Fakery in the bag

Most any weekday, peddlers scurry from one Beverly Hills salon to another toting bulging black plastic garbage bags over their shoulders. They know they’ll be welcomed by buyers eager to score copies of hard-to-get Louis Vuitton handbags or impressive Rolex watches at a fraction of the official prices. Although counterfeit luxury goods are no more legitimate than they’ve ever been, the once clandestine trade has come out of the shadows and onto sunny street corners all over L.A.

From “it could be” copies to “you must be kidding” knockoffs, from $35 Bulgari watches to $6,800 Birkin-esque bags, imitations of every logo a shopper has ever yearned for can be found at swap meets and flea markets, in small independent stores and on carts at malls, at charity boutiques and house parties, and in downtown’s pedestrian bazaars. But if finding faux goods can take us on one kind of journey, understanding the psychology, morality and legality of the quest is another trip entirely.

The thrill

“There are two great moments in a woman’s shopping life,” says Kim France, editor of Lucky, the self-described Magazine About Shopping. “There’s the time when she goes into an elegant store to buy something she’s been dying to have, and she has the whole great, real high-end experience. She can’t believe she bought this wonderful, beautiful, expensive thing. She feels like her head’s going to blow off, she’s so excited. And the other is when she runs into a friend who says, ‘That’s a great jacket. Is it Marc Jacobs?’ And she says, ‘No, Old Navy, 25 bucks.’ ”

In other words, both the real and the deal can be thrilling. Yet France believes the distinction between blatant copies and more subtle imitations matters. “Finding a shoe at the mall that has the same lines as an expensive style isn’t as cheesy as buying an imitation bag. It isn’t like the customer who’s attracted to a less-expensive version of a shoe is trying to put one over on anyone,” she says.

Part of the allure of luxury goods is their exclusivity: Not everyone can afford them, so those who can feel elevated by owning them. But is a status watch truly a thing of beauty, or is its appeal informed by its associations with the chic and famous? “If you go to a sample sale, and you see all these items denuded of the atmosphere of a store, it’s a very different experience,” France says. “You see the five dozen bags that didn’t sell, and they don’t look nearly as exciting as they did in the store in a fancy glass case.”

The desire to impress others with labels starts in adolescence, according to Eric Nicholson, senior fashion editor of Jane. “From junior high on, you realize that how you dress affects your social standing,” he says. Instead of showing its young female readers how to imitate designer looks for less, the magazine publishes an occasional feature titled “Knockoffs Suck.” It showcases originals -- watches, jewelry, shoes, boots or handbags -- because, Nicholson says, “our philosophy is, you can find unique items for $100 or $3,000. We encourage our readers to either buy the authentic, unique, expensive item or find something completely original in their price range. Knockoffs are kind of a tragedy. It really is stealing someone else’s idea.”

What we choose to buy is influenced by our hearts, minds and needy souls as well as our wallets. The Boston Consulting Group surveyed 2,300 consumers last year and found that “many Americans feel overworked, isolated, lonely, worried and unhappy.” Michael Silverstein and Neil Fiske, authors of a book based on the study, “Trading Up: The New American Luxury” (Portfolio, 2003), conclude that “the American consumer is in a state of heightened emotionalism.” If it were just a matter of money, everyone who could afford luxury items would spurn imitations. But they don’t, because for every seeker of authenticity, there’s a shopper with a short attention span who likes stuff that’s disposable, or someone who values quantity over quality.

The hunt

Before venturing on a hunt for faux status symbols, a shopper should be armed with some definitions. A copy, also known as a knockoff, is designed to look as much like the original as possible. A watch with a square white face, black roman numerals and a wide woven bracelet of white or yellow gold could be considered a copy of the Cartier Panthere, a classic made by the jeweler since 1983. It’s considered a counterfeit if it also has the Cartier name printed on the watch face and engraved on the back. Even if a counterfeit is a very good imitation, the price will usually give it away, and in L.A., most purveyors of counterfeits admit that they’re selling fakes. (And even if they don’t, the only thing to be said to someone who thinks he got an $11,000 watch for $30 is, “Dream on.”)

A bootleg item is presented as the real thing, and it might be, but it’s sold through unconventional channels. A bootleg Panthere could have been stolen from an individual or a store, or sold onto the black market by a Cartier employee. A number of urban myths of the “it fell off a truck” variety circulate about bootleg merchandise, but no one has ever proved that the legendary ring of thieves tossing bags out the back door of the Prada factory and onto a bootlegger’s van exists. Tony Soprano’s nephew Christopher had a source for bootlegged Jimmy Choo shoes, but “The Sopranos” is a TV series, not a documentary on the Mafia.

