Kate Spade is no stranger to being knocked off by Canal Street bag peddlers, but now the preppy bag line is the one facing accusations of copying a lesser-known designer.

Parisian designer Olympia Le-Tan called Kate Spade “a big fat copycat” on Twitter last month after Kate Spade came out with a line of classic-paperback themed bags that suspiciously mirrored Le-Tan’s own sought-after clutches. (That tweet has since been deleted.)

Salon.com reports:

And considering that Le-Tan’s line got a fair amount of press right here in the company’s home turf of New York City when it debuted last fall, it seems a little peculiar that the concept went entirely unnoticed by the more famous bag maker.

[Kate Spade], which is owned by Liz Claiborne, certainly wouldn’t be the first to draw “inspiration” from the work of lesser-known designers, but there is something particularly galling about a staid house apparently glomming on to a younger designer’s work — especially when said work has brought the artist such high acclaim.

Pictured above: Kate Spade’s clutch (left) faces off against Olympia Le-Tan’s bag (right).

(via CounterfeitChic)

We couldn’t help but giggle a little at this quote from Steve Madden, the shoe knockoff king:

“We design shoes every day, and we are as creative as Prada. We are creating as much as the Pradas and the Chloés of the world. Do we make $900 shoes that are in Neiman Marcus? Have we made shoes just like that, which are less than $100 and have been great? Yes, we have. We’re out there creating and designing every day, making and building a meal for our customers. That creativity is not appreciated, and I would argue that what we do is harder. I could design an $800 shoe line; it’s easy. You use the best materials and you can make beautiful shoes. It’s easier than making great shoes for $90.”

But as The Cut rightly points out, Steve Madden’s company has on more than one occasion been the defendant in intellectual-property lawsuits from those top designers for ripping off their designs. He’s made an industry of copying high-end shoes for pennies on the dollar, and even if you respect his desire to bring big style to the little people, how creative do you have to be to manufacture replicas?

Above: In December, Balenciaga (the maker of the original Lego-inspired shoe on the right) sued Steve Madden over its uncanny knockoff, pictured on the left.

If you’re a scarf aficionado, you know the Hermès silk scarf is the holy grail of neckwarmers. And if you don’t want to plunk down serious plastic for a new one, there are abundant vintage options available.

But since you don’t want to get burned on a counterfeit, ThePerfectRedBox.com offers a guide to spotting a fake on eBay or in the consignment shop. Among the tips:

Weight The weight of the counterfeits I’ve felt were quite different from an authentic Hermès.  All but one has been much lighter -  most were made of polyester and not silk.  A new 35” x 35” Hermès carrè should weigh in around 63 grams or 2.2. ounces.

When in doubt Weigh it.

Back of carrè Almost every counterfeit I’ve seen had very little detail on the back.  The design on an authentic Hermès carrè can be clearly seen from the back – it is colour saturated.

When in doubt Look closely at the back of the carrè.

Hem Almost all Hermès scarves have hand rolled and hand stitched hems, to the front. There are a few exceptions to this, but generally an authentic scarf will be hand rolled and hand stitched. Many of the counterfeits I’ve seen were very clearly and very pooly machine hemmed/finished.

When in doubt If it looks machine sewn, seek further authentication.

Useful, right? See the whole guide here.

As the fashion industry mourns the death of Alexander McQueen, we at E.S. would like to salute the British designer for his contributions to the ethical movement. He inspired many young minds in the fashion world with his avant garde ideas and although his apparent suicide took him from us too soon, his legacy will live on.

Here, a retrospective of his work in the eco-realm:

• In his Fall 2009 Ready-to-Wear collection, McQueen explored the ideas of recycling, reinvention, and sustainability. “This whole situation is such a cliché,” he said in an interview last March before his Paris show. “The turnover of fashion is just so quick and so throwaway, and I think that is a big part of the problem. There is no longevity.”
• In November, McQueen gave items from his collections to the “6 Degrees of Cool” project, which encourages Brits to don warm clothes indoors to reduce their reliance on energy-sucking heat.
• McQueen nurtured the next generation of talent by offering internships to many up-and-coming fashion visionaries, including Ada Zanditon and Mark Liu.
• As one of the spearheading brands behind the Fakes Are Never in Fashion campaign, McQueen sought to end the use of child labor in the production of counterfeit designer items.
• McQueen also lent his name and talent to many charitable causes, including 21 First Century Leaders and Breast Cancer Care.

