dressedinlucy

The fashion industry is often a victim of its own success. As soon as some brilliant designer reveals their latest masterpiece on the cat walk, copies will be in mass production within days.

The original designer will call them fakes. But is that fair when the same cut and material is used? The UK along with many other countries consider fakes as illegal and it’s usually the job of customs officials to confiscate them.

Most of us have bought some fake goods on holidays in countries without the same control. Sometimes these copies are so good we cannot even tell the difference.

Another confusion is the use of the word faux. Faux is another word for fake so when we see something like a grey faux fur jacket for sale, does that mean it’s a fake?

Well, no it doesn’t. It’s just letting us know that the fur trim is not from any animal but is a synthetic replica.

So, fake and faux have completely different meanings and selling anything under the title of faux is not to be confused with fake.

On holiday in Turkey the open clothing market will be filled with traders calling out the words, genuine fake, special offer.

Now these goods may be something completely different. They may be exactly in every way the same as the genuine goods. This is because a lot of the UK high street brands have their handbags, clothes and shoes made in and around Istanbul. Labour is cheap and Turkey is physically neighbouring the EU.

The goods are just over production or otherwise known as goods from the nightshift. Even more than clothing, leather handbags are the most popular with tourists. One brand that retails in the UK for close to a thousand pounds can be bought in Turkey for less than one hundred pounds.

Not even HM customs would recognise these as fakes and the only missing item is a certificate that in the UK high street shops would be inside the bag.