I ♡ Fake Clothes

You’re on insta scrolling through your timeline when you see em, your favorite sneaker brand and one of your most beloved designers are releasing some heat together. You can’t get these shoes outta your head. You think about how you’d wear em, the fits start flowin’ out of your mind; you can’t wait to get these in hand. You sign up for every raffle on every site you can think of. You go to bed early the night before to make sure you don’t miss the drop. Your alarm blares and you shoot up out of bed, enter the drop, andddd…….. “sorry, you weren’t selected”. No biggie, you’re sure you’ll get an email at any second congratulating you on your wardrobe investment from the raffles. I mean, at least one of the ten sites picked you right? Instead, your spam folder is full of “Unfortunately you weren’t selected…”, now you’re fucking pissed. We all fucking HATE seeing these words on our phones, in our emails, and on our shitty sneaker shopping app that crashes whenever you try to enter a draw (thanks Nike). What’s worse is that some twelve year old kid from Illinois just hit three pairs thanks to his bots and already listed em on Grailed before he even has them in hands at four times retail. Fuck. That. But there’s always another option, the taboo of clothing, the deadliest sin, buying fakes. But why are they so bad? Are they even as bad as the community makes them out to be?

Replicas and fakes have been produced for as long as your favorite brands have opened their doors. Back in the day of Soviet Russia, the government was controlling and restricting the trafficking of Western and capitalist goods, however this didn’t sate the hunger for that Adidas tracksuit drip which filled the Russian people. Because the people of Russia weren’t able to obtain Adidas through legal means and the black market on smuggled Adidas products skyrocketed, they turned to sweatshops and cobblers who could make replica tracksuits and shoes of their favorite brand. This idea holds true today, but to a much less severe degree. Nowadays we can thankfully legally purchase our shoes, but that doesn’t necessarily mean it’s cheaper or available to everyone. Today we face hype and resellers, which in the eyes of some, isn’t such a bad thing. The culture becomes more popular, people start bringing new ideas and styles, and you are able to share a common passion with acquaintances. But man do resell prices fucking suck. That’s why a lot of people turn to the replica market.

Most people believe that all replicas and fakes are shit products made from trash material and by children. On the contrary, some of the most popular manufacturers and distributors of replica clothing are vocal about their operations and the material they use. They often hire past workers that have either experience with a brand or experience with a specific product. They purchase materials from company factories that have an excess of material and use it in their products. Nowadays, since the replica business is so profitable, factory owners invest a lot of time, effort, and money to make the best quality and best looking product on the market. However, this is a double edged sword.

Since factory owners are investing more and more to insure they have the best product on the market, this allows scammers to take advantage of people. Grailed, Depop, StockX, eBay and GOAT have either been exposed for selling fakes, or are riddled with fake listings. Each of these sites have tried tirelessly to combat replicas, but listings always slip through the cracks. However, sites are not the only ones trying to stop scammers. The community surrounding replicas despises the users that falsely list fake goods. The forums are often filled with Grailed links to expose users and they are often banned. Members of the forums are also more than happy to legit check a listing online to make sure you are buying an authentic product. This community HATES the idea of their replicas ending up on Grailed or StockX

Another main argument against buying replicas, is the fact that these manufacturers are stealing the designs and styles from our favorite designers and brands. I can’t deny this, it’s true but buying resold sneakers doesn’t support your favorite designers or brands; THEY DO NOT PROFIT OFF THESE SALES. The idea that a brand is so popular and successful that people are imitating them shows just how beautiful or great their designs are. Virgil Abloh himself has even said “ I love counterfeits, it’s the best feedback. It’s better than a great review in Vogue. If it’s working to a point where someone else can profit … it’s really working.”

At the end of the day, wear what you want to wear. I honestly don’t see a massive problem with replica goods; most people who buy replicas are just people who want to get their hands on their favorite shoe, but don’t wanna break the bank. Some do just want to flex on their friends and that’s honestly kinda trashy, but there are those who just wanna create some dope fits for themselves, who want to be more confident in how they dress and how they look. If you just want to wear the kicks that you love without paying resell prices go for it. If you want to stay loyal to your favorite brands and support them, hell yea man, more power to you. However, if your hustle is taking advantage of people by listing fake clothes on Grailed, then you should reevaluate your life choices and get a job. The community views on replicas should change and the information surrounding replicas should be more widespread so we can easily call out scammers.