Diesel fakes it …. after making it

If you’re looking for a knock-off version of your favourite branded luxury designer item Canal Street has long been the place to visit in New York. With its small shops, hidden back rooms and “bargain” pricing it has been the go to destination for cost conscious fashion fans who want to own their own piece of the catwalk without the hefty price tag. Fast forward to now and Deisel, sorry Diesel, are launching their own knock off brand – Deisel. Confused?  So were we…..

Marketed as “The Most Original Knock-Offs You’ll Ever Wear” Diesel has announced its limited edition range “that celebrates those who blatantly disregard the style status-quo and stubbornly wear whatever the hell they want.” It is part of Diesel’s spring/summer campaign, promoted with the hashtag #GoWithTheFlaw and is being launched from a pop-up store, in Canal Street itself.

The range entitled “DEISEL- For Successful Living” includes traditional knock-off type items featuring the misspelt Diesel logo such as t-shirts, sweatshirts, caps and denim sold at “knock-off” price point.

This tongue-in-cheek embracing of counterfeit items seems to have become somewhat of a trend for luxury brands with Diesel following in the footsteps of Vetements “official fake” pop-ups and Gucci who collaborated with the artist Gucci Ghost to include “Guccy” painted across a bag in their 2018 cruise collection.

So are these luxury brands encouraging even more counterfeiting of their products with this new craze or are they encouraging authenticity and people to embrace their own fashion identity.

Diesel’s founder, Renzo Russo, speaking  to Vogue magazine noted that “the “knock-off” price point and the fake store was an experiment to celebrate those brave enough to find their own unique style”  He did however confirm that Diesel had obtained trade mark protection for “DEISEL” as well.

We will wait to see if this real/fake concept continues to spread across the luxury fashion market or whether it will be a short lived fad. It will also be interesting to see how easy it is to spot the counterfeit versions of the “Deisel fakes” that will surely follow.

Briffa advises on all areas of intellectual property law, including enforcing trade mark rights and preventing the dissemination of counterfeit goods. For more information please contact debra@briffa.com.