Source: AFP
As top brands like Gucci and Prada prepare to report billions in sales this month, the luxury fakes on the streets of Naples are also bringing in an impressive stream of cash — for the mob.
The crowded southern metropolis is ground zero for Italy’s 6-7 billion euro ($6.5-7.5 billion) counterfeit market, where fake handbags, sunglasses, clothes and shoes flourish, displayed in common sight to buyers looking to strike a deal.
“Which brand do you like? What color, what model?” asks an insistent vendor at the “Fake Market” that sprawls in the back alleys near the sandy city’s central train station.
Men arrive carrying overstuffed blue plastic bags, from which emerge Gucci baseball caps, Fendi purses, Hermes belts and bright orange Louis Vuitton shoe boxes, sold from rickety tables at a fraction of the price of their originals.
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Counterfeiting is a global phenomenon, whether fake fashion, toys, electronics, food or pharmaceuticals, estimated by the OECD to account for 2.5 percent of global trade.
However, Italy – home to the most luxury fashion brands – is the clear leader in counterfeit seizures within the European Union, accounting for 63 percent of seized items in 2022, according to an EU report in November.
And it is in Naples that imitations find a unique breeding ground, giving it the dubious distinction of being the undisputed European capital of fakes.
The city is home to every phase of the counterfeit fashion supply chain, from manufacturing and warehousing to distribution and sales — all dominated by the region’s homegrown Camorra mafia.
Easy money
While many consumers don’t worry about counterfeits, the mafia’s handprint makes them increasingly a priority for law enforcement.
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Source: AFP
“Counterfeiting is very important because it is a warning bell,” signaling more dangerous crimes, said Lt. Col. Giuseppe Evangelista, head of the Naples operations of the Guardia di Finanza, Italy’s financial crime police.
Although less lucrative than selling drugs, counterfeiting generates cash, helps launder drug money, and is relatively low-risk, with prison sentences much lower than those for more violent crimes.
“They already have the clientele… the tourists pass by on the street, the bag is bought and it makes a profit for the criminal organization,” Evangelista told AFP.
Police seizures are frequent and on the rise, including the discovery of a factory producing thousands of fake Napoli banners, jerseys and hats in February.
Interior ministry figures show that between 2018 and 2022, Naples police seized nearly 100 million items worth more than 470 million euros — about 14 percent of the value of all counterfeit goods seized in Italy.
“In Naples, counterfeiting represents a real parallel economic sector,” run by local and foreign mafias, a 2021 government report wrote. It called the city a “center of excellence” for fakes.
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A craft heritage in tailoring and leather, an international port, high unemployment and an influx of cheap foreign labor have contributed to a boom in counterfeiting — as has the local population’s long-standing tolerance for bending the rules.
Camorra and China
Cooperation between the Camorra and Chinese criminal groups fuels the tightly controlled system.
Source: AFP
While higher quality products are produced locally, most imported products come from China and Turkey.
Counterfeiters choose busy EU ports, such as Rotterdam, or those with less stringent controls such as in Greece or Bulgaria, before arriving in Italy by truck.
Once in the Campania region, the final finishing takes place in workshops using cheap illegal labour. The labels are often sent separately and sewn onto the latter, making it more difficult for customs to detect fakes.
The mafia also controls distribution, either through its own sales channels or by pressuring shop owners to sell counterfeit goods among their genuine items.
A 2022 police investigation found that Naples street market vendors paid the mafia up to €200 a week to run their stalls or were forced to buy their wares.
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“Cancer” in the market
The negative impact of counterfeiting on the economy, especially in terms of lost demand, lost jobs and unpaid taxes, is huge.
Source: AFP
The Italian government put it at 17 billion euros in 2020 — a year in which economic activity shrank largely due to coronavirus restrictions.
There are other consequences: many of Naples’ hundreds of toxic fires each year are caused by discarded towels from counterfeit clothes and shoes, experts say.
Top brands spend millions to fight counterfeiting.
Louis Vuitton brought more than 38,000 anti-counterfeiting cases worldwide in 2017, according to its website.
Even smaller companies are now building legal protection departments while increasingly investing in surveillance technology.
Local entrepreneurs in Naples have also established a “Museum of Real and Fake” to educate consumers. It closed last year.
Its head, Luigi Giamundo, said more than 32,000 small fashion businesses in Campania are threatened by unfair competition, where even raw fabrics can be counterfeited.
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“It’s a cancer wedged in our market,” Giamundo said.
Juna Shehu of Indicam, an Italian association that lobbies to protect the intellectual property of leading fashion brands, said the industry cannot act alone.
Indicam is calling on the EU to harmonize rules for dealing with seized counterfeits, with some countries currently making brands pay to store or destroy them.
Consumer education is also important. A 2023 survey showed that a third of EU citizens would consider buying a fake if the originals are too expensive, up from half of young people.
“This has to be a multidisciplinary approach because counterfeiters are becoming more and more specialized,” Shehu told AFP.
Back on Naples Street, many customers seem indifferent.
“It doesn’t bother me,” said Katerina, 17, who bought a fake YSL purse from a market vendor for 11 euros. The original costs over 300 euros.
“Regardless of the label, it’s about whether I like the item.”
Source: AFP