This article is part of our Advanced Membership package. To enjoy unlimited access to The Long View from Vogue Business, The Fashion Exec s Guide and Market Insights Reports, sign up for Advanced Membership here.
Want The Row’s Margaux, but can’t afford the $5,000 price tag? Cos’s $390 Bowling Bag is lauded as the high street’s best dupe yet. Or maybe a version of The Row’s viral $890 woven Mara flats are more to your taste — you can find strikingly similar pairs available on Amazon for sub-$40. Also on Amazon, a plethora of alternatives to Bottega Veneta’s $880 Small Drop earrings sell for as low as $12.95. And if $98 is more than you want to spend on workout leggings, there are whole articles dedicated to the “best dupes” for Lululemon’s Align styles — all under $30.
And there was the recent Walmart’s ‘Wirkin’ (as online commentators dubbed it), previously available on the big-box retailer’s site for around $80, a far cry from Hermés’s $10,000-plus ticket; the bag reportedly sold out shortly after going viral on TikTok. Just last week, reports emerged that Amazon is now also selling Birkin dupes for $50.
Dupe culture has changed how we shop, as copycat products explode in mainstream acceptance and mass market availability. They’re cheap alternatives to premium or luxury products, but don’t typically replicate trademarked logos or details, which generally means they are legal and not counterfeit. (Though they can veer into counterfeit territory if the initial product design is trademarked.) These remakes are available everywhere from Amazon to the high street, and they’ve gotten a rebrand.
.jpg)
“The diminutive ‘dupe’ has replaced more negative terms like copycat, replica, knock-off and counterfeit,” says Susan Scafidi, founder and director of the Fashion Law Institute at Fordham Law School. “Not coincidentally, some younger consumers in particular have come to view dupes as a sign of shopping savvy, indicating that the buyer has the sartorial knowledge to recognise the original but the financial cleverness to buy the copy instead.”
Social media is a key driver. “The oversaturation of imagery and mass democratisation powered by social media has led to decline in the status of luxury goods,” says Louise Yems, strategy director at marketing agency The Digital Fairy. “When what’s aspirational is more about lifestyle than the acquisition of something exclusive, dupes feel like a natural consequence.”
Indicative of this shift is the sheer number of articles advocating for dupes. “I’ve found the best Balenciaga City bag dupes that are just as good, starting from £20,” one headline reads. “On my mind: Diptyque dupes and my Zara Home wish list,” another offers. “No lie — my chic, expensive-looking earrings are actually from Amazon,” a 2024 headline boasted. (The SEO reads “My Amazon Bottega-alt earrings.”) “Yes, these look like Bottega Veneta, and while I’d always advocate for buying the original, as we’ve established, I simply don’t have the budget to do so in this instance,” the writer wrote.
Dupe culture began to really ramp up in 2022, driven by TikTok videos of consumers bragging about — and sharing intel on — their luxe-for-less fashion and beauty finds. In 2023, #dupe had 3.5 billion views on the platform. Now, it has over 6.3 billion. Not only are Gen Z shoppers gravitating towards dupes — they’re shouting about them, too, and encouraging their peers to do the same. Social media matters: 51.1 per cent of Gen Z shoppers purchased a product they discovered on social media within the past six months, per a July 2024 Emarketer survey. Off the back of this sentiment shift, more industries are getting in on the action. In 2024, fragrance dupes took hold, expanding the categories in which shoppers can trade down.
Interest in — and purchasing habits for — dupes are indeed growing. Approximately a third of US adults have deliberately purchased a dupe, per intelligence firm Morning Consult. Young people are even more keen: almost half of Gen Z shoppers and 44 per cent of millennials say they’ve bought dupes. And the numbers of consumers interested in cheaper alternatives are growing. Seventy-one per cent of Gen Zs sometimes or always buy a cheaper version of name-brand products, according to a Business Insider and YouGov survey.
This explosion is ominous for luxury brands, which rely on consumers trading up for their premium products. If dupes are cool, that drastically decreases the amount of consumers that might once upon a time have saved for a luxury splurge. Now, they can buy multiple products for far less than the price of one luxury item. Just look at Elf Beauty, whose third-quarter revenues grew 31 per cent to $355.3 million. For the nine months ended 31 December 2024, revenues increased 40 per cent to $980.9 million. It’s Elf’s dupes — of products like Rare Beauty’s liquid blush and Dior’s lip oil — that helped the company to surpass its $1 billion in sales mark for the first time in fiscal 2024, according to Emarketer. This is a likely hit to higher-ticket competitors.
Tastemakers are also giving dupes their stamp of approval. In January, Emilia Petrarca wrote about Amazon’s luxury dupes for Amy Odell’s Back Row Substack. Some fared better than others, but many dupe purchasers were impressed by how similar the copies were to the originals. Last month, beauty editor Jennifer Romolini shared her favourite beauty dupes with her Substack readers. “I’m in my cheap bitch era/never paying Sephora prices again,” she wrote.
