This year’s bumper earnings have spotlighted the rapid recovery of the world’s luxury goods makers. But while sales of pricey handbags, ties and watches have surged on rising consumer confidence, a less public side of the sector has also been rising.
Quite how much money changes hands for fake eyewear, T-shirts and scarves in backstreet shops or over the web remains a mystery. Understandably, figures are limited to estimates from the International Chamber of Commerce and others. Yet anyone on a summer beach in Italy, in an Asian city or surfing online knows that every branded luxury item has countless imitations.