The biggest category of copies comprises those “inspired by” well-known designs. The short, collarless tweed women’s jackets with ribbon trim that were everywhere this fall obviously paid homage to Coco Chanel. But at a cost of several hundred dollars, compared with several thousand for the real thing, and lacking a Chanel label or buttons with the double-C logo, they were copies only in a broad sense. “In the fashion industry, there’s borrowing all over the place,” says Grant McCracken, an anthropologist at McGill University who studies consumer behavior. “The notion seems to be, everyone steals from everyone, so just get used to it.”

Nevertheless, buyer beware, especially when purchasing presents. “Many people who have received pens or watches as gifts bring them to us when they need repairs,” says Jan-Patrick Schmitz, CEO of Mont Blanc. “It’s very sad when we have to tell them we can’t fix them because the gift they received isn’t what they thought it was.”

The decision

Santee Alley downtown is well known as L.A.’s bargain central, but other places to find faux have proliferated like snails after a rain. Some are like nomadic nightclubs -- by the time you hear about them, they’ve moved on. The best way to tap into the faux underground is to ask -- your manicurist, the most slavish label slut you know, a savvy salesperson in a conventional store, a stranger slipping out of what look like Gucci shoes in the locker room at the gym. Everyone seems to know someone who knows, and only the odd grinch (or poseur) won’t share sources.

Anyone who works in Century City, for example, has probably noticed that the pedestrian bridge spanning Avenue of the Stars is the place to find copies of handbags. Armed with that information, a neophyte had to approach only a handful of people eating lunch outdoors before one revealed that Friday is the day the fakes appear.

The crowd that clusters on the bridge is rendered giddy by the presence of a bargain. Maybe Hermes makes a tote that looks like the tan vinyl one with the long straps and “Hermes” embossed on the top, or maybe not. The prevailing attitude seems to be, for $50, who cares? Purses, tote bags and wallets with the markings and DNA of Gucci, Prada, Hermes, Burberry and Ferragamo sell for $30 to $55, and more detailed counterfeit Louis Vuitton bags go for $160 to $225. Angie Clayter, who works in a skyscraper nearby, stops to browse and decides to buy a Vuitton copy. “These all look real to me,” she says, “but I don’t care if they are or not. I’m just buying this bag because it looks good and it matches my outfit.”

As copies have become increasingly ubiquitous, the likelihood of passing off a cheap imitation as the real thing has decreased. Like Clayter, some people say they don’t care whether anyone thinks their fake isn’t faux. “Most people who go after fakes want a quick hit of a status trend,” says Andrea Linett, creative director of Lucky. “If they found a Vuitton bag on their own and they didn’t have a reference for it, they wouldn’t buy it. They’re attracted to something that’s pre-approved. It’s amazing that they’ll pay so much for a knockoff. If it isn’t cheap, you might as well get a real something else.”

One woman looks at a $200 copy and sees a cute purse, another a sign pointing straight to a fashion victim. France, the Lucky editor, says she wouldn’t buy even a perfect copy, because “I would know the difference.” She admits that she has an authentic Louis Vuitton bag, but rarely carries it because she thinks everyone would assume it was a knockoff.

Who knows what makes the hearts of copy collectors beat faster? “Prestige and aesthetics come bundled together, and it’s hard to disentangle them,” says Virginia Postrel, author of “The Substance of Style -- How the Rise of Aesthetic Value Is Remaking Commerce, Culture and Consciousness” (Harper Collins, 2003). “The more the value of an object comes from its looks rather than its materials or workmanship, the easier it is to satisfy people with knockoffs.” Postrel says she was perfectly happy with the Kate Spade-like purses she bought at Target for $13 because they had the basic shape of the originals.

“One of the ironies of our culture is that bragging rights come in a variety of different forms,” says Paco Underhill, author of “Why We Buy” (Simon & Schuster, 2000). “One woman says, ‘Look at this bag! I only paid $40 for it.’ Another woman brags about having an expensive bag. What makes the transaction between the buyer and the seller of a fake interesting in 2003 is that they’re both cognizant of what they’re doing. Both sides are thumbing their noses at the brand, while at the same time acknowledging it.”

The secret

A woman who looks like she’d be more at home at a country club than in gritty Santee Alley has a closet full of copies she pretends are real. Every few months, she drives from her home in Dana Point to downtown’s wholesale district to see what’s new. She wouldn’t give a reporter her name, and confessed she’d be embarrassed if her friends knew her shopping habits. She’s convinced that a good fake is undetectable. “Why buy the real thing if these cost so much less?” she asks.

