More than 5 billion euros. This is the amount of damage that counterfeiting has caused during 2020 to fashion. Fake clothing, footwear and accessories bring to its knees a sector that – more than others – suffered from the blows of Covid. This was calculated by Assoutenti, a consumer association that deals with the fight against counterfeiting. The study comes in the context of “I am original”, a project of MiSE, the Italian Patent and Trademark Office.
More than 5 billion euros
Counterfeiting in the clothing, footwear and accessories sectors caused damages for 5.2 billion euros in 2020. A phenomenon that does not seem to stop, but which, on the contrary, increased during the health emergency. The data is brought to light in a research by non-profit association Assoutenti: “The latest data from the OECD record a damage to manufacturing companies deriving from the phenomenon of counterfeiting equal to 1.3 billion a year for lost sales. Moreover, they unfairly pay 1.4 billion euros for the purchase of fake products, for a total turnover of fake made in Italy in the fashion sector equal to 5.2 billion euros”.
The dark side of the web
According to Assoutenti, the phenomenon records growing data “also as a consequence of the greater use that consumers make of web and e-commerce”, especially with the advent of the pandemic. Digital channels are “real havens for counterfeiting”. Precisely to counter the phenomenon, in the context of the “I am original” project, Assoutenti made a video to warn consumers and prevent them from falling into the trap of the “fakes”, following small precautions.
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