Women’s Wear Daily reports that the New York City Police have shut down the “counterfeit triangle” down around Canal Street in New York City. I guess I’m glad I’m not there to witness this. I know it is a big problem for designers but I feel sad about this.
For those who don’t know what I’m talking about, Canal Street is one of the southern most cross streets in New York City. From the west, it is where you end up coming off of the Holland Tunnel from New Jersey. It marks the bottom of Soho in the center of the island, and then to the East it cuts through Chinatown, and then becomes the Manhattan Bridge, leading one over to Brooklyn, around near Fort Greene where I used to live. *Sigh*
Right around the transition from Soho to Chinatown, there were tons and tons of little shops and tables and stands selling knock offs of bags, watches, and whatever else they could get knock offs of. Seriously, it was crazy - it was obviously knock offs - no one was fooling anybody. But honestly, if you aren’t a person who is a slave to brands, does it really matter that much? Well some would say yes it does, in the same way that it matters if you “acquire” music without buying it.
Well, today, the NYPD, lead by the City’s Commander-in-Chief, Michael Bloomberg, took decisive action, running a raid that seized more that $1M dollars worth of goods. Considering items generally cost between $5 and $40, that is a lotta goods.
I always liked the rough insanity of Canal Street. There were tons of people there, and a lot of stuff going on. It seemed like the knock offs were mostly sold to tourists, and maybe young stylish folks without the cash to actually buy a Gucci bag. Will that young person be able to now afford a real Gucci Bag, now that the knock offs are knocked off? I highly doubt it. Was it the knock offs that were driving up the prices? Not likely. No one who can actually afford designer stuff is going to buy the knock offs. It just isn’t really that believable a copy. I can’t tell you how many times I sat on the subway looking at people and being like, “that’s fake, that’s fake, that’s fake, that’s fake.” Seriously. No one is fooled. But I kind of feel, if you want to front like that, well, that’s your right as an American. Fake it ’til you make it, right?
Further south of Canal Street, you can take the Ferry to Ellis Island, and in the Ellis Island museum you can look at a display of political cartoons from the early 1900’s when Immigration was on everyone’s mind. There is a cartoon of the Fat Cats, Fathers of Industry, stopping the young immigrant from getting off the boat. And then for each fat cat, it shows his gnarly former self. Do you get it?
