Dupes or Ditch? The Rise of Product Dupes

Madeline Rowe

Campus News Editor

Many clothing enthusiasts regard the famous Hermes handbag, the Birkin bag, as the pinnacle of luxury fashion. The bag, which often sells for more than $30,000, is priced so high due to its quality, but more importantly, its demand, Sotheby’s, a luxury brand broker, writes. However, the famous accessory has a more affordable competition: the “Walmart Birkin Bag,” or “Wirkin,” as it is affectionately dubbed, according to Tribune. This fashion dupe, short for duplicate, is only one dupe among many that can be found in almost any shopping category. The surge in popularity of dupes provides an interesting lens through which the state of the economy can be interpreted. 

Most consumers have had the experience of choosing the cheaper, more financially responsible item than its counterpart name brand. Years ago, this act of choosing a cheap product rather than the “real deal” might have been something a shopper might try to hide from others. Today, experts share, buying a dupe is no longer “uncool,” and even something savvy shoppers prefer, The Guardian explains. Experts explain the reason for this evaporation of shame surrounding buying duplicates. Years ago, copies of products were often illegal counterfeit goods, which would often “tend to carry an unauthorized trademark or logo of a patented brand,” CNBC writes. CNBC shares the words of Sara Walker, a Los Angeles-based fashion industry expert, who points out that today’s dupes are not direct knockoffs, like early counterfeits. Instead, dupes are a “kind of revising something that’s very chic from a designer world into a more accessible product.”

The state of the economy and the popularity of dupes, unexpectedly, coincide. CNBC quotes Brett House, an economics professor at Columbia Business School, as he explains that recently consumers have been forced to stretch their income to pay for rent, higher food prices, and increased borrowing costs. Yet, Americans still have the desire to participate in trend cycles. The Guardian shares frequently duped products, which are likely to sound familiar to social media users, listing products such as Lululemon leggings, Skims shapewear, Ugg footwear, Adidas Sambas, Olaplex hair products, and Dyson hair technology. 

The exact figures representing the dupes economy are hard to collect. What experts do know is that there is more than $1.7 trillion in the counterfeit market, although the counterfeit and dupe markets are not the same, USA Today writes. TikTok views do not lie, though, and the hashtag #dupe has been viewed over 6 billion times as of January 2024, according to Kent State Today. 

Although buying a dupe may be an enjoyable experience for a consumer, there are still some ethical concerns with the effects of the dupes economy. Many small brands suffer from their designs being duped by a large company which can afford to sell a comparable product for less money. According to NBC News, three independent designers have brought lawsuits against Shein, a fast-fashion retailer known for its obvious copies of small designers’ products. Additionally, companies that produce dupes often face accusations of underpaying workers: “A staggering 93 percent of fast fashion brands underpay workers and outsource their production to cut expenses,” The Trademark Lawyer Magazine reports. Tansy Hoskins, an author of a book on the impact of fast fashion, shared with The Guardian in an interview that largely, dupe or not, a cheap piece of clothing is likely to have been produced unethically. 

Young buyers, in addition to their disregard of fashion status symbols, have also grown increasingly conscious of their environmental footprints, Thred shares. A consumer, when looking for an affordable and ethical alternative, has options beyond just dupes, such as shopping second hand. Across the board, however, experts agree that price is the number one factor contributing to purchase decisions, CNBC shares quoting Ellyn Briggs. This indicates that the economy of dupes is unlikely to become a dud anytime soon.

Image courtesy of Getty Images.