Two RLPL pants: which one is fake?

[Kenneth Cole Haan]

You are saying the quality of fakes is much higher than I let on. Perhaps. I am not disputing that the quality of fakes may be much better lately, as I am not an expert in the area by any means, and worse, I am more likely to spot the obvious fakes.

Still, I have one question: If there are so many Chinese leatherworkers with 10, 20, 30 years experience, who can make nearly flawless imitations of LV, Hermes, etc, (and LV, while overpriced and a bit ridiculously marketed, is still high quality work), why don't they have their own brands?

Where is the (equivalent] Hermes of Shanghai (as opposed to Hermes of Paris, I'm not referring to a Hermes -Paris company store in Shanghai, which I suppose exists)? The "Louis Wu-tton"? It seems strange the faker's have such artisans that they could be so good as to replicate Berkins that well, but no one in 1.2 billion people has started their own firm to export luxury goods.

More likely, they are simply not that great of artisans, and best they can do is make fakes to fool the occasional buyer like you and I, and not someone more experienced like your authenticator.

Also, the Authenticator did find out your wallet was a fake--so someone who has handled the goods enough can tell. I bet if you had bought a little more LV, you would have been able to tell its authenticity. Which was what I originally argued, that fakes expose themselves by their own inferior quality.

Also, Hermes' leather workers have to not only go through the French apprenticeship training, which is one part of their education system, but also years of working as a journeyman under an experienced Hermes artisan. Prada may be secretly outsourcing, but not Hermes. Again, show me the fake Hermes Silk Twill that feels like the authentic, and then I'll believe you.

 

[Superfluous]

I'm willing to bet they're both real.... this isn't gucci, prada, louis vuitton or one of those.

 

[MikeDT]

Originally Posted by Tony Romo

I'm willing to bet they're both real.... this isn't gucci, prada, louis vuitton or one of those.
I will concur with Tony here, living in rural northern China and have travelled extensively as well in the land of fakes. I have yet to see a single RLPL knock-off, PRL knock-offs are everywhere but no RLPL at all. I think the reason is that the exclusive rare 'Purple Label' line not well known unless one is really into RL, unlike the ubiquitous 'Polo' stuff.

 

[MikeDT]

Originally Posted by Jangofett

Oh and my personal fake story - Bought an expensive LV wallet thing on ebay, from a seller with hundreds of positive feedback, tons of pictures and serial number etc on the wallet with a box. On a lark, decided to spend some money to authenticate it. I was told it was a fake and I told the seller. Seller was furious but authenticator stood by its guns. I would have thought based on the look and feel, the LV wallet was 100% original. I now do not buy any LV products online.
There is really only one way to guarantee that one is buying the real-mccoy, and that is to buy it from an authorised retailer. LV has a policy of only selling its products through its own stores. Ebay is NOT one of them. I'm not really surprised that your 'LV wallet thing' turned out to be a replica.

 

[MikeDT]

Originally Posted by Kenneth Cole Haan

Still, I have one question: If there are so many Chinese leatherworkers with 10, 20, 30 years experience, who can make nearly flawless imitations of LV, Hermes, etc, (and LV, while overpriced and a bit ridiculously marketed, is still high quality work), why don't they have their own brands?
Because no one will buy them, they want western luxury brands. Some Chinese brands have done very well world wide, such as Lenovo and Huawei, but these are not luxury brands of course.

Originally Posted by Kenneth Cole Haan

Where is the (equivalent] Hermes of Shanghai (as opposed to Hermes of Paris, I'm not referring to a Hermes -Paris company store in Shanghai, which I suppose exists)? The "Louis Wu-tton"? It seems strange the faker's have such artisans that they could be so good as to replicate Berkins that well, but no one in 1.2 billion people has started their own firm to export luxury goods. .
A good percentage of that 1.2 billion are eager to consume, possess and brand-whore with famous western luxury brands such as Hermes and LV. Most of the population of China is quite poor of course, so they make do with the fakes, They know its all counterfeit and dont really care for the most part, just as long as what they possess is showing some obvious famous western luxury branding. Where I live it's pretty much impossible to buy any genuine western brands, except Jeep and a couple of Hong Kong brands. It's all knock-offs here.

 

[Jangofett]

Originally Posted by MikeDT

There is really only one way to guarantee that one is buying the real-mccoy, and that is to buy it from an authorised retailer. LV has a policy of only selling its products through its own stores. Ebay is NOT one of them. I'm not really surprised that your 'LV wallet thing' turned out to be a replica.

Well, not everything on ebay is fake you know.
It can be someone who bought it from an LV boutique, in turn selling it to others on ebay.
By your logic, OP's RLPL would be all fakes.

 

[MikeDT]

Originally Posted by Jangofett

Well, not everything on ebay is fake you know.
Of course.

Originally Posted by Jangofett

It can be someone who bought it from an LV boutique, in turn selling it to others on ebay. By your logic, OP's RLPL would be all fakes.
There are many on Ebay selling genuine unwanted, pre-owned and used items, just as they sell them in other places like Gumtree and Craigslist. However one should always be suspicious of luxury items on Ebay, described as 'New with tags' or 'boxed', where the vendor has multiple lots of those items. The OP's RLPL trousers appeared to be second-hand and previously worn. I also wrote in another post about not having seen any RLPL knock-offs at all in China.

 

[Chrenetique]

Originally Posted by Kenneth Cole Haan

Still, I have one question: If there are so many Chinese leatherworkers with 10, 20, 30 years experience, who can make nearly flawless imitations of LV, Hermes, etc, (and LV, while overpriced and a bit ridiculously marketed, is still high quality work), why don't they have their own brands?

Because Vuitton, Hermès, etc., are doing the marketing job for them. They're spending millions for advertising the authentic products and their Chinese counterfeits.

 

[Jangofett]

Originally Posted by MikeDT

Of course.



There are many on Ebay selling genuine unwanted, pre-owned and used items, just as they sell them in other places like Gumtree and Craigslist. However one should always be suspicious of luxury items on Ebay, described as 'New with tags' or 'boxed', where the vendor has multiple lots of those items. The OP's RLPL trousers appeared to be second-hand and previously worn. I also wrote in another post about not having seen any RLPL knock-offs at all in China.

Well, that seller did not have lots of the same or different LV products.
They have only one and I don't think the seller has any negative feedback.
The only downside is the seller dont usually sell luxury or LV products. I guess that could have made me suspicious.

I guess if it is a brand not in the counterfeiters radar, one could be relatively assured like for RLPL. But then again, I dont think you see many outright Patek Perpetual Calendars or IWC Da Vincis in the China night markets, I think. But that doesnt mean I will part with USD 1000 for one that is genuine, mint with a box and where you can have a choice of Panda, Mao or Great Wall dial.

 

[Jangofett]

Oh and Kenneth Cole Haan should know that the China situation is getting so bad that Chinese would flock to Hong Kong to be assured they are getting the real stuff from the boutiques.

Not only that, some of their daily products like milk powder face the same problems. Chinese actually created a shortage of milk powder in Hong Kong due to concerns over safety of milk powder in China.