Letter from a Reader: Why are Imitation Items Allowed in the Department Store?

Original Mulberry

Version displayed in the department store

Dear Fashion Pulis,

I guess all letters senders start by saying that they are big fans of your blog and I am proud to say that I am no exception. I used to ignore local chismis sites and concentrated more on the foreign showbiz sites until I accidentally encountered your blog site. I have been hooked to Fashion PULIS since May 2011.

When my cousin had a negative experience with a celebrity, I encouraged her to email you the incident. Her story eventually landed on your blog with the title Letter from a Reader: Queen of Deadma. We were vacationing in Hong Kong when her letter came out. We were so excited that we spent so much time re-reading the story and we forgot all about the shopping.

Anyway, I wanted to share a disturbing discovery I made while shopping in Makati last Sunday. I visited this department store because I wanted to look at the house ware section. When I was passed by the women's hand bag section, the 'What's New' display rack caught my attention. I was so surprised to find out that the department store carries Mulberry imitation itmes with every detail of the original style including the metallic emblem/logo.

Now this is my question. Is the department store aware of this? Is the one in charge of the consignment items aware that these bags are imitations? Even if this department store is known for its affordable items, this does not put them on the same level as the "tiangge" stalls that sell fake luxury handbags. In my opinion, this is a serious crime just like movie or music piracy?

Thank you for taking the time out to read and post my letter.

Kind regards,
FA