You have to admit that some luxury companies have gone a little crazy , like with pricing or expectations or rules , and I think a lot of us are tired of that and it's kind of like why should I go through spending this much money or jump through this hoop when I could get on the Walmart website or Amazon and get a bag that looks close enough to it , right ?
Speaker 2Hi and welcome to Handbag Designer 101 , the podcast with your host , emily Blumenthal , handbag industry expert and the handbag fairy godmother . Each week , we uncover the stories behind the handbags we love , from the iconic brands and top designers to the creativity , craftsmanship and culture that define the handbag world . Whether you're a designer , collector or simply passionate about handbags , this is your front row seat to it all .
Speaker 3Welcome , jessica , minor of that Jessica to Handbag Designer 101 , the podcast . Jessica , I sleuthed you . You had a post after the quote unquote work in went viral and everybody was reposting you and I thought who better to talk about dupe culture and handbags than you ? So welcome , absolutely , hi , thank you for having me . So let's talk about this and then we can reverse engineer the whole story , the work and thoughts , feelings . You got one , didn't you ? I got one .
Speaker 1I got one with me right now my first , unfortunately , it's really cute .
Speaker 3Yeah , it is , it is . Isn't that terrible , I know , I know . So how did this come across your feed and were you targeted , and how did all this come to pass ?
Speaker 1Yeah . So I love TikTok and one day I was scrolling and I came across someone on I think her name is Imani and she was at a Walmart and she had a bag and she was showing the bag and I'm like , oh , that's cute . Now I'm assuming that it must've been in return or something , cause I don't think the bag was ever sold at Walmart . I don't know how , how the video came about , but I went online and I ordered one that day and it came about two days later and I was like this is a cute bag , I love it , I love the size of the color . I ordered another one like a couple later , in a different size and a different color , and then I made a video like comparing the two sizes , and that's the one that kind of like skyrocketed and took off .
Speaker 1Were you surprised ? Yes , because , like I mean , I've done videos and I've shared things and you know I didn't really get a lot of traction , to be honest . But this video , I mean I think we're up to like a couple million views now and I'm just like I don't know why , how , what .
Speaker 3Working celeb girl . Working celeb Right . Over a bag at Walmart ? Have you heard from anybody the powers that be at Hermes , or anything like saying take it down ? Have you had anybody reach out to you with negative feedback saying who are you ? Why aren't you getting a real thing ? Doop , doop , doop . Or was everybody like love you love the story ? Like tell me more .
Speaker 1So most of the response has been positive , surprisingly . But yes , there have been some negative naysayers . Mainly yeah , why would you buy a fake bag ? Why would you want a fake bag ? If I can't afford the real thing , I don't want it . I haven't heard anything from Walmart or Mez , anything in that thing . There's so many rumors floating around now about lawsuits and this and that , but I haven't heard anything .
Speaker 3So yeah , mostly positive . Do you consider yourself a handbag dupe expert ? At this point , I mean , I guess I should .
Speaker 1I guess I should . This was a pretty good one . In the past I've bought dupes that I didn't even . Sometimes I didn't even know they were dupes , but they were just cute bags and I have a couple of those too , and I'm just like sure I could be the dupe handbag expert . Why not ?
Speaker 3So I mean , I honestly think that is a good space because it's crowded , but there is nobody to who comes to mind that would be at the top saying okay , here's your latest update on dupe versus real . So I think you know , maybe you found your niche , who knows ?
Speaker 1Possibly Absolutely . I wouldn't mind it , I'm not mad at it .
Speaker 3So how long have you been at social and doing posts like this ? Because obviously this one became sticky .
Speaker 1Yeah yeah , I've only been on TikTok maybe like a couple of years . I was very late to the game , I was probably one of the last people to join , and I usually focus on clothing . Ironically , I love shopping , I love fashion , I love sharing thrifted clothes , thrifted outfits , and every now and then I throw in a bag because I just love purses too . That's the video that took off the purse video . So , but it's mainly a couple of years is mainly clothes .
Speaker 3What brought you to the social platform inspiration saying I should do this too ?
Speaker 1Well , because in real life , like , a lot of people compliment my outfits or clothes or jewelry and it's like , well , maybe I could share that online . Of course , everybody thinks they can be a social media , so I figured I mean , why not ? You know , why not give it a shot and see what ?
