how the counterfeiting of major brands is trivialized in particular among the youngest

Between 2022 and 2023, the number of counterfeit clothing and accessories seized in France has doubled, despite the illegality of this practice.

There is more and more likely for your sneakers or those of your teenagers to be counterfeits. It is an always illegal but now uninhibited practice: 29 % of French people aged 15 to 24 knowingly buy counterfeit products according to a study by the European Union for Intellectual Union. This figure amounted to 14 % in 2019.

Among young people, beyond being assumed, counterfeiting has even become trend. In front of her Parisian high school, Lili, in the first class, does not hide it and even has fun: “I buy false, we must say the terms“. Louis Vuitton scarf, Gucci cap, Prada bag … The young girl with a neat look lists her counterfeit purchases, which she sometimes makes with her mother.

Behind her high school students jostle to show their counterfeit clothes. “”This is a false jacket with a real logo, like that, it’s not burnt“, A boils one of them. His friend, he is cleared:”I do not have the means to buy real, so I buy false!“.

In boys, it is mainly Dior sneakers, gray or white, which are all the rage. True than life, they remain seven times cheaper than the original. The girls, they set their sights on the famous Goyard bag, but pay 20 euros instead of the 1,400 euros for the authentic. “”Everyone has it, but no one has the real“, quips a high school student. Given the price,”It is no longer taboo to buy a false“, She slips.

The counterfeiting causes a kind of snowball effect. “”It is a good way to integrate into society because today we are afraid of the gaze of people and therefore we all want to dress with brands“, justifies a high school student. He continues:”I think it’s also for the image. I find it a little normal for people to buy counterfeit“.

Beyond the broken prices, these young people also turn to counterfeiting because, according to them, there is less and less difference between the false and the original. The products are also much easier to find than before, especially through Chinese websites. Without forgetting social networks: just order on Telegram, Snapchat, Tiktok accounts to see his package arrive in his mailbox.

Samir is one of these telegram accounts specializing in counterfeits. Installed in China, this Frenchman sells roughly false luxury clothes. Without complex, he explains how he had perfect replicas of authentic products made, and in particular his purchases of luxury clothing to better analyze them.

“We are very good customers of Dior and Louis Vuitton. You have to buy models to be able to redo them.”

Samir, seller of counterfeits on Telegram

in franceinfo

His company spends 20 to 30,000 euros per month on luxury clothes. He then determines the grammage, the weaving, the pattern, and the color thanks to a special machine, then plays in a factory. Samir assures him, the workers who sew his t-shirts are paid in the month and not in the room.

“”We give them a maximum number of parts to go out per day so that they apply“, He says. One of the advantages of China, according to him, is the availability of the workforce:”In general, they still work 29 days in the month“.”But that doesn’t bother them!“He says.

Thanks to savings on salary, marketing and less important margins, the consumer buys his false t-shirts ten times cheaper than the originals, according to Samir. Each year, he sends tens of thousands around the world: “I will not go into details, but we have specialized people in there, to whom we entrust our goods and who take care of the shipment“.

When the question of customs officials is mentioned, Samir lets out a laugh. He doesn’t really fear them: “It is almost impossible to control everything. There are losses from time to time but it comes into the costs“. If her activity remains illicit, and she is not immoral according to him.” I only sell clothes, “he defends himself.

Faced with the trivialization of counterfeiting, the union of manufacturers represents thousands of brands which it is trying to protect. In the mansion where the Unifab is located sits the bust of their former president: Gaston Vuitton, grandson of Louis Vuitton. “”A large dialogue is underway with the largest platforms that make progress in the detection of counterfeits “explains Delphine Sarfati-Sobeira, at the head of Unifab.

Technological means are also offered to businesses so that it is easier to trace their products.

Delphine Sarfati-Sobeira, General Manager of Unifab

in franceinfo

Resources are also made available to consumers: “For example with a QR code to know if the product is a counterfeit“, She continues. Devices that counterfeiters, however, arrive very well to imitate.

It is difficult to quantify the damage for brands, but Delphine Sarfati-Sobreira believes that buying the false is not trivial. Because according to a study by Unifab, the sale of false brand products is linked to with organized crime. In 2023 French customs seized more than a million counterfeit clothes and accessories, a figure that doubled in one year. Unifab finally recalls that selling but also buying counterfeit is illegal.