Beware of Fake T-Shirts!

Monday 07th of June 2010 01:45:33 PM

Counterfeit clothing is a serious issue for clothing manufacturers and retailers. Though countries like the United Kingdom and the United States work diligently to keep the fake fashions from entering the countries, there is a constant flow that is hard to stop.

This topic came to the surface again with the start of the football (soccer) World Cup games. In little sewing shops around Africa, workers are downloading pictures of clothing and logos for the purpose of recreating them. These talented sewers can recreate t-shirts and other clothing that look almost exactly like the original with logos and crests. Only a trained eye could distinguish the embroidered shirts as fakes.

Of course, there is often another way to tell the real shirts from the fakes – by the price. The price on fake jersey shirts can run as low as £5 or less while the real shirts cost 15 times as much. The African authorities are trying to stop the manufacturing of counterfeit clothing, but in a country with high unemployment it is difficult. Some of the sewers are expert embroiderers that can copy intricate fashion logos no matter how complicated they are.

Also encouraging tailors to make the fake merchandise is the fact the World Cup games being held in Africa have created a sense of excitement that everyone wants to share in. African teenagers cannot afford the original promotional clothing but can afford the counterfeit versions. This is big business too. Over 100 million rand is the value of counterfeit World Cup merchandise seized to date.

Puma is the official supplier of the specially designed jerseys made for players. Puma is a German company and naturally the company is not happy that its merchandise is being copied so freely. But to the company’s credit, it began selling clothing at different prices to make it affordable to all income levels.

Image by Oshin Beveridge, www.sxc.hu/

Related Stories: T-Shirts are a Sign of the Times, Sustainable Green Eco Organic Ethical Printed T-Shirts?, Eco-Friendly Cotton

Bookmark this article: