Counterfeit goods are produced with the malicious intent to
deceive and mislead people into believing that the items are genuine when they
are not. However, replica goods are not passed off as the original products.
... In many countries, counterfeit goods are frowned at by the law and are thus
illegal.
That goes from your Ghostpairs,Godpair,Super
Replica,Unauthorized,1:1 copy, Made from same factories. I min the list goes
on. It’s just terms used to as a smoke screen to remove the pungent
connotations of a Fake pair. But over all its still fake.
Yet stigmatizing people who wear fake designer gear is a
very acceptable form of classism – sure, sometimes it’s done with a degree of
humor, like when a counterfeit is so shoddily done that commenting can’t be
avoided, but that’s more of a comment on aesthetics than morality. And with
knockoffs becoming ever-more convincing, is it really justified to pay
over-inflated prices just so you can own a brand’s official stamp of approval?
I have no doubt that some of you are already storming towards the comment section to lecture me on why counterfeits are terrible and defending them makes me, by extension, a terrible person, but honestly: who cares?
I have worn fakes during my younger days in the corporate world. Not a dime or penny to spend and at that time my economic capability can only afford fakes. Aside from that i have some of my clothes socks underwear bought from baclaran. They super cheap lol. The only time Fakes sneakers become over the line is when a seller tries to sell a fake sneaker but declares it as legit and wants the resell price for a legitimate pair. That is misleading in all acts and that is one of the mortal sins you can commit in the shoe game.
I concede that there’s probably a difference in quality between fake goods and their legitimate counterparts: a replica Saint Laurent leather jacket mass produced in China obviously isn’t going to compare to one handmade in Paris, but those are two different production methods. If both are mass produced, then really, what’s the difference?
I struggle to think how a pair of counterfeits can be much (if at all) worse considering that they’re often made in similar circumstances and sometimes even in the same factories – according to collectors of replica sneakers quoted in this Complex article, many believe that “a brand like Nike or adidas contracts a factory for a certain number of sneakers, and provides the required materials.
When the factory runs out of materials, though, it still has the pattern. Replica collectors speculate that at this point, the factory contracts with counterfeit buyers to produce an unauthorized run of the sneaker using substitute materials.”
Whether this is exactly true or not is difficult to prove and my research hasn’t been able to find any supporting evidence – although, it should be noted, I also haven’t found anything that contradicts this explanation either.
In these circumstances, the design itself becomes indistinguishable, and the only difference lies in the materials. But considering that some 60 percent of the world’s chemical and synthetic fibers are produced in China, chances are that counterfeiters have pretty easy access to the same or similar sources that brands rely on – so, once again, it’s all basically the same, and scrolling through some of the countless Instagram accounts that compare and contrast legit and snide sneakers, the differences are minimal in most cases.
This, fundamentally, is what creates the counterfeit market. The Supreme-style tactic of creating super-limited stock to crank up exclusivity also plays a part: those willing to pay the retail rate for a pair of YEEZYs or Jordans are pushed into buying knockoffs because the brand has willingly put the real thing out of their reach. So don’t shed a tear for brands so adored that they become targets for counterfeiters – the reality is that they’ve brought it upon themselves.