How The RealReal duped everyone with dupes.
What would you select if you closed your eyes and picked items for your dream closet? Maybe you’re not pretentious with your style and simply want good basics, but when it comes to the status symbol of a luxury bag, many are desperate to have one dangling from their arms. From Chanels to Fendis to the ever-loved Birkins, it’s easy to get caught up in the glitz and glamour of the fashion world — particularly when these items are plastered all over the Internet. With the aspiration to look wealthy and the growing adoration of dupe culture, the world of designer bags has quickly become filled with more and more frauds.
Luxury reseller The RealReal is collaborating with creative company Mythology to combat this by educating consumers in a fun way, rather than blaring police sirens and telling fake purse purchasers that they’re committing a crime. The first step of this process was to create a fake storefront in the capital of designer dupes: Canal Street in New York City. While every corner of the city is filled with people setting up tarps and showing off their mass-produced faux designer items, Canal Street is where designer dupes are often made and sold. The storefront itself is an installation, an illusion of a store — and bags in the window will never be sold for two reasons. The first is obvious: that the store isn’t functional. The second is because each bag displayed is a fake, confiscated during The RealReal’s authentication process.
Ted Galpern, a partner and director of retail at Mythology spoke about this storefront in the press release, saying: “Every passerby must do a double-take, questioning the reality of our store, much like they would when judging a handbag’s authenticity. Our message is unequivocal: while others might not know your bag is fake, you do.”
The fact you’re aware that your bag is a fake has been the prime argument as to why you shouldn’t purchase one. This was even seen in Sex and the City, when Samantha purchased a fake Fendi in L.A. from the trunk of a car — but later, as she and Carrie drove into the Valley to purchase more, Carrie stared into the trunk of lonely bags knowing that while everyone else would believe hers was a real Fendi, she would know it was a fake.
However, the issue with dupe bags isn’t just the fakeness of it all. Designer dupes contain far more harm than simply marking the owner as a poser. Counterfeits are often produced in the same vein as fast fashion, using unethical labor laws and materials that harm the environment. According to The RealReal, some fake items have even been traced back to cartels and other crime syndicates. And who wants a Dior that might be funding illegal firearms, narcotics, or even terrorism? Along with these issues that unveil a seedy underbelly to dupes, it’s the obvious infringement of intellectual property that can make many creatives cringe.
Some “dupe” items on the Internet focus on finding similar products for more affordable prices — these purses, however, are carbon copies of the originals and passed off under the same name, which undercuts the work of both designers and artisans. So the next time you get a hankering for the cheaper option of the exact bag you want, consider that fake bags have a real impact on people and the environment. If you happen to be in New York and a dupe bag is staring down at you from your closet right now, turn it in at The RealReal’s Canal Street store to be entered in a raffle and receive the real deal. 🌀
Sydney Yeager is a fashion writer and content creator who explores luxury fashion and trends with the gaze of how it can be accessible to the everyday consumer. As much as she adores avant-garde fashion, elegant and feminine looks will always have her heart, this is seen in both her writing and on her Instagram @sydselegantfinds.