Oh No, fake Anya ” I’m not a Plastic Bag” totes!!

As promised, I am posting scenes that are bound to turn you off from buying an overpriced Anya Hindmarch “I’m not a Plastic bag” tote (that you can’t really say for sure is “real/authentic” in the first place– unless your bff /lover/husband/boytoy/ or someone you personally know *which obviously does not include a friend of a friend of a friend hehe*, lined up for one in pouring rain, through sleet and snow *or something like that* hehe).

The Anya Hindmarch bags which were really made for public dissemination (hence the very affordable original price tag of US$15/ Php 700) to increase more awareness about using more eco- friendly products (lessen our use of plastic bags), have been counterfeited. These deceitful imitations have made their way to street hawkers in Hong Kong. To buy one of these bags will completely negate the whole idea of promoting eco- friendliness because you end up breaking the law (copyright/ patent infringement, piracy…) Really, what is the point of buying a fake Anya tote?

Notice closely– the font size is wrong. And duh, you know it’s fake if the vendor had to run off with his goods when the local gendarmes were coming. Actually, normally it’s quite fun to check out what the hawkers sell (I’ve bought cheap, non- branded hair ornaments from street vendors!), but this is one hawker I wish I didn’t see.

Here’s a lady with a Fake Anya. The tote looked real from afar. The font size was quite right. But when I went up to her close enough to inspect the bag, I realized she had a fake Anya. And this coming from a baghag who confessed to not really knowing how to distinguish the real tote from a fake one just a post or two ago. Guess what, determining this bag’s authenticity was a no-brainer. The words were silkscreened. The real deal didn’t have the words silkscreened onto the fabric. And, hehe sorry hags, had to do the noble thing and block off the face of the lady carrying the bag — obviously we don’t want anyone hunting her down and verbally bashing her for having bought a fake bag *hehe I don’t want her to get into trouble that way… Mrs.T has a little heart sometimes… I’m not an “activist” in the purest sense of the word :D* But this is proof that some people just buy this bag to be part of “that” group of baghags. Tsk, don’t go buying an “I’m not a Plastic Bag” tote for the wrong reasons.

Here’s another street vendor selling fake Anyas— in different versions too! It was really disheartening and disgusting actually– I mean, selling it in different versions?! *Sigh* The bags were dirt cheap (for HK$50– about US$6/ Php 270), but hey hey, don’t get carried away– they’re fakes!!

A lady riding the MTR with her fake Anya tote beside a lady who had a real Gucci. I just don’t get it (and it’s not because I own a real one. My bag only sees the light of day when I go around town with plans to buy stuff– yes this bag has replaced the usual store plastic bags). Oh oh and you must know this– there’s also a fake black version of the tote! Too bad I have no photos, but I have seen it! It was quite strange actually. Because that bag looked real fake already.

Ok, hands down, this has got to be the worst offender of them all. Hawking fake Anya Hindmarch eco-friendly totes inside the MTR station???
I know this seller has to make a living, but can’t he just find other stuff to sell, like non-branded shoes or I don’t know, umbrellas, since it’s apparently been raining a lot in HK? It’s really frustrating, but somehow this has made me want to check out my own Anya tote.

So, here are the photos of the real Anya Hindmarch “I’m not a Plastic Bag” tote. My tote came courtesy of Splendeeds.com and they got their bags directly from Ron Herman in South Coast Plaza. My bag came with the Ron Herman tag as well as the Anya Hindmarch tag.

The ribbon logo of Anya is embroidered into the cloth. And it shows through the interior of the bag. I am leaving out a few other details which I find are noteworthy, because I don’t want those counterfeiters to be using these photos to perfect their replicas.

So, baghags, what have we learned here?

1. Learn how to refuse plastic bags from stores– if you have a huge bag, just stuff your purchase into your bag. And your bag doesn’t have to be the Anya “I’m not a Plastic bag” tote for you to refuse plastic bags 😀

2. Don’t buy a fake designer tote even if it’s cheap. And don’t buy these fake Anyas for your friends. Don’t be Miss Generous– although your thoughtfulness may be generally appreciated, there’s bound to be someone in your recipient list who’ll find it revolting to receive a fake designer tote *hey, I’m being serious. They may be all smiles in front of you, but heck beware they may spit fire behind your back for it! And trust me, you don’t want to be crucified that way :D*

3. Don’t buy an overpriced Anya Hindmarch “I’m not a Plastic Bag” tote from the black market especially if you can’t be 100% sure about its authenticity. Don’t buy it for the wrong reasons (that you want to have that “it” bag that your friends may have). There are other nice bags out there for you. Designer or non-designer. Just not fakes 🙂

*Confession: the idea of buying an overpriced Anya from the black market ( had I not gotten one) occurred briefly to me, after I found out that I could not secure one for myself at Harvey Nicks. But then I realized that I wanted the bag because I thought it would be cool to have a “cheap” real designer bag ( I didn’t even originally embrace the real idea behind these cheap eco-friendly totes). And then of course the black market price tag was just too unreal and it would’ve negated the idea of having bought the bag “cheap”. So I chucked that thought. And yay, thank the bag goddesses for Splendeeds (sorry I don’t mean to gloat hehe. But really if I didn’t end up with the bag, I would not buy it at black market price. I’d buy another bag haha!! *So much for the purse ban*)

Have a good day ahead! 🙂

xx
Mrs.T