Counterfeit news and archive

AAFA welcomes USTR’S Notorious Markets Report - one tool in an urgent effort to curb counterfeits

The American Apparel & Footwear Association (AAFA) praised today’s release of the 2021 Review of Notorious Markets by the Office of the United States Trade Representative (USTR). Unsafe counterfeits lurk everywhere we turn, including a number of trusted, and emerging, e-commerce platforms. Year over year, we are pleased that USTR — and other...

Fashion Partner Content

AAFA flags extensive counterfeit concerns on social media in notorious markets submission

AAFA submitted comments to the Office of the United States Trade Representative recommending platforms and marketplaces – including Facebook and Instagram – for Notorious Market designations. The American Apparel & Footwear Association cited significant increases in the availability of counterfeit products via social media in its submission for...

BusinessFeatured

European consumers facing more risks than ever due to fake products sold online

A new study by the European Union Intellectual Property Office (EUIPO) says consumers are facing ever more risks due to buying fake products online. A surge in e-commerce counterfeit from nearly every sector, including fashion, cosmetics and pharmaceuticals, can pose great safety and health concerns. Findings from the study European Citizens and...

Fashion Featured

Shein, the Chinese fast fashion giant, is plagued for copying western brands

Shein, the Chinese fast fashion company making a splash in the west, is the latest Chinese platform allegedly selling counterfeit goods. Now the largest cross-border e-commerce player in China, Shein has seen fast growing audiences in the US, France, Russia, Germany and 200 other countries, but not without controversy. The explosion of Shein’s...

Fashion Partner Content

Apparel and Footwear Association supports new initiative to combat black market trade

The American Apparel & Footwear Association today joined the United to Safeguard America from Illegal Trade (USA-IT) campaign – a new public education initiative designed to provide local officials, law enforcement, and thought leaders with information and training programs to help tackle illegal trade and raise public awareness of the depth of...

Fashion Partner Content

Dupe influencers’ spread counterfeits on social platforms – harming consumers and brands

Today, the American Apparel & Footwear Association released a new report on the role a small, but fast-growing group of social media influencers play in the spread of counterfeit products. The report provides a detailed account of the alarming behavior by “dupe influencers” who collectively generate millions of views, likes, and shares of...

Fashion

Eagle-eyed appraisers sift Chinese second-hand luxury market for fakes

It's the world's biggest market for luxury goods -- and their counterfeits -- so an expert eye for telling a bona fide Chanel handbag from a bogus one is a skill set in hot demand across China. Enter the "luxury appraiser", an diffrentiator of real from fake, trained to triage handbags, belts and garments for dodgy serial numbers, stitching and...

Business

Amazon and Salvatore Ferragamo sue over counterfeits

Washington - Amazon and Salvatore Ferragamo filed lawsuits in US courts on Thursday accusing third-party sellers of using the e-commerce site to sell counterfeits of the Italian brand’s products. The separate lawsuits accuse four individual merchants and three companies based in the United States or China of offering knockoff belts bearing the...

RetailFeatured

Data reveals Brits are unknowingly spending 3.2 billion pounds on fake designer goods

When Amazon announced it was launching an internal Counterfeit Crime Unit in July, it sent a message to those sellers proliferating fake goods. If the world’s largest online retailer is aiming for zero counterfeit and inferior quality products on its website, there is an equal zero tolerance policy towards those who sell and manufacture them....

Retail

Lobbying group launched to fight online counterfeits

A group of retailers has come together to form a lobbying coalition to get Amazon and other e-commerce players to take stricter measures on stolen and counterfeit goods being sold on their platform. The retail organizations and companies have founded the Buy Safe America Coalition to support legislation that would require digital marketplaces to...

Business

Former Hermes employees sued over counterfeit bags

Paris prosecutors sought prison terms Friday for the leaders of a ring accused of making and selling fake handbags from iconic French luxury house Hermes, including some former employees. The network, which targeted Asian tourists in Paris but also clients in Hong Kong in 2013 and 2014, was uncovered when French police wiretapped the home of a...

Video

Video: How to spot real designer vs. knockoff watches

An authenticity expert from designer consignment shop The RealReal in New York City taught Insider producer AC Fowler how to spot replicas of popular designer watches. We took a look at some of the most iconic watches around: Hublot Big Bangs, Omega Seamasters, Cartier Santos 100s, Rolex Submariners, and Cartier Pashas. At the retailer's SoHo...