Bringing Home The Birkin: The Rise of the superfake!

They can cost thousands - with craftsmanship to rival the real thing. And they're becoming status symbols in their own right

These knock offs are so good that even experts can't tell them apart
Super-fakes use the same best quality materials as designer houses
Fake designer goods are worth £3billion a year
Women knowingly buy fake goods, despite earning £50,000 a year
Super-fakes can cost as much as £2000

With its super-soft fabric and chain-link strap, designer Stella McCartney’s Falabella bag is loved by celebrities including Victoria Beckham and Kate Hudson.

Nicola Espada loves the one she bought, too. As soon as she saw the tote online, the 34-year-old knew it would make the perfect 60th birthday present for her mother.

‘It’s beautiful,’ says the business project manager from London. ‘I knew Mum liked it, but had been put off by the price: £700.’

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Bags of style: Nicola Espada and her copy of Stella McCartney's Falabella bag

A generous daughter, you might think. Or maybe not — for the bag Nicola has bought is a fake. She has not been hoodwinked, neither could you consider her a cheapskate. For her counterfeit Falabella cost more than £100, rather than the £10 you might expect to pay for a cheap copy.

It’s a so-called ‘super-fake’: knock-off goods that look and feel so like their designer counterparts that even experts find it difficult to distinguish them. And far from feeling ashamed they can’t afford the genuine article, buyers brag they’re carrying a very clever copy.
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In fact, many see it as one in the eye for design houses that have racked up the prices of It bags beyond the reach of most women.

Super-fakes are produced in the Far East, though some come from Greece or Italy, and are made by craftsmen skilled in cutting and stitching. They use the best quality materials: top-grade leather from the same suppliers as the designer houses.

Logos are meticulously copied and the sumptuous linings echo the originals. Many have serial numbers or date stamps and some even come with shop labels with the barcode on.

And they’re flooding into Britain. The counterfeiting industry, mainly fake designer goods, is worth £3 billion a year. From 2010 to 2011, it’s estimated the market increased by 60 per cent.

In a recent survey, more than half of respondents admitted to knowingly buying fake goods, with one in five saying they earn more than £50,000 a year.

Can you tell the difference?: A real Hermes Birkin (left) and it's super-fake (right)

Indeed, the demand for super-fakes is being driven by squeezed middle-class women unwilling to give up their designer status symbols.

And it is being met by the rapid rise in the number of websites openly offering ‘discount’ luxury goods, which are visited by seven million shoppers a month.

The attention to detail on the super-fakes means they often retail for three figures. Some copies of Hermes’ Birkin cost more than £2,000. Expensive, yes, but not when you can pay up to £50,000 for the original.

Nicola believes her bag is worth every penny. ‘I don’t feel guilty about it. If anything, my mum will think I’ve been sensible not spending £700 on a bag.

‘I know what a genuine Stella McCartney looks like and I couldn’t believe how real the bag looked. It feels expensive and is the same, heavy weight as the genuine one. Even the “Made in Italy” logo in the pocket is the same.’

I know what a genuine Stella McCartney looks like and I couldn’t believe how real the bag looked
Nicola Espada

The fact that fakes are now such high quality is proving a headache for the likes of Hermes, Chanel, Louis Vuitton and Burberry, some of the main brands being targeted.

Chrissie Florczyk, director general of the Anti-Counterfeiting Group, says: ‘Genuine customers don’t buy bags that have been heavily counterfeited because it doesn’t seem exclusive. Design houses are spending considerable sums to shut down the fake websites, but it’s not easy.

‘Many may have a British web address, but the servers will be in China, where UK law enforcement has no power over them.’

It’s incredibly easy to buy super-fakes from the internet. Sellers on websites such as iOffer market their bags on the very fact that they’re high- quality, low-cost copies.

Sellers post details of their goods on the site and you can haggle over the price, before paying through a secure channel such as PayPal, meaning your credit card details are protected. A lookalike Mulberry Bayswater can be bought for £179.95 or a Hermes Birkin for £784.

And business is clearly booming, judging from the hundreds of reviews posted on sellers’ pages.

The real deal... almost: 'I know what a genuine Stella McCartney looks like and I couldn't believe how real the bag looked' says Nicola

Close up: Experts find it hard to tell super-fakes apart form the their genuine counterparts

‘My bag was wrapped carefully and is amazing quality! Highly recommended, will definitely buy again,’ raves one about her fake Birkin, while another writes ‘Well worth the money, looks like an original’ of her Mulberry Alexa.

There are other sites you need to be in the know about to get signed up to their emailing lists. These can put you in touch with suppliers, but close down their websites regularly and then set them up again under a different name to prevent detection. Broadcaster Alley Rose, 39, often buys such bags.

‘You choose the handbag you want: a £300 version that’s spot on, a £200 one that’s slightly less so and the price goes down until you get the obviously fake,’ she says.

‘You can also go online and say: “Can I have this bag or that bag?” If they don’t already sell it, they’ll make you a bespoke copy.

‘But you have to be careful. I bought fake Christian Louboutin shoes from a Chinese website that got stopped at Customs in the UK. I got a letter saying they were going to be destroyed.’

Alley, who lives in West London with her four-year-old daughter, worked in Hong Kong a few years ago and visited the factories that make the bags sold in Britain.

‘They’re trained craftsmen and the more people who work on it, the more expensive it is,’ she says. ‘I bought a beautiful Celine handbag for £110. I’d seen the model Rosie Huntington-Whiteley carrying it, but was horrified to find the real thing cost £1,500. Who wouldn’t love the real thing, but who can afford it? Besides, this is just as beautiful and you’d have to be an expert to tell that it isn’t genuine.’

Mum's the word: Nicola bought the super-fake as a birthday present for her mother

Alley feels no guilt at depriving the designers of a sale. ‘Chanel and Louis Vuitton are pricing bags out of the lower end of the market, so super-fakes are replacing them,’ she says.

Prices are certainly soaring. In five years, Chanel’s large classic flap bag has increased by 70 per cent to £2,740, while a Mulberry Bayswater that cost £650 in early 2012 now sells for £895.

And believe it or not, it’s not illegal to buy fakes, according to Handley Brustad of the Trading Standards Institute.

‘In the UK, it’s only an offence to sell counterfeit goods,’ he says. ‘Though if it’s coming from abroad and Customs seize it, you’ll have to sign it over for destruction. If you don’t, then they can take you to court as an importer of foreign goods.’

The counterfeiters use a host of tricks to get them into Britain. ‘They come in piecemeal,’ says Mr Brustad. ‘A handbag and the badge will come in separately and then they are assembled here before being sold.

‘I’ve seen bags with an “OO” label — no problem there. But the leather can be snipped away to make the Chanel “CC” logo.

‘I’ve also seen counterfeits come in with cheap labels stitched over a fake Ralph Lauren logo — then they just remove the stitching.’

But the brands are fighting back. In September, the Police Intellectual Property Crime Unit was set up to protect British companies from online fraud. A raid in Liverpool in March netted a huge number of fake handbags, boots, sunglasses and cosmetics and led to the arrest of two men.

Many may feel no sympathy for the luxury brands. But a recent crime report may give them pause for thought. It found that 79 per cent of criminal counterfeiters had links to other forms of organised crime, such as money laundering and drug dealing.

So, while you may believe that buying a £135 Louis Vuitton rip-off isn’t hurting anyone but the brand, perhaps it’s doing more harm than you think.

By Lorraine Fisher