Well, I just read the article (and then this thread) and honestly, it is pretty disgusting.
IF it’s real (and not made up as
@papertiger very persuasively suggests) these are really sad people indeed. They basically spend the entire article trying (endlessly trying, which shows to me that they know they are failing) to justify what they clearly know is wrong.
It's still all heresy and hocus-pocus. The whole article smacks of carefully worded padding of longtime myths centred around the fake/authentic debate. In fact, it goes through the whole 'man (or woman) down pub' chat cliche after cliche. Friend of a friend, everyone's doing it, can't tell the difference, even richer/better people than us are doing it, brands are evil, branding is just a logo, luxury is a con anyway, people who buy authentic are stupid, real (authentic) rich people are cleverer than stupid wannabes, mystical Chinese factories in the middle of nowhere, Millennials do it differently, posh reseller duped.
…
All I can say is the person who write this has never mingled in really rich circles. And 'Lisa and her mates' need to get a life, the more authentic the better.
Agree, agree with that last bit. The truly wealthy do not care. If they’re not currently active in business they’re busy writing books, running foundations, heading up charities…Anyone who has worked to make money and build a quality life generally has an appreciation for what goes in to creating/building things. Now, spoiled people who did not work for it may be a different story…
I am wondering about the clearly psychological aspects of this kind of behavior - wanting the mere superficial appearance of the fake object while failing to appreciate the virtues of the genuine, and completely ignoring the various moral, legal and ethical problems. Narcissism?
The time, and energy, and money, spent developing these ridiculous dissertations on the "value" of counterfeit goods, would be much better spent in therapy, dealing with the very obvious cognitive dissonance required to still spend thousands of dollars on fake versions of goods that are simultaneously claimed to be of diminished value.
There is no requirement to own an ultraluxury good. In the vast majority of social circles, there is neither any applied pressure to do so. So, the fact that these counterfeit connoisseurs have built for themselves a social club dedicated to "outsmarting" a non-existent luxury handbag requirement, is a bizarre form of self-delusion. At what point do these women admit to themselves that the entire reason they're dedicated to finding "the best fakes" is because they care too much that strangers and social acquaintances perceive them as wealthy? And then, at what point do they realize that, if they suffer anxiety from the thought of--or financial distress from the purchase of--luxury goods, that they are not wealthy? And then, following that, at what point do they realize that whatever "social currency" they gain through fake goods... is fake?
Loved all of this. I think the social circles that care about this sort of thing are not, in fact, the wealthy ones - its the people trying to be/appear wealthy.
I think it genuinely is an NYC thing because while I don't care to own fakes, I also could give a crap if someone had a fake. It's weird to me reading posts that look down upon those that do. Especially ones with "ethical" considerations. Like, if you gave a crap about ethics, you would never buy from these luxury houses! Their environmental impact is probably ridiculous.
As someone who has read Hermès corporate reports, you make assumptions which diverge from reality. Their employee relations/programs are beyond impressive (even during lockdown, everyone got paid 100%, all benefits were maintained or increased, etc). They are working towards ZERO excess materials very soon, and they make products intended to last for generations (I can’t imagine the environmental impact of fake bags which can never be repaired or resold). Their relationships with suppliers are similarly aboveboard. I’m assuming that you are also not bothered by all the legal issues (to say nothing of the moral issues previously cited, which you dismiss because you don’t like the corporations, although they are generally regulated). Or even extrapolating the concept of fake bags to other fake products, such, as, say - medicine?