Louis Vuitton is the most counterfeited luxury brand in the world. It has a high level of recognition, a strong symbolic load and its direct association with social status make it the perfect object to copy. By using their counterfeit products, users capitalize on a deep need for belonging and social validation, even when that means giving up authenticity.
These are the conclusions reached the latest study from Entrupy, the technology company that revolutionized the copy market by developing a platform specialized in the authentication of luxury products. To do this, it uses artificial intelligence and computer vision.
Their investigation determined that the French house, owned by billionaire Bernard Arnault, concentrated 32.76 percent of the imitations. The figures arise from the volume of objects analyzed by the Entrupy application around the world, which also reported a ranking of the most counterfeited brands. The Italian Prada and Gucci occupy second and third place in that ranking. They are followed by Chanel, with an estimated $500 million in fake products scanned over the past year. Finally, in the top five, with 4.32 percent of fakes, is the no less renowned Yves Saint Laurent.
luxury copies
The so-called “superfakes” (“fake” means “false” in English) are the great phenomenon that puts tension in the luxury market. They mostly come from China. These are fakes of the highest quality, which imitate with great precision the materials, seams, fittings, fonts and even the packaging of the original products. Unlike cheaper copies, they are designed to go unnoticed by demanding consumers and specialized sellers, making detection difficult even for trained eyes.
“It happened to me many times. There are people who don’t know that their products are not original because an uncle, cousin or husband gave them as a gift. In fact, I recently received a monogrammed Vuitton bag that, if not for authentication, would have been undetectable. There are fake purses worth thousands of dollars that can cost you three or four thousand dollars, as is the case with the replicas of the Hermès Birkin purse,” explains Florencia Corral Acosta, owner of The Circle Boutique, a business dedicated to circular fashion in the Puerto Madero neighborhood.
“Monogrammed models are counterfeited, with a large presence of the logo. It is about belonging to a social group without spending what the product is really worth. What’s more, I had a situation in which the application said that the wallet was not real. But there was a person who wanted it the same and fixed a price outside of us, because we do not sell fake products,” recalls Corral Acosta.
The Entrupy system is highly effective. It has a microscope that is powered by artificial intelligence. With the brand information, the type of leather and fabric; asks for different parts of the object to scan. After verification, if it is positive, a certificate is issued with a QR code that leads directly to the authenticating company’s page, indicating that it is original. The technology is 99% effective and has financial reinsurance: if the system makes a mistake, they take financial responsibility for the error.
This system is usually used by resale shops, e-commerce platforms and even the official stores of the various labels.
The symbolic value
According to Alejandro Pelfini, a sociologist specialized in studies on elites and globalization and director of postgraduate studies at the University of Salvador, behind every fake bag there is a deep sociocultural phenomenon that goes beyond illegal trade. “This type of consumption is not based so much on demonstrating professional, cultural or performance attributes, but rather on showing objects or experiences that fulfill the function of signaling that ‘you made it’.”
Counterfeiting, especially of items with large and easily recognizable logos, “responds to a logic of aspirational distinction and the construction of identity through exhibition. Not only is luxury purchased, its social representation is consumed. It is a desire to belong to a more select group, when in reality one does not have all the credentials to do so,” explains Pelfini. He adds: “The question is why one is willing to spend on imitations that may be very good, but are expensive, even though their cost is lower than the originals.”
According to data from the Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) which produces global benchmark economic, trade and regulatory reports; Counterfeit goods account for nearly 2.5 percent of global trade, with an estimated value of $467 billion annually.
Other “fakes”
Sneakers are another of the segments with the highest volume of copies. The ranking is led by the Nike brand, especially in its Air Jordan, Air Force 1 and Dunk lines, which concentrate the largest number of pairs detected as inauthentic. Adidas follows, with the Superstar and Yeezy models. The report called “State of the fake” indicates that counterfeiters currently use finance and payment technologies such as blockchain and cryptocurrencies to hide their operations so they can reinvest profits in legitimate businesses.
With Rolex at the forefront in watchmaking, the logic is the same: brands with high recognition, strong symbolic meaning and direct association with status become the perfect target for the copy industry. Next to it there are other historic houses such as Omega, Cartier, Patek Philippe, Audemars Piguet and TAG Heuerwhose most iconic models are systematically replicated. In this process, the watch stops being a precision instrument: it transforms into a symbolic resource oriented towards social recognition where the value does not reside in the mechanics or in the watchmaking heritage, but in what the object communicates to the outside in terms of belonging and validation.
by María Ezcurra
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