Diesel takes an active approach in fighting counterfeiting

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The fashion label Diesel reports the seizure of tens of thousands of counterfeit clothing items in 2019, alongside with numerous successes against the online trade in illegal products. Previously, Diesel had also taken rather unconventional measures on brand misuse.

The Italian clothing company Diesel recently announced its brand protection successes of 2019. According to respective reports, Diesel took action against counterfeiting both online and offline – with tens of thousands of fakes seized by authorities and thousands of steps taken against fraudulent online offers.

For example, during several raids in China, around 17,000 items of clothing, accessories, and labels were seized, which had used Diesel’s trademark and logo without permission. In addition, almost 24,000 counterfeit items have been identified in Turkey, and almost 6,000 polo shirts in the United Kingdom. Further successes include actions in Egypt, Morocco, Portugal, and the United Arab Emirates.

In parallel, Diesel successfully acted against fraud on the Internet: The company reportedly took action against more than 1,200 sites selling counterfeits. A focus has been put on the online marketplaces eBay, the Chinese platform Taobao, and the Brazilian Mercado Libre. On social media platforms, especially Instagram, as well as on search engines Google and Bing, and locally in several EU countries, more than 7,000 additional URLs and advertisements suspected of leading to counterfeits have been removed.

For several years now, Diesel has been taking an active approach in brand protection. A campaign in 2018 attracted attention, when original products that imitated typical fakes were sold in a pop-up store in New York City. The items, carrying the misspelled logo “Deisel”, were offered at prices seen typical for imitations. The aim of the self-ironic action was reportedly to embrace counterfeits for Diesel’s own benefit and to combat illegal competitors. “If anyone else follows they’ll have to do a knock-off of a knock-off”, commented Renzo Rosso, president of OTB group, which owns the brand. Diesel is not the only brand that has been selling alleged fakes in an attention-grabbing manner: As early as 2014, the industry association Meisterkreis had launched an mock-up online shop for counterfeits, supported at the time by an awareness campaign.

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Sources: Sportswear International, Vogue

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