AAFA vs Counterfeiters

     Piracy, counterfeiting or bootlegging can be an annoying eyesore and headache in fashion retailing. Growing up, working as a urban clothing sales associate or as a sneaker head, urban fashionista or a plain old brand loyalist, I often despised the consumer who participated in the purchasing of fake apparel because these consumers adamantly believe that the product that they were wearing was not a fake. Sorry, but you have been hoodwinked and bamboozled. I understand the feeling of wanting to belong or don the latest fashions. It feels good to be in the ‘in crowd' sometimes, doesn’t it?  However, I am not always a fan of the, 'fake it till you make it' plan. In some regards, I am purest when it comes to fashion, sneakers and style. If I can afford brand, I will purchase the brand. If I cannot afford it then I can wait till I can afford it but never will I wear pirated or counterfeit shoes or apparel because I can be a clothing snob or brand slave at times. Not to mention, I may be fooling others but I am not fooling myself. 

To assist apparel and footwear companies in fighting the good fight against counterfeiters, the American Apparel and Footwear Association (AAFA), provides members and visitors a like with an anti-counterfeiting coalition issue tool kit. In conjunction with the Coalition Against Counterfeiting and Piracy (CACP) of which AAFA is an active member, released recommended steps companies can use in order to protect their supply chains from counterfeiters. As mentioned on AAFA’s webpage, CACP partnered with U.S. Chamber of Commerce and provided companies with a tool kit that, “[C]ontains best practice[sic] guidelines and seven case studies of companies that devised and implemented aggressive techniques to fight counterfeiting and piracy and protects themselves and their customers”.

My Own Jean Theory

As I get ready to watch tonight’s episode of the HBO’s series, "How to make it in America," I start to contemplate about fashionistas, hipsters, style, entrepreneurship and of course jeans. Especially, since I recently bought a pair of Diesels and Replays. I love Italian denim and I will admit, I can be somewhat of a jean snob but with a cheap conscious of course, which allows me to sniff out the sales. Anyway, I digress, How to make it in America; a story about two young gentlemen who risk it all to start their own jean company, inspires me to want to create my own brand of jeans just for the love of a good pair of denim with my name on it.

Since Levi Strauss & Co.'s gave birth to the jean in the mid 1800’s, jeans have transformed and transpired throughout the generations. No longer do cowboys and gold miners roam the Wild West carrying saddlebags and wearing dusty denim with patented copper rivets reinforcing the points of strain, touting a Colt 45 pistol, riding horse back. Those days are long gone. Now teens and young adults are wearing all types of rinses, washes, whiskers, distressed, slim, selvedge, baggy, relaxed, straight and skinny. Whether functional or fashionable the seamless design of the jean has evolved. Not surprisingly Levi Strauss & Co.'s original and the first jean, the 501’s denim jeans are stills a staple in the industry.

 Furthermore, they have plenty of competitors with a market that is flooded with every designer’s own brand of denim jeans from the bargain bin to haute couture. Out of that flood I have found a few favorites, one in particular is the denim brand Prps.

Prps was founded in 2002, in New York by Donwan Harrell, a former Nike designers and founder of the urban clothing line Akademiks. The jeans are manufactured in Japan. The denim is woven from African cotton on vintage 1960’s Levi’s looms. Since its inception in 2002, Prps have been a staple among the jean snobs who love luxury jeans from the fashionable elitist to athletes, actors and actresses.  The first pair of Prps jeans I ever bought was quite comfortable, stylish, and soft but had an expensive price tag. However, once again, I got it for cheap because I happen to be working for the urban clothing store, Up Against the Wall and their employee discount for a manager at the time was gracious. The starting price for a pair of Prps can be $180 and up but their jeans cost typically average around $400. 

Honestly, I like jeans that are strong in material, look fresh, fit well, have crazy rinses and have a nice cut. I kept my pair for a good six years until I gave them to my little cousin and he still wears them.  Prps’s denim; have nice cuts, fresh rinses and the denim is amazingly soft, must be that African cotton or something. Furthermore, I love Prps website, www.prpsgoods.com, their interface is rather dope. I feel like unwrapping personal messages to me that say, "Bruised, never broken…our jeans evolve with you". Believe it or not they almost feel like they do.