To buy, or not to buy?

In New York City, people flock to Canal Street to peruse racks of imitation Louis Vuitton, Kate Spade, Gucci, and Coach merchandise. But the phenomenon of designer knockoffs is not limited to the Big Apple. Instead of paying $300 for a Coach handbag, many people -- including Tufts students -- will choose to purchase a $30 replica.

"I don't specifically look for them," sophomore Heather Tamarkin said. "But if I see something, and it's a good knockoff, I'll buy it. I guess brands aren't that important to me. I'll buy a $10 skirt in Wet Seal or a $100 shirt in Guess. I've done both within the past month."

Brand names may not be important to cash-strapped college students like Tamarkin, but they are important to the economic survival of the fashion industry. Though very few people sympathize with it, the fashion industry has gone through a huge financial loss as a result of this knock-off culture. According to a recent report in People magazine, the industry incurs losses of millions of dollars each year due to the production of counterfeit products.

In addition to the streets of New York and Boston, designer reproductions can be purchased at so-called purse parties. "My mom gets fake designer bags at purse parties," sophomore Natawnee Fritz said. At purse parties, Fritz explained, a saleswoman -- not a representative of the fashion house- comes to a home or even an office and brings samples of knock-off items to sell.

"Women who are out and see a purse that they like can go to the saleswoman from the purse party and say, 'I saw this purse and I want it,'" Fritz said. "Then the saleswoman can actually go and find a cheaper knockoff and sell it to them."

These purse parties may seem like a good time, but attendees can sometimes get more than they bargained for. In the same People magazine report, private investigator Stuart Drobny said that "he has seized $15 million worth of counterfeits for high-end designers" at purse parties.

Another problem facing the fashion industry is the fact that this knock-off culture is not just an American phenomenon. All over the world, designer imitations are being sold.

"There are vendors on the streets selling cheaper versions of designer items in certain market and touristy areas," said sophomore Livia Stefanini, a native of Rome. "In Italy, the knockoffs are bought by young girls -- middle school girls, for example, who like fashion, but aren't old enough to spend 500 euros or more on a bag."

While many Tufts students tote the knock-off versions, there are those, like sophomore Marina Shaw, who prefer the real thing. "I buy regular designer stuff, but I don't buy knock-offs because, although they are cheaper, I feel that the quality is not nearly as high," Shaw said.

Sophomore Sarah Samuelson agrees with Shaw. "The real reason I don't buy knock-offs is that I think there's a huge discrepancy in the quality between those and the real ones," she said. "Very often the fake ones break, or you can tell just by looking at the lining of the bag that the quality isn't very high."

There is also the thrill of owning a real designer bag -- something that students may find appealing. "Designer bags are often a status symbol, but when people purchase fake purses, it opens up the floor to everyone," Samuelson added. "It's more of a threat to the consumers who suddenly see their housekeeper carrying the same Prada bag that they own."

Though this concept may seem elitist, economics professor Lynne Pepall added merit to Samuelson's argument. "One of the negative aspects of [the knock-off culture] is that it might deter the people who would normally buy the real bags," Pepall said.

"There's a real tension if you overdo it -- whatever the cache the brand has, it will lose if everybody carries it."

The rise of knock-off culture can also have creativity-related consequences. "It might make [the fashion houses] more conservative in what they do because they won't put as much thought and money into the design process because they fear being ripped off," Pepall said.

Some Tufts students don't find the popularity of designer knockoffs troubling. "It's not about the label, man," sophomore Star Shippee said. "But it doesn't bother me that other people do buy knock-offs. I think the fashion industry is already getting too much money for their products, so it doesn't matter to me whether they're cheated out of their own stuff."

It clearly matters to the leaders of the fashion world -- because they are being cheated, the owners of these companies do have the right to sue the manufacturers of designer imitations. "There is copyright protection on the use of trade names such as Rolex, Gucci, Escada, etc.," Economics Professor George Norman said. "What this means is that, if the maker of a knockoff attempts to sell the product and uses the name of a fashion house, they are in breach of the copyright laws. The goods can be seized, and the manufacturer can potentially be sued."

"Most companies with well-established brand names try to protect these fairly aggressively," Norman added. "McDonalds does this at the bottom end of the market, but the fashion houses also do so where they find that their names are being counterfeited. What is harder to control is copying that takes the design but stops short of putting on a fake name."