As top brands like Gucci and Prada prepare to report billions in sales this month, luxury fakes on the streets of Naples, Italy, are also yielding a jaw-dropping cash stream – for the mafia.
The teeming southern metropolis is ground zero for Italy’s estimated €6 billion-€7 billion (US$6.5 billion-US$7.5 billion) counterfeit market, where fake handbags, sunglasses, clothing and shoes flourish, hawked in plain sight to buyers willing to score a knock-off bargain.
“Which brand do you like? What colour, what model?” asks a persistent seller at the “Market of Fakes” spread out over back alleys near the gritty city’s central railway station.
Men arrive hauling overstuffed blue plastic bags, from which emerge Gucci baseball hats, Fendi wallets, Hermès belts and bright orange Louis Vuitton shoeboxes, sold from rickety tables at a fraction of the price of their originals.An officer of the Guardia di Finanza, the Italian police in charge of financial crime and smuggling, checks trucks in the commercial area of the port of Naples. Photo: AFPCounterfeits are a global phenomenon, whether fake fashion, toys, electronics, food or pharmaceuticals. They are estimated by the OECD club of developed countries to represent 2.5 per cent of world trade.
Italy – home of the most luxury fashion brands – is the clear leader in counterfeit seizures within the European Union, accounting for 63 per cent of items confiscated by police in 2022, according to a November EU report.
Source link : https://www.scmp.com/lifestyle/fashion-beauty/article/3258205/its-cancer-why-naples-fake-designer-goods-capital-europe
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Publish date : 2024-04-09 07:00:00
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