I'm no stranger to dupes. In high school, I wrote a post on my fashion blog discouraging people from purchasing dupes, counterfeits, whatever you may call it. Eventually, I started buying dupes on Depop which I considered to be more ethical because the damage had already been done.

For a long time, I was pretty against dupes. I believed in the narrative that purchasing luxury goods was primarily about design appreciation and protecting intellectual property. However, my feelings started to change when I switched into the design industry. Design is often used to serve the interests of the elite, privileged, and powerful. Design is also used to encourage overconsumerism, creating a culture of Keeping up with the Joneses.

As a high school student, I was obsessed with designer brands. Four years later, my mom offered luxury bags to me (both real and fake); I overreacted, repulsed by her fixation on the brand. It was clear to me that she didn't buy things out of design appreciation but for proximity to social class. This exemplified an error in messaging, where designers have failed to communicate their value. I also think this reflects misguided priorities in design and in our culture.

Additionally, I can't help but think about this desire for proximity. As designers, we are privileged to be able to prioritize quality, history, artistry, and craftsmanship in our purchasing decisions. Others are less atuned to the marketing and design tactics that exploit insecurity, encouraging them to define their self-image in terms of class. However, consumerism only temporarily pacifies until they are reminded that they, in fact, are not enough.

In general, I think it's good to protect intellectual property, especially for smaller designers who depend on their work for a living. I also think items should be priced so that the people who made them can be paid humanely; this will inevitably exclude many people from the target consumer base because human labor and materials are not cheap.

However, I think it's somewhat unethical to peddle goods—rather, an image or logo—by convincing working class people that they are not good enough without them. So, if someone wanted to purchase a dupe in order to feel closer to the elite class, I would turn a blind eye to it. If someone is more interested in buying the image (which seems more important to the health of luxury brands), then buying a dupe is no different from buying an "authentic" bag.