Our 'logo obsessed' society

The fake designer goods industry accounts for about $500 billion annually in the global economy, seven per cent of the world's trade, according to the International Chamber of Commerce.

And fakes could be costing the European Union up to €400 billion and more than 100,000 jobs each year.

The subject is dealt with in the October issue of Modern Elegance, the style magazine that comes out with The Times tomorrow.

The magazine says that so far this year, the Maltese Customs Department intercepted 25 containers with counterfeit goods. The latest container was bound for Piraeus and contained 17,700 Dior, Gucci and Chanel fake sunglasses and 5,856 Lancôme, Hugo Boss, Armani, Chanel and Dior perfume bottles.

Buying a fake good is dangerous and constitutes a crime. Some claim that profits from the counterfeiting business go to fund activities such as organised crime and terrorism.

So what is it that makes people buy these items, which rarely conform to any safety regulations? Why are people so logo-obsessed? And, how does one tell a fake from the real thing?

Modern Elegance also reports on the final night of the Diet Coke-sponsored Ford Models' Supermodel of the World search in pictures, and features a 10-page fashion story with the key looks of the new season, modelled by the finalists.

Modern Elegance is published by Q Publications and printed at Progress Press.