July 04, 2010
Attack of the Clones Versus Empire of Logos
What's the deal with imitations? What makes us prefer a hair clip with a fake double C to a plain one? Why do we prefer to spend money on an imitation bag rather than a generic one? What strange fascination do logos exert that we'd put them even on manholes?
Everyone is free to waste their money on whatever they want, but I'd like to tell potential buyers that, I'm sorry friends, but no, you're not fooling anyone, no, they don't pass for the real thing, yes, yes it's obvious they're fake. Specifically, within 4 seconds, honestly, even if you think it's very well made, that C is narrower than normal, that typography that resembles but isn't, those poorly finished leather letter edges, that lack of shine on the zippers and fasteners, those overly rigid handles, and sometimes, even that model that the brand has never even launched. And I'm not just talking about those from the blanket vendors; we all have a friend who came back from India thrilled because they discovered a super clandestine workshop (especially for tourists) where they bought a Louis Vuitton suitcase for a mere $300. You look at the suitcase and think those rivets are singing La Traviata, but hey, the happiness on your friend's face is priceless, so you shut your big mouth.
Everyone is free to waste their money on whatever they want, but I'd like to tell potential buyers that, I'm sorry friends, but no, you're not fooling anyone, no, they don't pass for the real thing, yes, yes it's obvious they're fake. Specifically, within 4 seconds, honestly, even if you think it's very well made, that C is narrower than normal, that typography that resembles but isn't, those poorly finished leather letter edges, that lack of shine on the zippers and fasteners, those overly rigid handles, and sometimes, even that model that the brand has never even launched. And I'm not just talking about those from the blanket vendors; we all have a friend who came back from India thrilled because they discovered a super clandestine workshop (especially for tourists) where they bought a Louis Vuitton suitcase for a mere $300. You look at the suitcase and think those rivets are singing La Traviata, but hey, the happiness on your friend's face is priceless, so you shut your big mouth.
I insist that I'm not trying to be a know-it-all giving a moral lecture; rather, I'm speaking from experience. On my first trip to the USA, I happily came back laden with a Fendi bag imitation. It was a little-known model, and surely no one in my circle even knew what Fendi was (in an engineering school, even if I had shouted it from the rooftops, they would have thought it was the inventor of some circuit and dynamic systems theorem), so I felt secure in my little deception. But that feeling of having been smarter than the world for paying a tiny price for a luxury bag (like: ha! luxury brands, I got you!) turned into disgust and rejection after a couple of weeks (like: you're ugly, you're fake, and you always will be, I know you are, and even worse, I can't take you to any party calmly because surely some bitch will recognize you or even worse, has the real one).
These are the kinds of thoughts I'd like to share for free with passersby when I walk around Madrid and see hundreds of deformed Carolina Herreras, Tous, and Vuittons, until I pass a shop window with a good Mulberry clone and PLOP my thoughts change...uhm, hypocrite.
Does the same thing happen to you? Is it the copy of the logo that you don't like, or the copy of the design itself? Do you have the strength to resist imitations? And clones?
These are the kinds of thoughts I'd like to share for free with passersby when I walk around Madrid and see hundreds of deformed Carolina Herreras, Tous, and Vuittons, until I pass a shop window with a good Mulberry clone and PLOP my thoughts change...uhm, hypocrite.
Does the same thing happen to you? Is it the copy of the logo that you don't like, or the copy of the design itself? Do you have the strength to resist imitations? And clones?