Happy Couture Week, my fellow fashion law-istas! On Tuesday while we were just dodging the Snowmageddon here in New York, Karl Lagerfeld threw a garden party in Paris for Chanel’s Spring ’15 Haute Couture show. Things haven’t been all sunshine and daisies, however, over at the Haus of Chanel as it filed a counterfeiting suit just last month.

Chanel is suing online e-tailer Shop Jeen not only for copying its goods but also its way of doing business. Shop Jeen produced imitation Chanel iPhone cases and allegedly marketed them in the same way as the couturier. According to The Fashion Law, Chanel claims that Shop Jeen’s actions have cost it irreparable damage and “the Defendants have been unjustly enriched.” Chanel is demanding $2 million “for each counterfeit trademark used and product sold,” in addition to attorney and investigative fees.

As you know, I’m all for designers defending their own intellectual property, but I’m not so sure about their ability to sue someone for stealing the way they do business. If a product is already a knockoff, wouldn’t it come with the territory that it is advertised in the same way as the original? If it were any other company but Chanel this might not really fly as two separate charges, but I’m sure the kaiser Karl Lagerfeld will be able to get away with it.

It’s cases like this that make fashion law so much trickier than most other intellectual property and trademark lawsuits. The only thing fashion attorneys have to go off of is prior cases. Then again, this is the Haus of Chanel we’re talking about here. Lots of clothing and accessories can be seen as inspired by or imitating the brand that basically defines classic. Yet as far as I can tell, it looks like Chanel’s got this lawsuit in the (2.55 chain strap) bag.

Katherine Fabian

Katherine Fabian is a recent graduate of Fordham University’s College at Lincoln Center. She is a freelance writer and yoga teacher who hopes to one day practice fashion law and defend the intellectual property rights of designers. Contact Katherine at staff@LawStreetMedia.com.

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Last week I told you about the $22 million counterfeit operation busted in Queens. So now you might be asking yourself: If getting your “designer” handbags from Canal street is such a big no-no then where should I get my holiday gifts at a reasonable price? Never fear, it’s almost 2015 and there is now a plethora of consignment sites to get your second-hand designer goods. But as great as sites like Ebay, Amazon, and the new Alibaba are, sometimes sellers aren’t always honest when they claim their items are authentic. So to make sure that you don’t get duped (like my poor brother did when he ordered those fake Nikes from China) I’ve put together a handy guide on how to spot a fake. Whether you’re giving or getting one this season, here’s all you need to know about how to properly authenticate a designer handbag.

Chanel

Remember when I told you that I’ve had family members gift me fake bags in the past? When I was in high school, my aunt gave me a Chanel Grand Shopping Tote. I thought it was cool until I found some irregular stitching and a defect in the “leather.” However, there are a few other tell-tale signs aside from the obvious ones. When it comes to the flap bag, the quilting should properly line up when the bag is closed. The biggest giveaway can also be simply the leather itself; the lambskin should feel buttery smooth and not waxy. Also, every bag made after 1985 should have a label with a specific serial number inside.

Hermès

The most coveted bag in fashion history, people will do anything to get their hands on an Hermès Birkin bag. With a retail price of up to $150,000, the Birkin bag has a high resale rate, so it only follows that there are a lot of fakes floating around out there too. The easiest thing to look for is the bag’s lock spindle, as it should turn around smoothly, and should not be bumpy or grainy. The logo should also read Hermès-Paris with a dash, as opposed to an underscore. In the video below, Tammy Flehr-Gates from Michael’s consignment shop on the Upper East Side gives more tips on how to spot a fake Birkin.

Louis Vuitton

For any Vuitton bag, I reiterate the importance of checking that the leather is dry because if it’s waxy, sorry, but it’s probably not even leather to begin with. More specifically, the Neverfull’s strap should be exactly 3/8″ in width. Any larger is a sign that the bag is made of poor material, so it needs a thick strap to withstand any weight. Vuitton is also famous for its various collaborations, like with Japanese artist Takashi Murakami. The infamous multi-colored Speedy features exactly 33 colors, so any less and it’s cheap, lazy imitation. The cherry blossom Speedy also has a sneaky feature that an amateur counterfeiter would never know about; the inside should say “Made in Japan.” Although Vuitton bags are typically made in France, this particular collaboration was made in Japan. If it says “Made in France” on a cherry blossom Speedy, it probably wasn’t made there, or even in Japan for that matter.

