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Fashion United
a day ago
- Business
- Fashion United
Louis Vuitton is the most counterfeited luxury brand, according to new report
Counterfeits have been a sharp thorn in the side of luxury fashion houses for decades. Dating back to ancient Roman times, counterfeiting within the fashion industry underwent a surge of popularity in the late 1970s, thanks to the rise of designer jeans. With several copycats trying to mark and sell duplicated designs and styles for a fraction of the price of the original, the fight against counterfeits began a battle that continues to this day. As brands seek out trademark registration and firm international agreements under the World Trade Organization (WTO) to protect their intellectual property, a new report from Entrupy, an AI-powered authentication technology provider, takes a closer look at the 'State of the Fake.' The State of Fake: New report reveals top counterfeited luxury brands The 2025 report aims to create awareness concerning the world of counterfeits, and is based on Entrupy's proprietary data alongside intelligence derived from hundreds of thousands of AI-powered product evaluations conducted across a global assortment of merchandise. One of the main findings from the report was that Louis Vuitton is the most counterfeited luxury brand, accounting for 32.76 percent of all Entrupy submissions for luxury goods. Prada was the second most counterfeited luxury brand regarding handbags, with 14.42 percent of all Prada bags scanned by Entrupy being flagged as "unidentified," aka a fake. What's more, 12,190,340 dollars worth of fake Gucci handbags were submitted to Entrupy for verification in 2024, with Chanel accounting for the highest total dollar value with a total of 500,470,067 dollars in counterfeit goods detected. 2025 State of Fake Report Credits: Entrupy In addition, Goyard maintained its position as one of the most counterfeited brands by volume, with 18.4 percent of its St. Louis Totes identified as fakes. The report also named Louis Vuitton as the most frequently counterfeited brand in the United States, with the total value of authentic products verified by Entrupy reaching 640 million dollars, compared to 61 million dollars worth of "unidentified" items, those likely to be counterfeit. Counterfeiting remains a serious issue, with fraudulent returns and claims costing US retailers an estimated 103 billion dollars, accounting for 15.14 percent of all returns in 2024. Part of this comes down to consumers' shopping choices. In 2023, 40 percent of US consumers and 26 of UK shoppers purchased online with Shein or Temu, known platforms for counterfeits. With counterfeiters becoming more savvy and using sponsored posts on social media to promote fakes, tracking them down is becoming more difficult, which is reflected in the data. Counterfeit fashion costs US retailers $103 billion annually Although the rate of fakes decreased in 2024 to 8.4 percent (down from 8.9 percent in 2023) for handbags and sneakers, the overall volume of fakes has not declined. While many consumers may not immediately see the harm or damage caused by counterfeits, the proof is in the pudding. Not only does counterfeit fashion add to the industry's waste crisis, as many are made from cheap, synthetic materials, which means shorter lifespans, more landfill waste, and no chance at resale or recycling, but many counterfeits can also be dangerous financially and socially. According to the European Union Intellectual Property Office (EUIPO), counterfeit goods are responsible for an estimated 60 billion euros in annual losses across the EU and contribute to the elimination of approximately 434,000 jobs. Beyond the financial toll, these copycat products frequently fall short of safety standards. Nearly 97 percent of identified counterfeit items present significant risks, with counterfeit apparel often treated with harmful chemicals linked to adverse health effects such as skin irritation and allergic reactions. Counterfeiting has also been linked to human trafficking and modern-day slavery, with 38 percent of human trafficking victims being children, many of which have been exploited to produce copycat products, notes the report. Underlying a serious problem, these risks also highlight the need for more advanced tools to detect and deter counterfeits. Entrupy's CEO, Vidyuth Srinivasan, believes that "a more scaled approach" is needed to stop the impact of the counterfeit market on the legitimate one, one which includes more collaboration and partnering on a systemic level. "Our assumption that more data leads to better authentication results is holding up, leading to our overall accuracy rate being 99.86 percent," said Vidyuth Srinivasan in the report. Unsurprisingly, fashion houses increasingly deploy authentication technology such as Entrupy to combat counterfeiting. These AI systems leverage extensive global databases to detect fraudulent merchandise, safeguarding brand integrity while protecting consumers from fakes.
