Midtown - From 5/17/09
A little something about the bags for sale on the sidewalk: Bags for sale from a vendor with a table is somewhat legit, you may want to look around, and see how competitive the prices can get. But then, perhaps you ask for a designer brand, a top designer brand, something real top notch. A vendor may have another stash of counterfeit bags imitating the finest purses on the market, and they are buried deep within his inventory cases, maybe, or maybe not.
Most likely the vendors with the most nock-off products will carry them in rolling luggage, and open them up for selling on the street without tables. I only write about this because it's illegal, and therefore it's super cool and sexy to read on a blog because it's all taboo and stuff. Personally I have no problem with counterfeit production and sale of top designer labels because all too often the authentic product is made in poor quality with poor working conditions, and just because a fancy name brand is stuck on it a purse fetches a ridiculous price up on Madison and 5th Avenues. The nock-offs are keeping the designers honest in my opinion; they are a bold statement to the big designers that a purse can be made by anyone, and no purse should hold such an elite price.
This summer to add insult to injury with the sub-par economy, as each month passed closer to the fall the police chased down more and more street vendors on Canal Street in Chinatown. And just recently I noticed that many of the remaining people selling the counterfeits out of luggage bags moved up to the Times Square District, and are now peddling their wares up there. Now of course there are still secret rooms that sales people will direct tourists to in Chinatown filled with Gucci name tags et-cetera, but the easy to spot sellers with the rolling luggage are now up around Times Square.
This summer to add insult to injury with the sub-par economy, as each month passed closer to the fall the police chased down more and more street vendors on Canal Street in Chinatown. And just recently I noticed that many of the remaining people selling the counterfeits out of luggage bags moved up to the Times Square District, and are now peddling their wares up there. Now of course there are still secret rooms that sales people will direct tourists to in Chinatown filled with Gucci name tags et-cetera, but the easy to spot sellers with the rolling luggage are now up around Times Square.
1 comment:
My sister is studying to be a fashion designer at Parsons and coming from that viewpoint, she detests the knock offs, but I'm in total agreement with you. On the streets of Colombian cities we have a motto: "QUE VIVA LA PIRATERIA!"
Long live the piracy!
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