The Advantage of Vintage?

We all have clothes languishing in our wardrobes which we haven't shown much love to of late. Not because there's anything wrong with them, but because we're simply tired of wearing the same old thing over and over again. That's why fashion keeps changing: because our taste does. But what may look old and past its sell-by-date to one, may be given a new lease of life in the hands of someone new.



Enter ASOS - leading online clothing retailer which reported a 38% annual rise in sales for the year ended in March 2010 and which has a 5 year plan to become a £1 billion business - and its plan to launch an online marketplace allowing customers to recycle their wardrobes, and businesses the opportunity to shift unsold stock.

Hot on the heels of eBay which recently launched its dedicated "fashion only" site, ASOS' new marketplace is being hailed as an environmentally friendly way for customers to get rid of old clothing - and to make some money in the process. Details are limited, but an article in The FT yesterday suggested that prices will be fixed rather than determined by auction and that no luxury brand goods can be sold.

ASOS' level of involvement at this stage is unclear. Will it simply provide the platform and then sit back as customers buy and sell between themselves? or will ASOS take a far more "hands on" approach, helping customers to determine (or even dictating) the price at which goods will be sold? News reports suggest that ASOS' involvement will be more than minimal as ASOS has already indicated that it will also carry out security checks and will screen potential businesses wanting to sell their goods through ASOS' new platform.

The prohibition on sales of second hand luxury branded goods is a sensible one to reduce the risk of sales of counterfeit goods and parallel imports. It should also reduce the level of monitoring which ASOS will need to carry out of what is being sold on its site to make sure that ASOS is not at risk of being sued for faciliating the sale of counterfeits and parallels. Whether or not the policy will work in practice - and how ASOS plan to police it - remains to be seen.

The idea of an online marketplace for consumers (and not just businesses) to sell clothing is a good one and may be one of the reasons for which ASOS' Chief Executive Nick Robertson is one of seven people shortlisted for the New Media Age award for the "Greatest Individual Contribution to New Media" in the 2010 NMA Effectiveness Awards.

Whilst Fashionista is a fan of green initiatives, she can't help but wonder whether charity shops are going to miss out on much needed donations as a result.

Fendi defends its rights

A success story from across the pond: news has reached Fashionista that Fendi has won a long standing legal wrangle in New York against a discount retailer selling counterfeit Fendi branded goods for over 20 years.

Burlington Coat Factory Warehouse Corp. has been ordered to pay $4.7 million in damages for knowingly infringing Fendi's trade marks. This is a massive damages award and one which reflects the severity of continued trade mark infringement spanning more than 2 decades. The claim cannot have come as a shock to Burlington, whose continued sale of counterfeit Fendi goods was in breach of an injunction granted against it in 1987 for the same infringing activity.

Fendi first sued Burlington in 1986 for the purchase of counterfeit Fendi marked goods. Despite the 1987 injunction preventing Burlington from sellling any Fendi goods without Fendi's permission (which, let's face it, Fendi are unlikely to give), Burlington continued to do so until Fendi eventually lost patience and sued for infringement in 2006. If the fear of breaching a court injunction wasn't enough to stop Burlington, maybe a multi-million dollar fine will be?

So has justice triumphed at last? The sale of counterfeit goods is an issue which plagues the luxury fashion houses, devauling and potentially runing brands and reputations. At worst, a brand may need to be abandoned if counterfeits have led to the brand being perceived as "chavvy" or anything less than luxurious. At best, a huge injection of capital and excellent PR and advertising will be needed to turn around public perception. Either way, the threat to brand owners posed by counterfeit goods - which so many consumers laugh off as being irrelevant or fabricated - is a real one.

The counterfeit item appeals to those consumers who want to buy into the look of a luxury brand without paying the price tag associated with it or waiting on the waiting list. But the price tag and the waiting lists are there for a reason: to acknowledge the time, effort and creativity taken to develop the coveted item; to reflect the quality of the workmanship and materials used; and, of course, to maintain exclusivity and to afford the brand - and its customers - a certain status. But where the coveted bag is seen adorning every other arm, the exclusivity is lost and with it, the brand's value and reputation (and, admittedly, a chunk of its profits).

So will an almost $5 million fine be a wake up call for counterfeiters? Call her cynical, but Fashionista says "no". As long as there is demand, there will always be supply. For every infringer caught and fined, there are many many more. On the plus side however, it is not just the manufacturers of fakes who are liable - sellers can't escape - and that has to be some (small) comfort to brand owners, as sellers are easier to identify and sue.


The war against counterfeiters may not have been won, but at least this one battle has been, and that's a good start.

Fake shoes or Jimmy Choo's?

It seems there is no escape from the problem of counterfeit goods, whether you are a top end luxury brand or a high street favourite. For consumers happy to buy counterfeits, the sales channels are many: from the low-end car boot sales and market stalls, to high street shops, to slick websites claiming to offer the real thing.

News has reached Fashionista of the dramatic increase in counterfeit shoes flooding the online market in the last 6 months. Websites such as ChristianLouboutinLondon.com are claiming to offer genuine Christian Louboutins at a fraction of the cost (albeit still £100+) of the genuine goods.

Somewhat more localised, Ted Baker has helped uncover and clamp down on a counterfeit operation in Leicester. Sukhvinder Singh Gill has just been jailed for nearly 3 years admitting several counts of trade mark infringement. Trading as S.G.H.T Ltd, Mr Gill set up an operation which manufactured cheap knock-offs of brands including Ted Baker, Armani, Boss and Lacoste, all due to be sold on to wholesalers as the genuine article. Ted Baker started investigating the company and then involved Leicester City Council's Trading Standards Officers, who raided Mr Gill's factory and seized over 3,000 counterfeit goods. and over 6,000 counterfeit tags and labels, amounting to approximately £60,000 worth of counterfeit goods.

Fashionista's advice to brand owners: Ted Baker has got this right. Clamp down on counterfeiters. Counterfeiting is a big problem which can seriously damage a brand owner's most important asset: its brand and reputation. We've seen it happen to luxury brands where floods of readily available counterfeits turn a "must have" brand into one that the discerning shopper turns her back on. Although brands can claw their way back to the top with clever marketing, savvy rebranding or the right PR spin, it is not always easy, successful or cheap to do. Whilst pursuing counterfeiters requires an investment of time and cash, show counterfeiters that you will pursue them and there is every chance that counterfeiters will look to rip off easier targets, leaving your brand alone.

Fashionista is hopeful that brand enforcement measures, coupled with the imposition of strict penalties, will lead to a marked reduction in counterfeit goods. Our European neighbours in France and Italy have started imposing fines on consumers of counterfeit goods. Fashionista is watching this space to see whether we are going to impose similar fines on consumers here in the UK.

The real deal or a fake: which price are you prepared to pay? The one you see on a (genuine) price tag, or the one that may come with a custodial sentence or a hefty fine from manufacturing and selling counterfeit goods and, maybe one day, just from purchasing them.