Because buying fakes is illegal? Strictly speaking, it isn’t. Manufacturing, distributing or selling counterfeits can be in violation of state or federal trademark statutes, and the $55-billion global luxury goods industry employs investigators and attorneys to battle the fakers. But a buyer of an imitation isn’t stealing the intellectual property of a designer or jeopardizing the reputation of a quality brand, even though the purchase undoubtedly cheats someone. A lot of counterfeit merchandise is smuggled into the country, and the more than $100 million worth of illegal imports seized by the U.S. Bureau of Customs in 2002 represented millions in duty fees avoided.

The booths in Santee Alley are periodically raided by police, but the threat of a felony charge doesn’t seem to affect business. The alley presents the greatest variety of copies in one place in the city, from pseudo Mont Blanc pens and Panerai watches to Fendi wallets and a dizzying array of handbags, even jeans and DVDs. Much is junk, although a special request can motivate a seller to bring out the better stuff. Fake Chanel sunglasses go for $5, and the only way to see how they look is to peer into a hand-held mirror in the harsh light of day. Santee enthusiasts take such inconveniences, along with the odors produced by sidewalk food vendors and the crush of humanity, in stride.

The atmosphere is more genteel at the charity boutiques and house parties where fakes are sold like Tupperware. A search for handbag parties on the Internet yields wholesalers willing to provide merchandise to homegrown entrepreneurs, and most itinerant vendors are happy to sell in private homes. One widowed grandmother in Hermosa Beach has been staging house parties for two years. (She’s nervous enough about legal consequences to want to remain anonymous.) “Around here, everyone knows that the bags are fake, but it’s almost chic to have a fake now,” she says. “I feel a little like Robin Hood. No one buying my bags for $20 to $50 would buy the real thing for $1,600. The very, very wealthy movie stars have the real ones, and they’re given them to wear anyway. The general public isn’t going to pay that kind of money.”

Even those who could don’t necessarily want to. A doctor’s wife from Palos Verdes Peninsula owns real Prada bags as well as counterfeits she bought at house parties. “I’ve bought fakes in odd colors, because I don’t want to pay a lot of money for something I’ll only use infrequently,” she says. “It’s fun to have five handbags I only paid $40 each for.”

A special line of bags designed for Louis Vuitton by Japanese artist Takashi Murakami couldn’t be had for love or money. Some of the rainbow-colored, flower- and bow-adorned purses arrived in the company’s 301 stores last March, but they quickly sold out, and waiting lists grew as scalpers auctioned bags on EBay for up to twice their retail prices of $360 to $3,950. Knockoffs began appearing on the street and the Internet within a month.

Vuitton has maintained that the bags have been so scarce because they take a long time to manufacture, but many people think the company deliberately tried to increase demand by making its product scarce. If so, the strategy may have backfired. As historian Christopher Lasch observed in his 1979 indictment of American materialism, “The Culture of Narcissism,” Americans don’t “accumulate goods and provisions against the future, in the manner of the acquisitive individualist of 19th century political economy, but demand immediate gratification and live in a state of restless, perpetually unsatisfied desire.”

*

(BEGIN TEXT OF INFOBOX)

Where to Find Faux

Beba Beauty Day Spa

2041 Westwood Blvd., (310) 474-2524. A mix of copies, including Murakami bags from $120 to $220, Gucci, Hermes and hard to find Marc Jacobs bags. A Gucci logo wallet is $50; a large leather Fendi wallet $80.

Bonne Chance

146 N. Larchmont Blvd., (323) 463-8720. $50 for Gucci copies to $240 for pseudo-Murakami. Also Prada, Hermes. Imitation Piaget, Gucci, Louis Vuitton, Cartier and TAG Heuer watches, $75 to $100.

Club 501

7547 Melrose Ave.,

(323) 653-3335. Bags and wallets inspired by Louis Vuitton’s Murakami line feature flowers printed on brown leather

but no initials.

Designer Details

The Grove, 6333 W. 3rd St., space P11, (323) 931-9632. Burberry, Murakami look-alikes without initials.

Diva

192 Santa Monica Place, Broadway and Third Street, Santa Monica, (310) 451-6784. Traditional Louis Vuitton monogrammed purses and Murakami styles with LV embossed on the lock, $180 to $220.

Francesco Santoro

Westfield Shoppingtown Century City, 10250 Santa Monica Blvd., space 305, (310) 203-0065. This store carries handbags in beautiful, bright colors inspired by the Kelly and Birkin bags by Hermes, in pebbled leather and leather stamped to resemble alligator and ostrich. Large Kelly $275, medium $265. Large Birkin $395, medium $375.

