Sunday, November 4, 2012

Blog 1: Is That Real?


So I was looking on EBay for a book for class, and I happen to come across advertisements for purses. Except, there was something a bit off on the ads, they were promoting 40 dollars for a Gucci purse. I click on it, and there are 20+ ads for $40 Gucci purses.  Me being a purse snob, had to look into this more. They are counterfeit, which brings me to the reading for this week, Knockouts of Knockoffs: The Global Implication of Fashion Piracy by Melissa Decker, which discusses the effects of producing counterfeit goods in Italy. The author writes, “Italy ranks third in production of counterfeits, but the first in consumption worldwide” (Decker 12). Now, I find this ironic, because Italy prides itself on creating handmade leather goods by family run businesses. 

And there are these underground factories making fake goods, alongside big names such as Armani, Gucci, and Versace. To think that it would be somewhere far away, like Asia. This is makes me wonder about the classic definition of imitation vs. inspiration, but in case of EBay, it is clearly imitation. Another article titled How to Deal with Knockoffs: Flattery or Flat-out Theft? by Wendy Grossman discusses how counterfeiting is stealing from companies, “when I design something and I'm selling it, and people knock it off to make money”. In other words, the counterfeits people purchase, the money goes into companies pumping out fake products, making the original brand lose funds.

    Source: http://earthwidesurgicalfoundation.blogspot.com/2012/05/fake-gucci.html


Be Green Challenge
I’m wary of breaking the rules, and going shopping on Black Friday. Being that Black Friday being the biggest shopping event of the year. I admit, I shop a ton online, so I had to see if I could actually do it. I expect it to not be easy, and I will be tempted when I get emails for hot deals. We will see where this goes

- Krizia Haag












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