Faking It
This story goes inside the counterfeit fashion industry
With fake designer brands flooding the market, it is extremely hard for authorities to uncover who is behind the counterfeit fashion business. The gangs operating this lucrative trade are not only responsible for fake brands, but also human trafficking, money laundering and even terrorism.
International crime syndicates have made Manchester the counterfeit capital of the UK – the city is the engine of fake fashion, pumping it out across Europe. Young people are nowadays very open about wearing fake designer goods: "you even have the tags on, as if you bought it from the brand" says one woman. The Manchester police force tasked with combating the trade prepares to raid a counterfeiting hub. They expect to uncover an expansive criminal network: "they're not just going to be concerned with counterfeiting, they're going to be associated with lots of other avenues of criminality that they're going to exploit" says Detective Neil Blackwood. A lot of the people buying the goods don't realise that their money is being used to fund other criminal activities, even terrorism. "Hezbollah has used it heavily...first they sell counterfeits, and then they buy weapons from it" says Elke Biechele, CEO of financial threat detection platform RisikoTek.
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