HEAD down, flushed-of-face, and weighed down with fake designer gear, I nervously shuffle through “nothing to declare” at Heathrow Airport.
Breezing past the customs officials and sniffer dogs, I’ve joined the ranks of around three million Brits who annually splash the cash on knock-off high-end fashion, I’m not the first – and certainly won’t be the last – to get away with it.
The Sun’s Clemmie Moodie headed to Istanbul to uncover the secret world of fake designer gearCredit: Supplied
Clemmie browsing the fake designer bags in Istanbul
And I’m in good company.
, and, improbably, US rapper Busta Rhymes are all secret con artists, too. Last week, even confessed to carrying a fake Louis Vuitton bag back in the day.
Because, if you go to the right places, the difference between the real stuff and a factory imitation are imperceptible. At least, that’s what I was praying for as I embarked on a 24-hour whistlestop tour of Istanbul, home to the best fakes on the planet.
British consumers spend an estimated £3.2 billion on fake annually, according to 2020 data.
Which is perhaps unsurprising when you consider a genuine by Hermes – previously owned by the late fashion icon Jane Birkin herself – is expected to fetch between £180,000 and £330,000 when auctioned at Sotheby’s.
But not all fakes are designed equally.
It turns out there are three tiers of reproductions: 1:1 HQ (high quality) replicas, “medium-quality imitation” and Basic. For the latter, think beach vendors flogging a garish fake Chloe bag, with polyester linings and stitching my dog could have done a better job of.
Given my day job consists of , Basic would not do.
I want the good s***.
For the uninitiated, of which pre-criminal mastermind me was one, the Grand Bazaar is a good place to start.
Dating back to the 15th century, it is basically the world’s oldest shopping mall.
It forms a maze of over 4,000 shops spanning 61 streets, all covered by one giant roof, and sells everything from Turkish delight and spices to precious metals and woven fabrics.
Like itself, a bustling city where east meets west, it is not for the faint-hearted.
As you walk past various stalls, market traders try to entice you in, not dissimilar to the Magaluf strip where bar-workers tempt you with two for one shots, and a goldfish bowl.
Some of the counterfeit fashion brand shoes in Istanbul’s Grand BazaarCredit: Alamy
Dating back to the 15th century, the Grand Bazaar is basically the world’s oldest shopping mallCredit: Alamy
Given Clemmie’s day job consists of networking with celebrities and attending A-list awards do’s, she wanted the ‘good s***’Credit: Supplied
But only beginners shop here.
The harder to find or more remote the shop, the better quality the items for sale.
After repeatedly asking for “special handbags, real leather”, like a pigeon English madwoman, eventually I am led up a rickety spiral staircase into a small, dark back room. Now we’re talking.
Given the legal grey area surrounding the industry – sometimes bust stores during on the spot inspections – traders like to keep the cheap, fairly rubbish stuff out front. That way, if they get busted (and their treasures confiscated) they have their secret, Grade A stash to fall back on.
For now, it’s over to the Genova Exclusive, a shop we were told is one of best in the city.
Weaving through cobbled streets and up a sharp hill, we eventually find the place. It looks completely unremarkable and I am silently seething.
But then store owner Billy approaches and, in word-perfect English, asks my friend and I what we are after.
We are soon taken to a back room, where wafts of woody real leather greet me.
My friend, who works at a high fashion glossy magazine and knows her stuff, is instantly taken by a gleaming “” bag. The real thing costs £5,400. This, after some haggling, is offered to her for £290.
‘1:1 BAGS’
I hone in on the Gucci section’s GG Marmont small shoulder bag – real price £1,360 – and the Ophidia leather-trimmed shoulder bag, RRP £1,310. I love them both.
Billy lets me try them on and I sniff them like a dog on heat.
“These are all 1:1 bags – everything is real leather and made by hand,” he explains.
“You will not find better and the quality is every bit as good as the real thing. We get celebrities coming here all the time, because they love a bargain, and we pride ourselves in the attention to detail.”
The knock-offs included YSL, Chanel and Prada
Pointing at the GG bag, he adds: “This is lamb’s leather, and feel how soft it is.”
I stroke the bag, trying not to think about the poor late lambs. It feels very soft. Buttery.
He offers us bottles of water, and asks if there are any specific designs or items we would like to look at.
My fashionista friend rattles off a list of esoteric names and numbers, and Billy comes back from a secret hiding spot, laden with the goods.
My godson has also demanded I buy him a Hermes belt, so he brings over a selection of these next. I tell him my godson is 12 and he offers a “special child price” of 45 , down from 60. Bargain!
