caught red handed!

[armcandyaddict]

i was on my way to work when from a distance i thought i spotted an ottone or oxidised cabat! needless to say i had to check it out. sped up and tried to close the gap between me and the woman showing off such a fab (i thought!) bag irl.

turned out to be a disappointing fake! but i have to say it had me fooled for the longest time, so i tried snapping some shots while walking behind the woman who was blatantly displaying the contraband. these fakers are getting better every day.

when was the last time you spotted a fake bv being taken out for a spin? did you catch the offender in the act?

fake cabat 1.JPGfake cabat 2.JPG

[foxie-pooh]

I don't think that's a "fake" bag...I see tons of similar bags at Aldo, Bakers, Nine West, Steve Madden and similar low end shoe stores...it's hard to get these stores because it's perfectly legal if they don't use the bottega name on it...the woven design is not patented afterall...

[armcandyaddict]

in that case, theoretically there's no way to actually "fake" a bottega, unless there is an attempt to copy the "bottega veneta" stamp on the inside of the bag? that's kind of ironic, isn't it? this means that manufacturers can ride on the intrecciato weave that is iconic of bv but get away with it as long as they don't copy the stamp?

[uclaboi]

I saw a lady with an Ebano Cabat lookalike. When I took a closer look, I noticed that it wasn't a BV. It looked awful upclose

[clearstatic]

i wish i knew more on how to tell if its fake or not on bottegas.

now on louis, I CAN TEACH YOU A THING OR TWO.
With lv, its incredibly easy.

[ms piggy]

Originally Posted by clearstatic

i wish i knew more on how to tell if its fake or not on bottegas.

I feel as with most brands, it's really not that difficult to tell the difference once you have familiarise yourself with the items (when you fall crazy in love with them, lol). If you know BV's leather, intrecciato weave and texture, you can most probably spot a fake a mile away or upon closer inspection (like ACA found out). It takes high-end high quality leather and incredible craftsmenship to produce what BV does. IMO, it's exceptionally hard to copy or reproduce the Cabat up to BV's standard.

[C_24]

Oh gosh, look, on the second pic you even see the zipper! On a Cabat? What were those people thinking?

[mistikat]

When I was in Italy in November, I noticed a lot of woven bags - it's become a popular look. But when you touched the leather, it was obvious it was of fairly average quality or worse, stiff and not up to the same standards as BV. And in some cases, the bags were not cheap, either. They weren't trying to be BV or fake the name, but as foxie-pooh noted, you can't patent or trademark weaving. So for someone who likes the woven look but doesn't want to spend the $$$, there are those options...

Question, though: does the real Cabat get all slouchy like that? That one looks as if things might actually fall out of it!

[Syma]

Maybe we should post some pics of non BV woven bags (not fakes) and ask the forums opinions???

[triggerpuff]

I was in Bangkok, Thailand the past week and loads of woven bags can be found there. There's this brand, Franco, which sells the exact same designs as BV, weave veneta and all (they even have an identical clutch). But they sell it under the brand Franco (stamped inside...).

There are also loads of fake BV in their weekend markets, and you'll see entire shops stocked full with "BV" bags.

In Singapore, URS (a mid-range shoe and bag retailer) sells the cabat look-alike too. Looks exactly the same, only difference is the touch.

[Mid-]

^^ Woven bags were everywhere in Tokyo too when I visited there last September. Pretty much every store that carries bags had woven ones in every colour and style. Some looked nice but yes, the texture was far from buttery. I saw so many women with a woven purse but this young lady with a BV Ebano Ball stood out so much!! Quality does speak a lot you see.