Marc Jacobs has filed a lawsuit against Ed Hardy designer Christian Audigier for ripping off one of his signature bags.

The lawsuit alleges that Mr. Audigier borrowed too heavily from a Marc Jacobs fabric handbag in the creation of the Ed Hardy Extra Large Quilted Jana Tote Bag. The filing says the Ed Hardy tote bag’s “size, shape, color or color combinations, product design, texture, and selection and arrangement of materials and accessories” are suspiciously similar to the Marc by Marc Jacobs Pretty Nylon Tote’s ”scrambled logo” design, which is pending trademark.

What do you think, E.S. readers? Are the bags too close for comfort, or creatively fair game?

(via Jezebel)

Nearly half of consumers who knowingly purchase counterfeit goods go on to buy the real thing within two years, says a fascinating new marketing study from MIT.

MIT researcher Renee Richardson Gosline found that luxury retailers have reason to be optimistic in the face of $250 billion in lost sales due to counterfeiting every year:

[F]ake luxury purses have a place on the social ladder. Many purchasers of knock-off bags move on to buy real ones within a few years, Gosline found in a separate study of 100 consumers.

“The counterfeit actually served as a placebo for brand attachment,” she said. “People were becoming increasingly attached to the real brand even though they never possessed it at all.”

Forty-six percent of the counterfeit-bag owners bought the authentic products within two and a half years, she said.

Gosline also found that sartorial context played the largest role in how consumers determine whether a bag is fake or real. In other words: If you’re carrying a Louis Vuitton Speedy on a well-dressed arm, people on the street are more likely to judge that your bag is real than if you are wearing sweatpants and sneakers.

Interesting stuff!

With cold weather coming, you might be falling for the siren song of the Ugg boot. Derided as anti-fashion by critics and hailed as a fluffy white cloud heaven-sent for tired feet by surfers and skiers everywhere, there’s no denying that Uggs have managed to remain consistently popular ever since Paris Hilton started wearing the sheepskin boots with miniskirts in 2003.

At $180 for the most popular tall style, they are not cheap. Which is why there are so many unauthorized dealers selling Ugg-branded boots without the consent of the Ugg company in Australia. Even well-meaning fashion reporters are getting duped:

Due to the popularity of last week’s post on cheap Ugg boots, I can’t hold on to this one.

511stores.com is offering as much as 50 percent off Ugg boots. While that may not be quite the steep discount we saw last week, this one doesn’t have a deadline.

The only problem is, as the Times Union commenters were quick to point out, is that the Uggs sold by 511stores.com are faker than Paris Hilton’s tan.

Ugg Australia is well aware of the problem and has installed an anti-counterfeiting section on its website to help consumers identify too-good-to-be-true deals by entering the URLs of discount dealers claiming to sell authentic goods. (511stores.com got the “Known Counterfeit Website” designation.)

Such a great idea. It seems like a no-brainer for more companies that are prone to knock-offs to follow suit.

This summer, we told you about Portero.com, an excellent resource for people who love luxury and vintage but want to be sure that the secondhand goods they’re buying are authentic.

Now Portero has added an entire category for vintage designer fur from brands like Cassin, Dries Van Noten, Miu Miu, Marni, and more. As always, Portero promises the authenticity of its items with a money-back guarantee. Every item comes with multiple photos, detailed sizing information, and an expert assessment of its condition ranging from “pristine” to merely “excellent.”

And through October 15, if you buy a fur and any second item from Portero, you can get 10 percent off your order by entering code FUR at checkout.

A deal on luxury? It can be done!

Givenchy Black Lambskin and Fox Fur Wrap, $3,168 at Portero.com.

