A Lambertson Truex Sandy Tote
A co-worker recently said to me “Don’t All Asian people buy knockoffs?” It’s not the gross ignorance of the generalization that gets me. It’s the culture of counterfeiting that Asians have come to be associated with. In the Asian practical mind (or laziness), the shortest route to success should be the chosen path. In this case, the shortest path involves copying ideas and designs that other companies and individuals have already invested millions of dollars in branding and marketing. They don’t spend a dime on establishing the coveted look and they cash in on someone else’s idea. (What else can you expect from a once magnificent culture whose growth had been stunted by the cultural revolution?)

On the flip side, consumers of counterfeit culture operate on the notion that people in polite society- which brand labels act as a simulacra to bridge the middle class across their unpassable chasm- are far too gracious to doublecheck each other’s Louis Vuitton bags for signs of fakeness. What they didn’t count on was that people in polite society are sometimes so cheap that they themselves research and buy knockoffs. If indeed it takes one to know one, then counterfeit people have been served the royal shaft.

There’s only one problem with counterfeit culture: Inspiration is dying every passing day,intellectual property means nothing, and whatever people are saying about Asians these days, there’s one thing they are not saying: They are people with original ideas.

When you add into the mix the perception of transgender culture – what with it’s lip-syncing (voice stealing), girl imitation, fake boobs, fake hair, d332.com copycats, slavish mimicking and assimilation, the final nail on the coffin has got to be fake brands and fake labels. We should all push for all round authenticity, but if that is not possible, a little authenticity is still better than none.

The reason I self-destructed our three-record contract was because I refused to ghost write music and lyrics for what record label owner coined “hot looking white chicks.” Intellectual property is a sore spot with me. I recently went on an odyssey to determine the authenticity of a Longchamps handbag I purchased online. I refuse to support anyone or any institution that cashes in on the ideas of others. There was a happy ending to the story when both seller and I joyfully resounded our belief in unison: If You Can’t Afford It, You Can’t Afford It. I don’t consider myself a label whore, but if there’s a company or design label out there who is daring enough to break from the pack and invest in a unique vision, you can’t put a price tag on their worth.

You can however, chose not to support the people who rip off their ideas.

This entry was posted on Saturday, July 21st, 2007 at 8:21 am and is filed under Society. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.