Does The Devil Also Carry Prada?

$5 is a bargain! And from the photo, the selection of bags isn’t too bad.

I remember when the guy on the north corner of Wisconsin and P wouldn’t go below $20. He had the best selection of knock-offs in town — visiting associates and friends always wanted to head to Gtwon for a shopping spree. Some would walk away with 4-5 bags at a time.

This is fraud. Where are the DC police?

Pick your battles, I think the DC police have more important things to worry about than a couple of sidewalk vendors. Its not nearly as widespread here like it is in NYC.

While putting the post together I came across this article saying that the NYC Chinatown back rooms were recently raided & closed. Mrs Columbo and I were in NYC two weekends ago and while we didn’t head to Chinatown, the knock-off vendors were thriving in Midtown.

love the photo! it almost looks like the face on the T-shirt is looking up at the $5 sign and saying “Awesome deal!”

Chinatown dc is the only place to get great knockoffs- often they are the exact.same.thing… only the hand-stitching is done in Hong Kong…. DC faux pail in comparison.

A knock off is a knockoff though. You’ll always know it’s fake….

Oops I meant Chinatown NY in my above comment!

i’m not someone who cares at all about designer labels but $5 for ANY kind of handbag sounds like a good deal to me.

and the funniest part is the sign, at a glance, looks like it says $500 not $5.00.

I noticed 2 days ago that the 400 Mass CVS removed their entire section of loaves of bread and replaced it with purses. It’s an epidemic! =)

I’m with Freddie that the police should crack down on this obvious fraud. Yes, they certainly have other things to do, but this is right out there in the open and could garner some hefty fines for the city’s coffers, I’d imagine. Our government is constantly lodging complaints that China doesn’t respect intellectual property rights, yet this blatant rip-off is allowed to continue in the heart of DC. There’s no excuse for the hypocrisy; intellectual property violations hurt more people than most of us can appreciate.

What I don’t understand is how Macy’s lets these people get away with selling these 7 feet from their front door? Aren’t they selling the “same” bags inside for hundreds of dollars more?

Exactly, jpq. We complaint about the Chinese ripping off Microsoft & Hollywood etc., but right here on the streets of our nation’s capital we have people ripping off European designers.
Fraud is a serious crime. For people who think this is fine, how would you like it if someone stole your name & made money off it?
We need street vendors like the ones at the Holiday Market, not thieves selling stolen labels. & just as crime dropped in NYC when they started enforcing all laws, crime would drop here if the MPD started enforcing all laws.

Yes, because these street vendors are really taking money away from Prada lol

Freddie-

If I were significantly overcharging for my name, then I wouldn’t mind that much. I would sit back and rest on the insane profits that other suckers have already dumped into my pockets.

It’s obvious that logic, principle, & property rights mean nothing to many people. Well, time to go rip off the latest movies & music & software – it costs too much to pay the legal price, & the owners of the rights to those products already have too much money. Makes sense to me.

I know that major design labels spend a great deal of time and money to address counterfeit bags and goods. I have consulted with a few labels over the years.

But many also acknowledge that the cheap knock-offs actually help to promote sales of the real deal, as the phony stock actually works as a aggressive marketing plan — building brand recognition, creating a greater desire for the legit stock, and educating consumers about the unique details and craftsmanship that go into a luxury good. I would go as far as to say that some knock-off materials are purposely created and distributed for these reasons.

No one who buys a Prada bag for $5 thinks its real. Anyone who looks at one of these product for more than a moment can tell they are fakes. Even so, the Coach/Louis Vuitton/Gucci stores in the area are doing quite well — even in this economy — and even within blocks of the sidewalk counterfeiters.

I purchased one of these Prada gifts for my girlfriend & she actually thinks its real!! Needless to say, I’ve been in her good graces since!!! Thank u very much street vendors!!!