Maje Paris

176 Santa Monica Place, Broadway and Third Street, Santa Monica, (310) 899-6008.

The Louis Vuitton vinyl has no initials. Faux Birkins, Dooney & Bourke. A Murakami imitation

with ampersands instead of

letters is $69.

Mike’s Shoe Repair

2513 Wilshire Blvd.,

(310) 828-0172. A selection of copies that can include Tod’s, Louis Vuitton, Prada, Burberry, Hermes and Kate Spade. Black leather Prada $65. Big leather Birkin-like bag $85. A small Vuitton Murakami, with tag, $150.

Puruti Natalie’s Handbags

366 N. Canon Drive, Beverly Hills, (310) 274-5576. Magnificent handbags “inspired by” Hermes’ Kelly and Birkin styles, made to order of real exotic skins.

Medium ostrich Kelly $4,800, large ostrich Birkin $6,800. Small alligator Kelly $3,500, large alligator Birkin $7,900.

Santee Alley

South of Olympic Boulevard, between 11th and 13th streets. Sunglasses $5, watches from $30 to $65, wallets and handbags $15 to $250. Bargaining is expected.

Vamp

2910 Main St., Santa Monica, (310) 392-8041. Pleather handbags inspired by Louis Vuitton’s boxy, heavily studded Suhali collection for $39. A brown Murakami Pochette imitation without LV initials is $29.

Vintage

1626 Montana Ave., Santa Monica, (310) 829-4045. Copies of Marc Jacobs, Hermes, Louis Vuitton, Prada, Tod’s, Burberry, $55 to $95. Real vintage Vuitton bags are for sale at this eclectic shop, so it doesn’t carry copies of current monogram styles, and the Hermes-inspired styles have no nameplates.

A LA CARTE

Stalls along the Venice Beach Boardwalk sell copies of designer sunglasses, handbags and watches, as do many vendors’ carts at shopping malls. At the Westfield Shoppingtown in Century City, a cart near Bloomingdale’s has knockoffs of Hermes, Birkins, Marc Jacobs, Prada and Gucci bags without nameplates. A cart at the west end of Santa Monica Place has Prada microfiber copies for $40. Copies can also be found at swap meets and flea markets, such as the Orange County Marketplace at the Orange County Fairgrounds, 88 Fair Drive, Costa Mesa, on Saturdays and Sundays.

*

(BEGIN TEXT OF INFOBOX)

Where to Hunt on the Web

Buying online takes a leap of faith. Will the merchandise that’s sent be the same pictured on the Web site? Will the site still exist next week? Fools rush in.

www.copylex.com

Replica watches made in Switzerland, Japan and China; free shipping. Some Cartier, TAG Heuer, Gucci, Movado, Chopard, Omega, Franck Muller, Breitling, Audemars Piguet for $39 to $599. A replica of a TAG Heuer box is $40.

www.anyknockoff.com

Handbags, sunglasses, jewelry and belts “inspired by today’s hottest designers and fashion trends.” Sunglasses $19 to $21. A brown cherry blossom Louis Vuitton Murakami tote bag, without initials, $39. A badly proportioned $44 Kelly bag is constructed of “man-made materials.”

www.2exact.com

Copies of Louis Vuitton bags, made, the site says, of the same materials, come in LV dust covers and with LV engraved on the gold hardware. $75 for small leather goods to $225 for a large goat-leather Suhali style. No returns accepted, except for damaged goods.

www.myreplicahandbag.com

Kate Spade, Fendi, Gucci copies made in Asia of vinyl or nylon. Exchanges only; no returns. Kate Spade styles range from $22 to $45.

www.timepiecesusa.com

Luxury brand look-alikes given different names, $169 to $900.

www.designer-copies.com

Handbags, watches, jewelry, sunglasses. A $55 copy of a woman’s Rolex comes with a five-year guarantee but a different name on the face. Copies of sunglasses for $19 come with logos and UAV guarantee.

www.sweetbags.com

Louis Vuitton knockoff handbags, $129 to $269, with leather trim and straps. Returns or exchanges within seven days, plus a 15% restocking fee.

www.emitations.com

Designer look-alike women’s watches, $39 to $75.

www.designer-handbags-city.com

Kate Spade, Prada, Gucci, Fendi, Dooney & Bourke and Louis Vuitton imitations, a selection of Burberry accessories in signature plaid and $9.99 sunglasses “inspired by” a variety of brands.

www.qualityhandbags.com

Sunglasses inspired by Dior, $85. Handbag and small leather goods; copies of Gucci, Prada, Fendi, Dior, Louis Vuitton, Coach, Burberry. Gucci monogram horse-bit shoulder bag, $170. All sales final.