$1000 Fine for Buying a Fake Louis Vuitton

New York Tourists Be Warned

Photo - Maureen Didde.

In recent years Chinatown has made its way up the New York to do list, but not for its cuisine or for its sights, but rather as a shopping destination for frugal fashionistas who want a  designer look at a market stall price.  However, the days of it being the place to purchase a knockoff Louis Vuitton at a knock-down price may be coming to an end as New York City council woman, Margaret Chin, is proposing a bill that would see those caught purchasing a fake slapped with a $1000 fine or face spending up to a year in prison.

Chin, who represents the Chinatown district told the New York Post, “It's a very big problem. People are still coming, and the industry is growing, and we have to stop the demand. We need people to know that they are feeding this demand."  The council woman has also expressed her desire that the district not become known as the place to buy fakes and has a number of supporters, not least among them the delegates at the 8th annual Harper’s Bazaar Fakes Are Never in Fashion Anticounterfeiting summit who welcomed the proposals with approval. Valerie Salembier, publisher of Harper’s Bazaar and organiser of the event said, “It's great for New York City. If you head to Chinatown to get your $50 Vuitton handbag, and you're slapped with a $1,000 fine—you're not going to do it again.”

Whether Salembier is correct in this view, however, is doubtful. Speaking to consumers in Chinatown the New York Post found that fine or no they would be willing to take the risk to look good and pay less. One even commented “everyone steals”. The NYPD, for their part, are of the opinion that the law would be difficult to enforce and Chin has already backed down somewhat in the face of resistance stating that the one year jail term may go.