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Designer ‘dupes’ abound on the internet.
A quick search on Amazon yields full pages of results for sunglasses, handbags and even jewelry that mimic popular silhouettes from luxury brands including Miu Miu, Versace and The Row.
Recently, one such counterfeit creation took social media by storm.
Dubbed the Walmart Birkin or the ‘Wirkin‘ bag — the name a combination of the big-box discount retailer’s name and the ultra-luxury accessory’s moniker, as well as a nod to its approachable price for the ‘working class’ — the handbag was available for a time on Walmart’s website.
It had a price tag of less than US$80.
Shoppers took to Instagram and TikTok to rave about the bag. It quickly sold out online through a Walmart marketplace seller before disappearing from the retailer’s website altogether. The term ‘Walmart Birkin dupe’ has since become a trending search term on Google.
An iconic handbag design from Hermès named after and inspired by the late Jane Birkin, an authentic Birkin bag from the French luxury house commands ever-increasing prices on the retail and resale markets. Since its launch in 1984, the handbag has been celebrated for its craftsmanship (it’s said each bag takes a minimum of 18 hours to create at the hands of a single artisan) and coveted for its exclusivity, as the accessory is reportedly only offered to continuing customers of the brand.
The Birkin was even the subject of a recent segment on 60 Minutes where Hermès artistic director Pierre-Alexis Dumas noted the brand’s creations aren’t expensive, but rather costly.
“The cost is the actual price of making an object properly, with the required level of attention, so that you have an object of quality,” Dumas explained. “Expensive is a product which is not delivering what it is supposed to deliver. But you’ve paid quite a large amount of money for it, and then it betrays you. That’s expensive.”
Birkin bags are priced from the low five figures in Hermès boutiques, and well above that price tag at resale, depending on the type of leather or animal skin used to make it. According to the auction house Sotheby’s, a diamond-detail Himalaya crocodile Birkin 30 sold at auction for more than US$450,000 in 2022, making it one of the most expensive handbags ever sold at auction.
“The Hermès Birkin isn’t just iconic, it’s the Mona Lisa of handbags,” says Courtney Watkins, owner of the Vancouver-headquartered designer resale company Mine & Yours. “When you walk out of Hermès with a new Birkin in hand, as soon as you leave the boutique, it’s almost worth double. There’s no other fashion item with that kind of power.”
According to Watkins, who operates resale boutiques in Vancouver and Toronto, the appeal is anything but trendy.
“It’s about timelessness, brand history and true craftsmanship,” says Watkins. “In a world where fast fashion fades faster than a trend on TikTok, the Birkin stands still as the ultimate status symbol.”
The ‘dupe’ effect
While designer ‘dupes’ — whether an alternative to a trending silhouette from a more affordable brand or a full-on replica — are nothing new, they’re creating big buzz online these days.
In an article published in The New York Times in 2023, it was noted that fake fashion items have become such good quality that they’re almost indiscernible from the real thing. These elite replicas are referred to as “superfakes.”
What’s driving the increasing interest in fake fashion items?
According to Eric Li, Ph.D., associate dean, Professional Graduate Programs at the University of B.C.-Okanagan, it’s a few things. The topic is an area of expertise for Li, who carried out a detailed study in 2018 of what drives counterfeit consumption, specifically through the lens of Chinese shoppers.
“Some consumers would say it’s a protest because the luxury brands charge too much. So they purchase a counterfeit piece and they use social media to kind of make fun of the luxury brands,” Li says of the anti-corporate ideology.
But Li says it’s not just low- and mid-income shoppers who can’t afford the real thing that buy into the counterfeit movement.
“Some people can actually buy luxury brands just like playing with the counterfeit items,” Li says. “They feel they don’t need a real or authentic one to signify or symbolize their wealth.”
The consumer society, Li points out, has also become more polarized these days.
“Before, there was a hierarchy, like, you’re first purchasing high-street fashion items. And then you move up the social or the income ladder and then you purchase luxury brands,” Li says. “But nowadays, some people are sticking to those luxury brands, but some people don’t see luxury consumption as the end part of their life goal.”
And social media, the academic says, has created a space for both categories of consumers to interact.
“These groups of consumers are speaking to each other,” Li says. But, he notes, they’re not confusing one another.
“I’m pretty sure those people, no matter who they are, know they are not wearing an Hermès Birkin bag. It’s very clear that they know it’s the Walmart version of a Birkin bag,” Li says. “The style looks the same, but it’s a different kind of craftsmanship. The quality is not the same.
“And that really differentiates the luxury consumer from the ‘Wirkin’ consumer.”
Watkins also points to the “instant gratification” that counterfeit goods provide as a big draw for some shoppers purchasing fakes.
“People love the idea of scoring a Birkin look-alike at a fraction of the price — no need to save up or wait years,” Watkins says. “Imagine seeing something that screams ‘status symbol’ on a platform like Walmart, and knowing it’s now within reach.”
What has also changed about the counterfeit conversation is the availability of such goods. Rather than back-alley sellers, designer ‘dupes’ are now widely available through online marketplaces such as DHGate and Amazon. While dubbed the Walmart Birkin, the style was actually an offering on the retailer’s marketplace, which sees third-party sellers use the website as a selling avenue for their wares.
“You won’t see those bags in the actual Walmart store. But consumers are using the Walmart platform, like other channels such as Temu or Amazon, to purchase the products,” Li explains. “And then, more or less, picking the product up at a Walmart near you.”
Li says the degree of separation might help Walmart avoid a direct legal confrontation with the luxury brand in the long run.
“From a legal perspective, it’s a very good way of defending themselves that they are just providing a platform for these kinds of copycat products,” Li says. “It’s complicated.”
Long-term impact
Consumer motivations aside, Watkins says there’s a larger conversation to be had about the true cost of counterfeit fashion.
“Buying fake bags, especially knock-offs with the same branding, is not just about owning a cheaper alternative — it comes with serious ethical and legal concerns,” Watkins says. “These counterfeit products often support unethical labour practices and even criminal organizations. Moreover, they undermine the artistry and hard work of the original creative directors and artisans who pour their talent and dedication into creating the genuine product.
“It’s important to recognize that purchasing these fakes takes away from the value and integrity of the original designs.”
But Li says the popularity of the Walmart Birkin, in the end, will likely serve to further the sense of exclusivity and desirability around authentic Birkin handbags.
“Now, because of these social-media and TikTok conversations, it brings Hermès and other luxury brand names to everyone’s world,” Li says.