Balenciaga

My personal favorite, the City Bag, is pretty easy to authenticate. Since it features so much metal hardware, the first thing you should check for is if they’re heavy and not hollow-feeling. The O-rings on all the zipper pulls will also be soldered closed. Rivets have two rectangular notches in them and the straps should be smooth with absolutely no bumps. Also you won’t ever find your average YKK zipper on a Balenciaga, as they only use Lampo zippers on their bags.

Katherine Fabian

Katherine Fabian is a recent graduate of Fordham University’s College at Lincoln Center. She is a freelance writer and yoga teacher who hopes to one day practice fashion law and defend the intellectual property rights of designers. Contact Katherine at staff@LawStreetMedia.com.

The post Holiday Gift Guide: How to Authenticate a Designer Handbag appeared first on Law Street.

Ah Canal Street; one of the few places in New York where you can score “designer” bags, gold chains, and a bong all for under $1,000. Even this future Intellectual Property lawyer has owned her fair share of counterfeit handbags from the Chinatown locale. But as a tween who just wanted a fake Louis or Chanel like everyone in my middle school, it never really made sense to me how my relatives would get their hands on them. I heard stories about being taken “behind the scenes” to the warehouses where the better stash of goods is kept. I heard about the cops coming to bust these vendors for selling without a permit. But none of these stories ever answered the real question I always had: how do these vendors throughout the city persist when everyone knows (including cops standing nearby) that they either do not have a proper permit, are selling counterfeit goods, or both?

On Tuesday, the NYPD and U.S. Homeland Security officials raided a storage unit in Queens full of about $22 million worth of counterfeit goods. The raid followed a seven-month investigation and resulted in seven arrests. This kind of takeover is what police call an “Operation Treasure Hunt” and took about 30 minutes to execute. I highly suggest clicking over to WWD to view pictures of the facility and all the goods it contained, because it’s truly astounding. From fake Gucci and Chanel handbags to Beats headphones and fake Uggs, these guys had it all. Rarely do you ever get to see a successful takedown of Canal Street vendors like this. But why is that? Why can’t the police just approach these guys who are selling on the street?

As a kid, my mom tried to relieve my conscience claiming that my LV-monogramed bag was probably real but was just stolen. But does that make it any more ethical? In hindsight, it kind of made it a lot worse; however, regardless of whether these goods are stolen or just really good knockoffs, any Canal Street vendor or distributor is guilty of at least one of these things.

One reason these vendors may get off the hook is that they are merely a third party selling the goods, not making them. Also, I doubt most NYPD even know about the designers these bags are trying to imitate, nevermind the standards for what counts as a knockoff and what does not. The only way the police can shut down these vendors is by asking if they have proper permits, and if they do there’s nothing they can do about it.

The case with the storage unit in Queens required a lengthy investigation so that the police could acquire enough evidence to warrant a search. Also it’s a much more effective tactic to take down the counterfeit industry by heading straight to the source, as opposed to approaching every single business on Canal Street.

Maybe it’s time to start training the NYPD to have a more keen eye for spotting counterfeit goods. Every year counterfeit products can cost the global economy up to $250 billion. Manhattan is not the crime-ridden place that it once was, so a lot of police officers are often seen just standing around offering surveillance. And while counterterrorism should definitely  be a primary concern in this day and age, that doesn’t mean police can’t multitask and try to stop this form of economic terrorism too.

Katherine Fabian

Katherine Fabian is a recent graduate of Fordham University’s College at Lincoln Center. She is a freelance writer and yoga teacher who hopes to one day practice fashion law and defend the intellectual property rights of designers. Contact Katherine at staff@LawStreetMedia.com.

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