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Speaker 3No , hey , if you have the capacity and you know , look , I have been watching videos long enough . I personally haven't been able to master TikTok , which I'm OK with . It's a lot , it's a commitment , it's definitely something , but you know your flow of hitting the notes and hitting the points and it was the right length . And here's this and here's that . It definitely was a well-executed , very simple video . What inspired you to make the video ? Specifically about the work end , as it was called ?
Speaker 1I think obviously I knew that it looked like a certain bag , but also I thought it was a good quality bag . At that point when I made that video , I had taken that bag on vacation and it it had held up well . It carried a lot . It is leather , isn't it ? It's supposed to be leather . How ?
Speaker 3does it smell .
Speaker 1Does it smell like leather ? It gets that little bit of leathery smell . So I was like this is a good bag , it's , I mean , it's fairly affordable , right , A hundred dollars . I'm like people need to know about this bag . You know , some y'all go get this bag , basically . Um , and then that morning I was literally switching from one bag to the other and I'm like let me show you guys this bag . This one holds a laptop , this one holds a computer or a iPad . You know , and I'm just trying to be informative and helpful .
Speaker 3Why do you think , though , in your opinion , that dupe culture has taken over ?
Speaker 1Honestly , I think , as much as I love luxury , and a lot of us do , you have to admit that some luxury companies have gone a little crazy , like with pricing or expectations or rules , and I think a lot of us are tired of that . And it's kind of like why should I go through spending this much money or jump through this hoop when I could get on the Walmart website or Amazon and get a bag that looks close enough to it ? Right Gives me that same look , that same feeling , and at the end of the day , it's just a bag that I'm throwing my junk in . You know , and I'm about to hop on a plane . I mean , like , does it need to be special type of leather ? Does it need to be , you know , 24 karat gold ? I don't know .
Speaker 3Well , as we were talking about before , this bag was not made , manufactured or anything by Walmart and I think you know a lot of people don't know that . They're saying how could Walmart do this ? This was an item that was uploaded by a third party through Walmart's third party sales that allow brands and so forth and products to be sold that would not historically be sold on Walmart or in store . Walmart or in store Walmart had partnered up with the RealReal , I think two , three years ago . You can find Chanel on Walmart . It is not sold through Walmart , it was . It's sold through RealReal as a platform . You know they have these integrations and so forth and I'm sure this disappeared just as quickly as it showed up .
Speaker 3But the reality is that whoever did it was quick to market and , yes , it was an infringement , it was all of those things . But I think to some degree you're absolutely correct that people are tired , people can't justify it , and luxury has gotten so much more , for a multitude of reasons . Materials have gone up , oil has gone up . Oil has gone up . Transportation has gone up . There are problems getting materials between supply and demand for things to go up . Hermes has tripled in price , chanel has tripled in price and you can't go into these places without getting an appointment . They will kick you out , which I love . I've seen those videos . That's awesome . You know you can't . I mean , it's funny .
Speaker 3I was with a friend client of mine , and we were walking in Soho and she's like let's just pop in the Luebe store or , as some people don't know , l-o-e-w-e , luebe , that's how it's pronounced . And I said I don't think they're going to let you in . And she's like why ? And I said you just can't walk in , you need an appointment . So she goes up to the door and , sure enough , the lovely bouncer guy who I haven't seen since I've been clubbing , was like you need an appointment . And she's like do you have a clipboard ? And I said honey bunny , this isn't a club Like you can't . That's not how it works . Like they're filtering and these brands are more than happy to have you not buy their bag , to not buy their product . So I think to some degree it's you know , branding wise . It's almost an invitation to say hey ho , if you can't get it , let me give you a snack while you wait , absolutely , absolutely .
Speaker 1I think . There's a video now going viral of a woman at a store and she's falling all over the ground Right Because she's getting this offer of this bag and people are criticizing her . But that is the culture . That is what this company has perpetuated , like this is an honor , this is a gift , gift . You're gonna pay me all this money , but really I'm doing you a favor . You're not helping me .
Speaker 1You know which I find interesting you know , I do find that very interesting that certain companies have taken that power of guests , of consumerism , where the customer is always right or we're here to cater to you , and they're kind of like , no , we're not , we're not catering , just kidding just Like you said , do you have an appointment ?
