Fake. Replica. Fugazi.  Most everyone is familiar with these titles which are quite infamous to clothing designers.  From the lady in Wal-mart with a fake Louis Vuitton bag to kids with reps of Air Jordan Bred 1's the market for these replicas of designer or rare goods have a large expanse and grasp many demographics.  This popularity can mainly be attributed through a new ease of access through the internet.  While many people think of these replicas to be harmless and an economic convenience to them, it actually hinders the economic market for clothing, hurting sales.  While it is an illegal practice to counterfeit company clothing, I think of it more as a moral issue and believe people need to halt the supporting of replica manufacturers.

What gives the replica market large business is the pure ease of access.  Go on E bay and search “Supreme” and hundreds of hits come up of $20 shirts with terrible font quality nowhere near the likeness of a legit tee from the single most popular modern clothing brand, Supreme NY.  Or even better lately we have seen the rise of colossus “Direct from China” online stores.  The main culprit being Ali-Express, Alibaba's smaller counterpart for consumer retail.  Ali-Express is the mecca of all replicas, with every Louis Vuitton, Gucci, Saint Laurent, Dior, Goyard, Dolce & Gabbana, Supreme, Versace, or Comme des Garçons replica imaginable.  All for around $20-$60 with $10 shipping it seems like the dream of any fans of high fashion.  Alongside these online giants is the many online communities such as Reddit which buy/sell these reps and discuss them.  The Sub-Reddit for Fashion Replicas alone has nearly 10,000 users and here the users post reviews of different pieces to inform of the quality, likeness to the real pieces, and of course whether or not it is a scam  (a quite common occurrence with sketchy foreign manufacturers).  Ultimately, the world of fashion replicas is so facile to reach, that it is available to nearly anyone in the world with a computer or smart phone. 

The rise of fugazi clothing has not gone under the radar of the fashion market economy.  As found by the analysis by NetNames , the US clothing market loses nearly $255 billion a year to replica manufacturers and internationally, the market of fashion replicas generates $1.8 trillion of revenue annually..  It is a shocking and unacceptable amount of money, which is projected to rise as the market for replicas has increased 15% in 2014 and shows no sign of slowing down.  This is cutting into the profit of the legit companies and the manufacturers are purely taking advantage of brand names. 

I myself shake my head at the sight of a replica, knowing it is from a shady market which is morally unethical.  These replica makers are blatantly copying the innovation, creativity, and design of designers which put work and effort into creating a new, fresh product.  As well the manufacturers take advantage of brand name, capitalizing on the hype in which people direly want products of a brand.  Not only do they take advantage of the designers, but also of the consumers who are tricked into paying premium prices only to receive a piece that is fake, inferior quality, and only worth a fraction of what they paid.  While many advocates of replicas argue that in a free market it is at the consumers fault from lack of knowledge that a fake is purchased, I think taking advantage of asymmetric information is once again unethical to make a quick buck.  An appropriate analogy may be to compare it to the many fake I-phones online which often look pretty similar to the real deal, with maybe a certain thing here and there off.  While yes, people will see you with a trendy Apple I-phone, it is also an unlawfully stolen design which likely hardly functions and will die in a couple of months. 

We have all been tempted by the to good to be true deals of fashion replica makers where  the trendy lines of designers, which are often quite pricey, are as cheap, if not cheaper, than shopping at the mall.  However these “deals” are at the expense of the clothing brands which suffer from the ubiquitous replicas of their product, creating an unlawful competition.  Law enforcement attempts to shut down these operations, but with the rise of online stores like Ali-Express the culprit is difficult to track.  The fashion community itself must refrain from replicas to create a fair marketplace and keep out freeloaders.