with a good eye would immediately be able to spot the fake anyway, rendering your "clever" deception somewhat moot. However, if you merely appreciate good design (and let's face it, a lot of these fake designer bags are very well-made), I think it's acceptable to purchase fake designer bags and then rip out the tags (see bag below).

Absolutely stunning PRADA bag design,
and the tag is easily removed.

I know that the thought seems unconscionable for most, but using my "fashion as art" theory means a wider grey area. Buying a fake bag means that the artist who designed it gets nothing, but consider the fact that this happens in artforms of various mediums.

Even now, jewelry designers use sculpey to image transfer famous (living) artists' paintings onto pendants, bangles, earrings, etc. You may argue that Da Vinci is dead and therefor no royalties need to be given, but there are plenty of jewelry artists who use contemporary artists' pieces to produce their jewelry. This also happens in the art world in terms of comic artists doing their own renditions of Marvel and DC-owned characters and selling them as prints.

I don't condone purchasing fake designer labels if all you want to do is show off the enormous "GUCCI" label on an otherwise unremarkable bag.


A lot of other, cheaper designers use the same silhouette, and purchasing from them would mean that: 1) You own an original and 2) You've helped an emerging artist become more popular.

I do think that the purchase of faux designer labels *if* you remove the tags falls in a somewhat gray area, however, and I'm curious to see how many of the fashionistas out there practice this. The "Class A" industry is booming, after all, and if everyone claims that they don't approve of these fakes, who is actually buying these items?

I have exactly one real luxury bag, and on the scale of luxury bags it would be a little mid-range. My father got me this Kate Spade NY bag as a gift, and though I do treasure it (because he gave it to me), I think that it is visually on parr with my other, non-designer but well-made bags. I personally can't imagine spending all that money on just one bag (why buy one when you can buy a dozen pairs of shoes? hehehe), and most of my bags are bazaar finds and have unknown Korean or Chinese labels.

Still, in a world so concerned with labels and brands, I am of the opinion that we should stop looking at names and start looking at actual design much more. After all, a plain black back emblazoned with the word GUCCI on it is *still* a plain black bag, so why not go for a crazy Bleach Catastrophe bag that's one-of-a-kind instead? ;)