Speaker 3Yeah , well , you know the divide between quote , unquote . What means , what affordable luxury means versus full-on luxury , and do people really need the luxury ? Do people really want it ? You know , holding on to the real bags is actual investments . Yeah , you know , like there's something to that and I bet , truth be told , you could probably put your bag up for rent through the RealReal or another one of those platforms and people will actually try to buy it . You can jack up the price because it's a wanted item . Now , I'm not even kidding , isn't that crazy .
Speaker 3Yeah , there's definitely something to that . It's not have you sought out , like , within your thrifting and shopping , any other products that have stood out to you , that you're saying , okay , this is a standout moment , or I've seen other dupes that really inspired me to make that investment just the same ?
Speaker 1No , I mean , that's always been a goal of mine to find something , a luxury item , while thrifting . I haven't had the honor of that yet , but that's still something that I hold out for every time I go . I'm like will I find my dream bag ? Will I find a lot in jewelry too ? I look at a lot of jewelry , but no , I mean not yet , Not yet .
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Speaker 3What do you think from a retail perspective , though ? Do you really feel , though , that using carrying , investing in dupes is definitely something that is perceived socially acceptable right now ?
Speaker 1It seems like it is Now . It's funny . When I was younger and I bought dupes because that's all I could afford , it seems like it is Now . It's funny . When I was younger and I bought hoops because that's all I could afford , it seemed like the opposite . It's like you were embarrassed to carry those things . But now everybody wants it , everybody wears them . And so many comments from people about wear what you want . I wear what I want . I have the luxury item but I also have a dupe , or sometimes I have . I combine , you know , luxury and dupe . But yeah , it seems more acceptable , especially now on social media , even kind of venturing past dupe to more counterfeit . You know where they're sharing . People are sharing canal street hauls or hauls from certain apps that you know . It does seem way more acceptable than back when I bought them because that's all I could afford , you know .
Speaker 3Right Now , back in the day , I mean , you would go to Canal Street , you would have to know which street to go to , you would have to know which outpost , you'd have to have the right knock . I mean , even before that they would just be on the street . And the first wave of that was really with Kate Spade bags , because those bags at that time were super easy to copy , so to sell them with the actual name Kate Spade on it , make the labels . It wasn't a heavy lift and there was so much investigation and hiring a task unit and so forth to cut back on it . But you know , I can't tell you how many tourists will come to New York and their first stop would be Canal Street , just to be .
Speaker 3You know , you'd see people who are clearly tourists on the subway looking terrified that they're not only on the subway with a shopping bag filled with bags and they're like going through it , like . You know , that's that's something to brag about . Look what I got . That isn't real . But you know , and there are lots and lots of stories of brands and designers I can think of at least three off the top of my head who their factories actually were making copycats under a name that was super similar and you know there's really not much you can do to stop them when you're here and they're over there . And even having them sign an NVA non-disclosure agreement really won't do anything , because when someone's in China , when someone's in you know Bangladesh and so forth , like you're not controlling a factory , like you're just not .
Speaker 1No , absolutely not . Yeah , yeah . Yeah , I was actually watching a show I think it's on like Hulu or something about the super fakes and Just like you mentioned the task forces and police getting involved in shipping and like I didn't realize how big it is . Yeah , it is . I know that's kind of venturing more to counterfeit type , where people are trying to fool people into thinking they're buying an actual luxury item . I don't , yeah .
Speaker 1Yeah Well , I think Irmae should have reached out to you and said here's the real thing right , like that would have been great then , like I'll be glad to stop talking about this little dude .
Speaker 3If yeah , you know , and I think they took it off , I don't believe it's available right now . I don't think so . Yeah , and I don't know why .
Speaker 1Like I don't want to speculate because some people are like , well , I have what happened to the bag . I'm like I have no clue . I don't think so . Yeah , and I don't know why . I don't want to speculate , because some people are like , well , where did you put that much in the bag ? I'm like I have no clue .
Speaker 3I don't know If they were asked to take it down , if they sold it , I have no idea you know , the funny thing is that bag was available for a super short period of time and the amount of news that ensued just talking about that one bag was wildfire . I mean you could Google it and it's like work in stories , new stories . And you know you're part of the narrative , which is pretty cool . Thank you , You're part of this moment .
