Released: July 30, 2007

Sniffing out fake designer stuff

Source: Robin Givhan, Washington Post (Free Registration)

The young man with the sandy-brown hair holds up an orange handbag that at first glance looks like an Hermes Birkin. His voice takes on an aggrieved tone and his mouth curls into a hint of a sneer. For Matt Rubinger, this fake designer handbag is especially insulting because it’s so badly done. The handles have the wrong proportions, the leather is too slick, the zippers are cheap and the tiny keys to the bag’s distinctive padlock haven’t been tethered with a leather string, but instead are clipped to a metal key ring. To the average eye, the bag may look like an orange Birkin. To Rubinger, it is a travesty.

Rubinger is the sort of fellow a shopper would want to have along on a fashion bargain hunt. He knows if a bit of gold has been machine-stamped or etched. That an empty Balenciaga bag should melt into a buttery puddle rather than retain its shape. And he knows how authentic Hermes bags smell, which is a bit like a saddle that has spent time on a horse.

One might think Rubinger, 22, worked for some fancy handbag brand, but he does not and never has. He used to sell designer handbags on eBay, and now he works for the luxury auction site Portero as an “authentication consultant.” It’s his job to spot fakes and make sure they do not end up on the Portero site and ultimately in the hands of its customers.

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