If you go to Redwood in 2025, then you’ve most likely seen students carrying name-brand, designer totes as book bags. Luxury is no stranger in Marin County, and with its influence on consumers, the desire to own designer bags is at an all-time high — with one in four American consumers having purchased counterfeit apparel at some point in their lives, according to the United States Patent and Trademark Office.
Direct from European fashion powerhouses like Goyard, Longchamp and Louis Vuitton, high-end bags can cost thousands, appealing to consumers with a sense of exclusivity and division between socioeconomic classes. As the prevalence of trendy designer bags continues to grow, so does the question of access. How are hundreds of teens across Marin getting their hands on such costly bags, let alone using them so casually as school bags?
The answer is simple. Most of these bags are knockoffs. However, buying knockoffs does more harm than good, with just one purchase fueling a hidden cycle of exploitation and terrorism, and students should hold back on adding to their cart.
The word “dupe” stands for duplicate or counterfeit, and with the rise of online shopping, getting your hands on a dupe can cost less than a meal. Wallets, clutches and totes are among the most common counterfeit items to produce, with some nearly identical to the real deal. From stitching and hardware to leather quality, each item is only a fraction of an authentic bag’s price.
In California, it’s a crime under Penal Code 350 to manufacture, sell, or possess with the intent to sell counterfeit goods that have a registered trademark. Despite numerous U.S. laws against the distribution of counterfeit items, it’s not illegal to own one. Whether you own a fake bag to conform to Marin’s luxury culture or simply because it looks good and costs less, it’s important to know where your money goes and the impacts it may carry.
According to The Washington Post, over 20,000 Instagram accounts are actively selling counterfeit handbags. Other electronic commerce sites like DHgate, AliExpress and even Walmart have jumped on the highly profitable dupe trend, focusing on aesthetic similarity rather than exact replication to avoid trademark infringement, forming a legal loophole.
Finding counterfeit designer bags is as simple as walking down the street. For example, on Canal Street in New York City, many vendors sell counterfeit merchandise. The process is quick, cheap and accessible — much like in other parts of the world where streets are filled with vendors who specialize in selling dupes.
Additionally, the transactions can feel guilt-free and serve as a cheap way to replicate fashion seen online and a shortcut towards fitting in with luxury-driven trends. But what the dupe market hides is the fact that a single contribution may not be as innocent as you may think.
Organized crime groups have profited from counterfeit luxury goods for decades. According to the U.S. Department of Justice, these groups use counterfeit revenue to fund human trafficking, drug smuggling and terrorism. Counterfeit trade makes up 3.3 percent of global commerce — over $509 billion annually — according to the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development. Corsearch has predicted that if dupe purchases continue to grow, the lucrative damage to the U.S. economy could reach the trillions by 2030, jeopardizing hundreds of thousands of jobs from the loss in authentic luxury sales, chipping away at the high-end fashion industry bag by bag.
The counterfeit industry isn’t just an economic threat – it’s helped fund real-world catastrophes. According to the Department of Homeland Security, in the 1993 World Trade Center bombing, members of the terrorist cell partially financed the attack by selling counterfeit luxury goods, turning money from materialistic U.S. consumers into fuel for terrorism. The bombing, linked to the radical terrorist group al-Qaida, killed six people and injured more than 1,000. Beyond financing violence, many counterfeit operations rely on child and forced labor, especially in unregulated factories controlled by criminal networks.
Ethically sourcing more affordable designer bags is possible through online secondhand retailers such as Depop, eBay, The RealReal or Poshmark. Also, local thrift stores receive hundreds of previously owned bags and are a safe, affordable and reliable resource to find what you are looking for.
The continuous trend of dupe culture ultimately presents unnecessary social pressure and unrealistic expectations for a high school student body — regardless of whether the bag is real.
At the end of the day, think before you buy. Knockoffs are everywhere. Whether you are walking down Canal Street or silently envying a classmate’s pink leather tote, it’s important to remember that while purchasing a bag may bring temporary and artificial satisfaction, it could resultantly buy another’s pain.