Speaker 1It is , it's cool , it's . It's still so surreal , Like when I pulled my family . They're just kind of like huh , Like they're still trying to figure out what , what , what are you talking about ? Why ? Why is everybody talking about this bag ? But yeah , it's . I just still can't believe how it's taken off . And people are still asking about it , they're still trying to find it and I'm like , guys , it's too late . It's too late . I made those videos . My first video was like November , early December . I'm like you . My first video was like November , early December . I'm like you can't find them anymore .
Speaker 3Sorry , so you made it , went on vacation and came back and was like what yeah ?
Speaker 1So okay . So the first one I bought November went on vacation , came back , bought another one , made the video and I'm like , oh gosh , now everybody wants these bags . Now a lot of people bought them like around Christmas , around Christmas , but after that they were gone , that's it .
Speaker 3There's no more . It's working . Has anyone tried to buy it off you ?
Speaker 1Yes , there have been a lot of people asking like messaging , asking hey , are you trying to sell ? And I'm like , no , I'm not trying to sell any of them Especially now Right , even if I didn't want them like , I have to keep them this is like almost like TikTok history .
Speaker 3Oh my god , you're part of TikTok lore . At this point , providing there still is a TikTok , which I personally think there will be , I'm not really worried so too I mean we've been through this before ?
Speaker 1haven't we like they've threatened to get rid of it before , I feel , I think , because that was like the time when I actually joined , was like after the first time they were gonna get rid of it before , I feel , I think , because that was like the time when I actually joined was like after the first time they were going to get rid of it .
Speaker 3Yeah Well , when it gets reacquired the whole stack of code and the whole algorithm everything will need to be changed . So one way or another , it's going to impact the creators . So they should just buckle up buttercup and try and come up with another way to . You know , get famous on linkedin with the old people and see what they can come up with right , right , right , right .
Speaker 1Yeah , it's gonna be something , it's gonna be something now are you a full-time creator no , I'm actually a teacher , that's like my actual job , and I just do the creative stuff on the side , just whenever I get a chance , when I'm on breaks , on weekends , you know . But yeah , I just . I guess now I can say I'm a creator , but maybe just part time .
Speaker 3Why aren't you in school ?
Speaker 1right now . Today I had a doctor's appointment and I was like I'm taking the day off . I hope they don't hear this , that's pretty funny , I know , I know , oh my gosh , but you know .
Speaker 3That's really , really funny . I am so excited that we are connected and there was so much , I think , in terms of what you brought to the table and how you did the video and being you and being an early adopter with something . Do you see this as something as lightning , happening and striking twice with you for something like this ?
Speaker 1Well , I tell you what I hope it does . I'm trying to figure out how to make that happen , but I feel like it is probably a once in a lifetime opportunity for most of us , especially those of us that don't really do this professionally or take it very seriously . But I feel like it helps me to learn that maybe , maybe I am onto something with at least with purses . I'm like if I , if people , love this one so much , maybe I should try to find something else to try and share with people .
Speaker 3you know , Well , I think you absolutely should . I think , whatever it is , it worked , and I think the tone and how you spoke about it , I think it definitely resonated . I mean , well enough for me to be like we need to talk .
Speaker 1I'm not giving up . I'm going to try . We can try to you know .
Speaker 3Oh my gosh . Well , jessica , minor of that . Jessica , thank you so much . How can we find you , follow you and see more of your incredible content ?
Speaker 1Well , thank you . As long as TikTok's around , I'm at jessiemy . I'm on Instagram under , actually , the name that I've tried to be is thrifty , so it's thrift , sale , gift like , because most of my clothes were thrifted , purchased on sale or gifted at one point in my life . You know , but those are my two main social media platforms , yeah
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Speaker 3Okay , well , I can't wait to find you and see more of your content and hopefully we can have a follow-up of the next time you go viral or even before , to get an update on who's reaching out to you and having you make stories so I can say I knew you when .
Speaker 1So thank you so much for having me . I really appreciate you making me kind of step out of my comfort zone .
Speaker 3Well , listen , I think there's more to come . Thank you , thank you , thank you .
Speaker 2Thanks for listening . Don't forget to rate and review , and follow us on every single platform at Handbag Designer . Thanks so much . Don't forget to rate and review and follow us on every single platform at Handbag Designer . Thanks so much . See you next time .