We might get in trouble for calling ethical fashionistas “label whores” — but we kid, we kid. Is there a better term for those of us who obsessively check for organic seals of approval, avoid anything labeled “dry clean only,” and want to know where our clothes are being made?

Here are some of Issue 23’s offerings:

• When did “label” become synonymous with “designer”?
• Kara sinks her teeth into certification processes for ethical standards in clothes (like organics and fair trade). It’s a pretty big topic, but she takes a hearty bite.
• Madison reviews the issue of counterfeit goods and what big designer names are doing to stem the tide of fake goods from hitting Canal Street and Santee Alley.
• We’ve reported on the fur industry’s Origin Assured initiative before and now the campaign is back for fall with its new Label Me advertisements.
• Finally, getting burned by too much of a good thing is a very real risk that label whores take. We offer a humorous look at fashion victimization.
• Want to read more? Check out Seam Ripper — a round-up of the best of the best from our Behind the Seams blog.

If you’ve ever been to New York’s Canal Street, you’ve undoubtedly seen countless counterfeit designer bags, scarves, wallets, and jewelry. It seems like street vendors do a brisk business peddling knock-off Kate Spade purses, Coach handbags, Prada wallets, and other popular “designer” goods. Some knock-offs are incredibly easy to spot, what with the misspelled logos and cheap zippers, while others may actually look real.

Seth McCormick/Fashionising.com

But despite the “great deal” you may feel like you’re getting when buying a fake, is it ever really in fashion?

It’s easy to look at a season’s It Bag and think a fake is just as good if you can’t afford the luxury good. But is it really worth the price? And how do you spot a fake when you’re online shopping and attempting to break into the eBay vault for a great deal on the real thing?

Identifying fakes may seem like a daunting task — many knock-off producers provide equally fake “certificates of authenticity” — but there are a few tip-offs you can keep an eye out for.

1. Packaging. If your bag arrives wrapped in plastic or paper it’s probably a knockoff.
2. Price. If it’s an unbelievable deal, it is probably unbelievably fake.
3. Construction. Look at the quality of material, stitching, zippers, and labels. Crooked stitching, unmarked zippers, and slightly off-center tags are indications of a fake.
4. Where you find it. The best way to avoid fakes is to buy directly from the manufacturer or boutique, or reputable consignment shops that guarantee authenticity (like Portero.com). Unauthorized dealers are hotbeds for counterfeit sales.

If you’re looking to buy a fake, just consider that your $25 deal comes at a much higher cost. Child labor, sweatshops, and human trafficking are a few of the social costs of the black market, and a few of the most obvious reasons fakes are never in fashion. It’s easy to overlook the fact that your cheap knock-off comes at the expense of a designer’s intellectual property (who cares if Louis Vuitton isn’t earning your money?), but that’s not the only thing sacrificed in your pursuit of a deal.

Child labor and atrocious working conditions, not just for the bag but its parts (fake leather, lead-laden metals, labels, etc.), are high costs to pay. And what about the effect fakes have on the economy?

With that in mind, Harper’s Bazaar’s Fakes are Never in Fashion campaign takes a look at the numbers:

• $512 billion: global sales lost to counterfeit goods
• $250 billion: annual losses to American companies from intellectual property theft
• $20 billion: estimated losses to American companies from counterfeit products
• $1 billion: estimated annual losses in New York City tax revenues due to counterfeiting
• 750,000 jobs: lost due to intellectual property theft in the United States

When considering not only the labor practices, but the economic hits the country takes from so many people supporting the counterfeiting industry, it’s hard to make a case for them being in fashion. There are plenty of inexpensive (and stylish) accessories out there by smaller-name designers that can still fulfill our fashion whims without ripping off someone else’s design.

Don’t get us wrong — there are certainly luxury manufacturers who have taken advantage of cheap outsourced labor, downgraded the quality of their goods while raising prices, and committed other social sins. It’s not always public knowledge when luxury manufacturers are guilty of this, but keeping your head up will help keep your conscience clean.