Fashion lovers worldwide know the luxury street-wear brand Off-White for its distinctive designs and the diagonal prints. The chief executive officer, Virgil Abloh, founded the brand in 2012 in Milan. Since then, the brand has gained popularity and collaborated with over 20 brands and designers. Off-White’s huge success and the public’s admiration resulted in high demand for the brand’s pieces, especially shoes and clothing items. Even though their retail price can be as low as $50, the resell prices skyrocket to over $5,000.
The high demand for Off-White items, together with the high resell prices, has led to the development of counterfeit manufacturing. Thousands of fake Off-White items are being produced and sold daily, which is a big threat for an oblivious buyer who cannot tell if the item is authentic. Many people prefer to buy replicas and are aware of the item not being original. However, more and more people are being tricked into buying a fake for the price of an authentic piece, which is concerning.
To avoid this happening to you, this article will suggest some tips on how to spot fake Off-White items. The advice is provided by legitgrails.com that provides consultancy and authentication services to help people worldwide avoid counterfeit street-wear and designer items.
1. Verifying Off-White Clothing
Source: Legit Check App.
The Off-White brand has a variation of clothing items that gained massive popularity from the very start. The famous ‘Pyrex 23′ flannel shirt, or any of the Off-White diagonal hooded sweaters, has some very close copies sold for authentic prices. There are a few points you need to consider when verifying an Off-White clothing item.
The item’s neck tag will be the first detail to look at, if the item in question has one, of course. It can be more difficult to verify the older models, as there have been several variations of the neck tags in the past few years. As a rule of thumb, the stitching on the sides of the neck tag should never be messy, and there should never be extra threads sticking out.
When it comes to verifying an Off-White hoodie, checking the washing label would be a significant part of the authentication process. The washing labels did not vary with the different collections, so a general rule would for the stitching to be quite dense. If the stitching at the top of your Off-White washing label is too loose, chances are this item is counterfeit.
Lastly, as the brand is known for its printings and patterns, it would be crucial to check the prints’ quality and colors. Sometimes people might consider different colors due to the different lighting. However, an authentic Off-White item would most often have its high-quality printing have the correct colors.
2. Authenticating Off-White Shoes
Source: Insider
The Off-White shoes, or their collaborations with other brands to be exact, have one of the highest resale premiums in the industry right now. These are wanted by thousands, if not millions, across the globe, which encourages the manufacturers and sellers to supply the replica copies. Let’s find out how you can avoid those!
There are many collaborations, yet the Off-White x Nike partnership would probably be the most remarkable one. A distinctive feature of this collaboration would be the “AIR” printing, which is most often found on the shoe’s midsole. You should verify it’s font and thickness, as the fake copies tend to get it wrong usually. Of course, the printing varies from a pair to a pair, especially with the quality control problems, yet generally, the printing should not be too thick or bulky.
With the Off-White designs always being very innovative and unique, it is difficult to suggest many general tips, as the details drastically vary from a pair to a pair. Yet some designs have another signature aspect brought by Virgil Abloh – the foam. The deconstructed foam can be found in many Off-White x Nike pairs, such as the Off-White Jordan 1, or the Off-White Prestos.
The fake copies can very easily be distinguished from the authentics by just looking at this detail. A general rule for verifying the deconstructed foam would be that it would never have a snow-white color. An authentic foam would be thin and have a yellow undertone to it, especially if the pair was worn before, as opposed to a thick fake one.
3. Buying Off-White Items Online
Source: Engadget
The online reselling platforms are the place where the sellers of counterfeit items can take full advantage of the buyer being oblivious. Some sellers upload the photos of authentic items, and send out a completely different piece, others fake receipts and claim that the item was bought from the original store; there are hundreds of different ways those sellers try to scam the shoppers. These additional tips, combined with the ones stated above, should minimize your chances of buying a fake.
First, do not hesitate to request additional photos of the item, such as the size tag, the washing label, etc., depending on the item itself. These photos should help you verify the item by yourself and show you if the seller is open and willing to share them. If the additional photos are not there – it is very likely that the seller is hiding something.
Second, do not fall for the ‘I have the receipt’ trick. Our experience shows that every receipt can be faked, and this is just another way for the sellers to build trust from their customers. It would be better if you did not consider the receipt as valid evidence of the item being authentic, in case there is nothing else that supports it. Even if the receipt is original, the item could not be the same.
Lastly, check the price and compare it to other sellers of the same item, model, and size. The size makes a huge difference, especially when looking at the shoe prices. The price for a fake item might often be lower because it needs to be sold as fast as possible for the seller not to be blocked on the platform. This is why if the price is too good – the item is probably not authentic.