Now in the swing of things, I wander over to the shoe section and end up trying on some incredible Dior J’Adior slingback heels – ones that were all the catwalk rage 18 months ago. I am sold. To my untrained eye, they look identical to the £850 ones sported by , and , but were a fraction of the price.
When I spot a gorgeous pink Loewe calfskin (Oh God! A calf died for this!) basket bag, I want it. Billy then pulls out his phone and shows me the bag being painstakingly hand-woven by one of his designers. Sadly it costs £400, and is beyond my self-imposed means.
It turns out the 1:1 shops import the genuine articles – one of each – and then send them out to their team to replicate as precisely as they can. No trivial detail or extra stitch is overlooked. The materials are often identical and the quality is indisputable.
The harder to find or more remote the shop, the better quality the items for sale
I can’t fault the quality but I can’t help wondering how they do it.
Counterfeit designer goods make up a multi-trillion pound black market.
There are reports of the trade being run by organised crime , using forced child labour and of counterfeit factories operating with dangerous working conditions.
Some of this can also be said about the high street or even designers. The working conditions in the factories where some of our favourite brands are made are questionable.
But it’s obvious to me, when it comes to top notch designer fakes, there must be corners cut somewhere. And you can’t help but question what other illegal activities your money is funding.
I am told haggling, even in high-end boutiques like this, is all part of the fun.
It is my worst nightmare – besides going up on stage and having to freestyle beside Beyoncé – and I manage to knock off an embarrassing £38 from a total spend of £720. (Also in this haul was a “Cartier” bracelet)
My pal, meanwhile, came away with a beautiful Goyard iPad case, a Chanel handbag and a Prada clutch. By now, we are veritably frothing at the mouth with excitement.
We spent the next couple of hours, in the name of diligent investigative research, traipsing around other stalls.
But be warned: it pays to be vigilant.
Carried away by her other purchases, my friend excitedly sees some gorgeous “Miu Miu” earrings and hands over £80 without question. It’s only when she gets back to the hotel that she notices they are actually “Min Min” ones. She is seething. This is Tier Three.
With these Tier Three products there’s also the risk of them being made from hazardous materials or not meeting the safety requirements that genuine goods would.
The next day my friend stomps back to the shop and is met by blank looks and a sudden language barrier. Alas, the Min Min earrings are here to stay. That’s another problem with counterfeit products – the consumer has no legal rights.
While technically, selling counterfeit goods is illegal in , in reality authorities turn a blind eye because it is so lucrative for the economy.
Haggling, even in high-end boutiques, is all part of the funCredit: Supplied
The real Miu Miu earrings
Knock-off ‘Min Min’ earrings in IstanbulCredit: Supplied
Everything is made in-land, by locals, and it bolsters tourism both in and out of season.
However, I am advised to ditch the dust jackets and designer boxes when transporting my goods home, and to wear as much of the stuff as possible.
And so it comes to pass, I board my Turkish Airlines flight in an Hermes belt, Cartier bracelet, Dior pumps and wearing one of my Gucci handbags.
I quickly consult ChatGPT, which tells me: “If the goods are genuinely for your own personal use, acquired legally, you’re generally fine.
“The key issue is whether the items infringe someone’s intellectual property rights (e.g. fake logos/trademarks) or are intended for resale.
“Goods that infringe a trademark (for example a handbag bearing a brand’s logo without permission) can be detained or seized by HM Revenue & Customs (HMRC) under UK customs rules.
“If you’re bringing in many items, or items in ‘commercial quantity’, or items obviously for resale, the risk is much higher.”
Whilst I am on shaky ground with trademark infringement – I am pretty sure the late Guccio Gucci would be turning in his grave – I am not intending to go on and re-sell them, either as genuine items or fakes.
It turns out sites like Vinted and are being flooded by people doing just this – and that isn’t cool. This is further fuelling the black market which in turn will I suppose have a negative impact on designers, their reputation and their ability to innovate.
Theoretically, though, I could have been stopped by customs and my goodies swiftly confiscated. In that case, I’d have had no grounds for recourse and may as well have just set light to £720.
Indeed, under the Counterfeit and Pirated Goods (Customs) Regulations Act 1995, customs officials have the power to detain goods suspected of infringing IP rights. In other words, I was lucky.
But in a world of flaunting their designer wares and celebs clad head-to-toe in Chanel, Victoria Beckham and Tom Ford, it is easy to be swayed. And, in a crisis, we should all be cut a bit of slack.
Would I do it again? Probably not. Do I regret it? Not a designer jot.
