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When creator Vivian Tu — known on TikTok as @yourrichbff — spotted her friend with a $50 woven faux leather bag from Amazon that looked like a Bottega Veneta Jodie, she felt compelled to share the dupe with her 2.5 million followers.
“I know you definitely don’t want to buy dupes of pricey designer goods for way less,” she said, speaking ironically to the camera. “So I, Vivian — your rich BFF and Wall Street girly — am NOT going to show you how.” She then did a reverse image search for a Bottega bag on Amazon, which pulled up a list of dupes, one of which she added to her Amazon storefront. That video received almost 580,000 views, with dupe bags making up a large share of Tu’s storefront sales.
Dupes (short for duplicates) are cheap alternatives to premium or luxury products, but they do not generally replicate trademarked logos or details, meaning that they are legal and not counterfeit. Content around them has surged on TikTok over the last two years: the hashtag #dupe has 3.5 billion views. Out of 110 Gen Z Teen Vogue, Glamour and Allure readers surveyed by Vogue Business, 72 said they’d bought what they’d consider a fashion dupe in the last year.
Brands don’t want to talk about dupes, with Bottega Veneta and Celine among the multiple names declining to comment to Vogue Business. TikTok also declined to comment. However, obsession has heightened around the hunt for the dupe, both for those who can go viral for sharing the best ones, and for those wanting to shop designer looks for less. What should brands know?
Keeping up with the Kardashians
“Our parents’ generation were keeping up with the neighbours across the street. But Gen Z today are keeping up with the Kardashians,” Tu says. Gen Z social media feeds are flooded with lavish holidays, designer outfits and private jets, which stoke a desire for luxury they mostly cannot afford.
Gen Z is a price-sensitive and financially conscious generation, says Walker Post, senior strategist at US youth-focused agency DoSomething Strategic. “Many of them witnessed the 2008 recession as children, before living through Covid and the current economic downturn,” he says. “They are spending differently since the pandemic.”
Young consumers view some luxury items as products worthy of investment, but there are too many options for their limited finances to respond to. Kristen Gall, president of Rakuten Rewards at Japanese cashback and rewards platform Rakuten, which recently carried out research on Gen Z luxury consumers with Vogue Business, says dupes are an omnipresent temptation. “The high-spend items that people place most value on are being purchased via retailers directly or by buying secondhand. Then there are other luxury items that feed into short-lived trends. People may not place as much value [on them] and thus they’re not willing to spend. That’s where dupes come in. How can you create a similar look and feel, for less?”
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Tu invests in luxury handbags that are timeless but buys dupes for more seasonal or trend pieces. “If you are buying a premium leather bag that you know you’re only going to wear on special occasions, that’s an investment piece. But what about your beach bag? Is it really worth $3,000 to $5,000 to buy something that’s not going to hold up and have very little to no resale value when you're done with it? I just don't think so.”
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Most beauty dupes are products that aim to deliver a similar result, such as Elf Cosmetics dupes for Charlotte Tilbury foundation or Clinique Black Honey lip gloss. However, many of the so-called fashion “dupes” shown on TikTok are actually counterfeits or direct copies of items, including hauls of fake Louis Vuitton or Gucci bags typically bought by creators on holiday.
As fashion moves from logomania to a focus on design signatures, brands can be duplicated in more sophisticated ways than simply slapping a counterfeit logo on a cheap tee. Celine’s cat-eye glasses are known for their shape. Bottega Veneta is known for its woven leather and waffle towelling on slippers. “I want something like the Bottega dupe where maybe it’s a little bit different but it has the same design structure,” says Lucas Dos Santos, a 23-year-old designer based in Florida. “If they're putting the Prada badge on a dupe, it’s like no — don’t do that please.”
The poor quality of dupes is rarely a consideration. “It’s not about longevity,” says Brian Walker, chief strategy officer at digital commerce company Bloomreach, who’s previously worked at Amazon. “It’s about finding an outfit for Coachella or to post on social media.”
Fast fashion platforms like Shein, with their rapid turnarounds, have accelerated the development of fashion dupes. They can churn out replica products quickly when a luxury item begins trending, says Walker. “We’ve seen what was already an established knockoff culture turbocharged, coupled with a surge in demand from social media. None of this is new — it’s just sped up and amplified.”
Amazon is a key destination for dupes shoppers, but the company is working hard to make sure demand for luxury dupes doesn’t also result in more counterfeits on the platform. “Dupes are not the same as counterfeit,” says Anna Dalla Val, Director of Global Brand Relations at Amazon. “We remain focused on using every tool at our disposal to protect brands, customers, and selling partners from intellectual property (IP) and brand infringement, and we aggressively pursue anyone who violates our zero-tolerance policy for counterfeit products.”
In 2020, Amazon initiated a joint lawsuit with Valentino, against a seller replicating Valentino’s rockstud shoes. And more recently it joined Cartier in a joint lawsuit to sue an influencer selling fake Cartier goods. “Bad actors creating counterfeit fashion items isn’t a new issue, but it has become more sophisticated, which is why we continue to use every tool at our disposal to fight it,” she adds.
Suzanne Santos, chief customer officer at cosmetics brand Aesop, says duping has been going on for decades. The TikTok hashtag #aesopdupe has almost 1 million views, depicting people refilling Aesop bottles with cheap hand wash or shower gel. “We’ve never spoken publicly about any brands that follow that path because it’s not something that can be resolved,” she says. “There are people who feel that an alternative brand is a viable option for them, and that’s the glory of choice and democracy.”
However, Santos has an important point to add. “What we don’t want is for people who have purchased alternatives to think that they are buying the real Aesop, to have been misled into thinking that the lesser efficacy of those products is what we stand for,” she says. “It is no easy feat to match the formulations, sensibility and attention to detail that distinguish what we do — or our unique approach to hosting our customers or the calibre of the service we provide to them. The sum of these parts is what defines us, not just the packaging.”
How can brands resist being duped?
Brands could protect themselves by developing multiple price points for different demographics and including affordable options for young customers, suggests Shereen Cohen Kheradyar, 23, a photo and video producer based in New York. “Great examples of brands killing this for Gen Z are Heaven by Marc Jacobs and Diesel. Both of these brands are really in tune with Gen Z audiences and understand what/who they like to see. They also create pieces that are very one of a kind and with recognisable logos and prints that are very difficult to replicate.”
Collaborations with mass-market retailers can also help luxury brands connect with young consumers who might otherwise seek out dupes. “The Uniqlo x Marni collaboration was great; it gave a chance for a lot of the consumers who maybe aren't able to buy at the Marni price points to dip their toe into the aesthetic,” says designer Dos Santos. “Or the upcoming H&M collab with Mugler. There might be lower-quality materials but it means consumers don’t have to go out and find dupes. They can feel part of [Mugler’s] community and have the product they’ve been longing for.”
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In the fast moving world of TikTok, many dupe videos are turning into parodies. TikTokers make spoof videos, picking up random items in their local Walmart and shouting “DOOOP”. Perhaps it’s a sign of a trend past its peak.
Santos of Aesop isn’t so sure. “I think it’s part and parcel of life,” she says. “It is very difficult to create original concepts, they are rare… So no, I don’t see it going away, not just for Aesop but for endless brands in endless categories around the world.”
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