Why bother getting mugged for your $10,000 Chanel Classic handbag when you can surrender a nearly identical knockoff that costs just $390? The New York Times delves into the thriving market of superfake handbags that look so authentic, people now assume genuine bags are knockoffs.
Some superfake manufacturers travel to Italy to source from the same leather markets that the brands do; others buy the real bags to examine every stitch. Chinese authorities have little to no incentive to shut down these operations, given their contributions to local economies, the potential embarrassment to local ministers and the steady fraying of China's political ties with the Western nations where savvy online buyers clamor for the goods. "They avoid taxes," Lewin says. "The working conditions are terrible. But all of that goes to turning out a very high-quality fake at very low cost."
The article features a quiz where you're presented with photos of genuine and fake handbags, and you must identify the real one. I correctly identified only one out of five.