Yahoo
2 days ago
- Business
- Yahoo
Report: Explosion of Counterfeits and Dupes Makes Earning Trust Harder Than Ever for Retailers
Despite AI technology coming to the rescue with solutions to clean up retail's counterfeit problem, the fraud economy keeps growing. With many misconceptions about the impact of counterfeits, Entrupy Inc., the AI-powered authentication solution company, publishes its 'State of the Fake' report each year to correct this disinformation in its mission of protecting people and educating consumers. From 2024 to 2025, Vidyuth Srinivasan, chief executive officer of Entrupy, said its responsibility feels magnified, calling out the greater acceptance of fakes becoming mainstream today. More from WWD Prada Group Creates Trust Fund With UNESCO for Sea Beyond Project EXCLUSIVE: Chanel Launches Circular Materials Hub Nevold Global Fashion Agenda Addresses Sustainability's Struggles: Uncertainty Looms Amid Policy Shifts, Economic Pressures and Tariffs 'It has motivated us at Entrupy to redouble our efforts to have a larger voice and impact our stakeholders,' said Srinivasan, who noted that fakes aren't reducing by overall volume. 'This is a serious problem that shows no signs of stopping and needs a more scaled approach if we have any hope of stopping the bleed between the counterfeit market and the legitimate one.' Entrupy's AI technology found 91.6 percent of tested items to be authentic in the last year, while 8.4 percent were unidentified. The authors of the report said that these numbers reflect culture, consumer behavior and the evolving resale landscape. Notably, Entrupy works with some of the world's leading luxury brands to authenticate goods including Prada, Givenchy, Chloe, Dior, Chanel, Celine, Goyard, Valentino, Burberry, Fendi and Gucci, among many others. While Entrupy's research found that no country is immune to counterfeiting, the Americas count for 47 percent of all Entrupy submissions for a total of $772 million of authenticated goods in 2024 and $68 million of unidentified goods. Comparatively, Asia-Pacific accounts for 42 percent of submissions for a total of $766 million of authenticated goods in 2024 and $64 million of unidentified goods. Europe and the Middle East account for 11 percent of submissions for a total of $227 million of authenticated goods in 2024 and $22 million of unidentified goods. The five most faked brands, based on the total number of unidentified items by volume (not percentage), in the last year were Louis Vuitton, Prada, Gucci, Chanel and Saint Laurent. Notably, Entrupy's data revealed $12,190,340 worth of fake Gucci bags submitted for verification. Chanel accounted for even more with $500,470,067 in counterfeit goods detected. In the Americas, specifically, the top three fakes were revealed as Louis Vuitton (8.7 percent), Gucci (8.3 percent) and Chanel (6.3 percent). The top five brands with an elevated risk of fakes, based on the volume of submissions for authentication per brand, are Goyard, Prada, Givenchy, Loewe and Saint Laurent. At 18.4 percent, Goyard maintained its spot as the top faked brand by volume, specifically for its St. Louis Tote. Dior, Hermès and Celine's unidentified rates dropped compared to last year and are no longer on Entrupy's top five list. The five most faked materials were found to be Prada nylon (21.3 percent), Louis Vuitton leather or special collection material (9.9 percent), Louis Vuitton monogram canvas (8.1 percent), Gucci leather or special collection material (7 percent) and Chanel calfskin or lambskin leather (6.7 percent). Importantly, Entrupy calls out dupe culture as a driving force behind the fraud economy. The hashtag for 'dupe' gained 6.3 billion views on TikTok in 2024 with the platform fostering 'dupe-hunting' content that 'pushes copycat culture into the mainstream and makes imitation feel like innovation.' 'It's almost an act of rebellion,' Srinivasan said. 'Consumers are basically saying 'These prices don't work for me, this economy doesn't work for me, but I want what I want, why should I deprive myself?'' Moreover, Entrupy's experts said Walmart's $30 Hermès Birkin lookalike marked a turning point: the gap between exclusivity and irony is collapsing. 'Between the viral chatter about Walmart 'Birkins' and people questioning whether even big-name retailers are selling fakes, there's a real shift happening,' Srinivasan said. Legally, the company pointed out that the line is blurry between dupes and fakes, making enforcing legal action murky and uneven. Operations behind counterfeiting have become highly coordinated and transactional with scale, coordination and impact growing quickly. Counterfeit bots are also on the rise with 3 percent of counterfeit purchases now enabled by chatbots. The return fraud economy, which focuses on fraudulent returns and claims, cost U.S. retailers $103 billion in 2024, accounting for more than 15 percent of all returns. These scams can take place in a variety of processes including a classic swap where a real item is purchased then swapped for a fake and returned, a resale platform loophole where a high-quality fake is sent back to a targeted resale platform and return-as-a-service where organized crime rings use fake identities, mule accounts or bulk operations to create a revenue stream through fake returns. 'The rise of fake and dupe culture on social media has made trust harder to earn and easier to lose,' Srinivasan said. 'We're also seeing an explosion of counterfeits in apparel. At this point, protecting your brand is directly linked to protecting your customers, and the only way to do it is via building trust.' Best of WWD The Definitive Timeline for Sean 'Diddy' Combs' Sean John Fashion Brand: Lawsuits, Runway Shows and Who Owns It Now What the Highest-paid CEOs at U.S. Fashion and Retail Companies Make Confidence Holds Up, But How Much Can Consumers Take?