This attitude has only been amplified in 2025, as consumers feel more squeezed than ever. Dupes are one of the winners to come out of the luxury slowdown, as consumers are either priced out of the luxury market and need alternatives; or have grown increasingly aware of the disjuncture between quality and price so choose to opt out. “You couldn’t tell the difference, so why would I spend thousands more for basically the same thing?” the friend of a Wired writer asked when asked about her (“real Italian leather”) Bottega dupe.
.jpg)
‘Dupe brands’ are capitalising on this consumer disillusion — and resulting white space. “The prestige and luxury sectors of the market have demonstrated strong growth for a long period of time. What was equally evident to us though was how many people were being priced out of those spaces along the way,” says Greg Barker, executive VP of Americas at MCoBeauty. “We could see that vacuum in the market growing. People don’t want to compromise, so we felt confident that if we could go further than others have, and give a full product experience — the packaging, the quality, all at an amazing price point — not just a formula, then it would resonate.”
The dupe pyramid
Not all dupes are made equal. Different tiers of the already-fuzzy category have emerged as more consumers — and brands — have leaned into the concept.
Ultra-fast fashion giants like Shein and Temu have accelerated the development of fashion dupes thanks to their ability to churn out replica products quickly at lower prices when a luxury item begins trending, Brian Walker, chief strategy officer at digital commerce company Bloomreach, previously told Vogue Business. “We’ve seen what was already an established knock-off culture turbocharged, coupled with a surge in demand from social media.”
Brands frequently file lawsuits against these companies, says Shermin Lakha, founder of Lvlup Legal and creative agency Tiger Tiger. They have varying degrees of success. With Shein, most lawsuits have resulted in settlement behind closed doors or Shein removing the products from its site, Lakha says.
Similarly known for turbocharging dupe culture are sites like Amazon and Walmart (recall the Wirkin). On Amazon, creators have shown themselves reverse image searching designer bags. Major selling platforms, though, are strengthening their anti-counterfeit measures, Lakha says, to avoid brand lawsuits. “My agency manages live-stream creators on Amazon Live, and as part of their guidelines, they are not permitted to say the words ‘dupe’, ‘copycat’ or anything similar or Amazon may take down their live stream from the platform,” she says.
More recently, a new tier has emerged: premium dupe brands. Some bill themselves as such; others let the products speak for themselves. On the fashion side, non-branded (and still fast) fashion brands like Quince and Italic are growing in popularity, as creators and consumers alike highlight the brands’ luxe looks and accessible price points. These brands are ostensibly better quality than ultra-fast fashion (sweaters are cashmere, jackets 100 per cent wool, skirts 100 per cent silk), and employ a direct-from-factory model, adding a level of ‘transparency’. But experts have questioned the brand’s ethical and sustainability claims. Quince’s revenues have more than doubled from $140 million in 2022 to $340.3 million in 2024. “People still aspire to luxury but may feel alternatives offer better value,” Isobel Farmiloe, group brand strategy director at creative and cultural insight agency Dazed Studio, told Vogue Business of the appeal of such brands.
Australian beauty brand MCoBeauty — which launched in Target in January — is perhaps beauty’s best-known dupe brand. It leans into this status, with packaging close enough to be clear its products are dupes (look at a side-by-side of its Flawless Glow Luminous Skin Filter foundation for $14.99 with Charlotte Tilbury’s Hollywood Flawless Filter for $49). It bills itself as luxe-for-less. About 50 per cent of the brand’s offerings are dupes; the other 50 original products, Barker says.
As Vogue’s José Criales-Unzueta pointed out, the ‘dupe’ label has broadened out beyond knock-offs and replicas to encompass solid mid-market pieces that can supplement pricey alternatives. Brands including Uniqlo, Gap, Banana Republic, J Crew and Cos have emerged as go-tos for fashion insiders, and reflect growing industry recognition that the majority of consumers are unable to keep up with luxury’s increasing expenses. Even those who may spend $500-odd on jeans don’t often want to fill their wardrobes with $1,000 sweaters. Like the luxe-for-less dupe brands, these mid-market labels are cashing in on the quiet luxury aesthetic that’s overwhelmed the fashion industry during the last two years. Only the quality beats the more online dupe-y brands, and the prices are low enough to remain appealing. It’s a hit: last year, three Vogue employees were spotted at the office in the same grey crewneck jumper. It could’ve been The Row or Toteme. (Their jeans were Loewe and The Row.) But the sweater was Uniqlo, purchased for under $100.
What’s legal?
Generally, dupes are taken to be alternatives — not a direct copy of an existing product. But the definition of dupes is blurry, which means so is the legality, Scafidi of the Fashion Law Institute cautions. Counterfeit is a legal term for the unauthorised — and thus illegal — use of a trademark. Dupes are not defined by law, she notes, which means they may or may not be counterfeits.
“When dupes don’t use the trademarked name or logo of the genuine item, they’re less likely to be considered counterfeits,” she says. But some product designs are so iconic (Scafidi points to the Hermès Birkin, Christian Louboutin’s red soles and the combined elements of Converse Chuck Taylor sneakers) that the design itself can serve as a trademark, even without the name or the logo. “In those cases, dupes are likely to be counterfeits and subject to legal action,” she explains.
This is difficult to protect, though, because most design elements are considered functional by courts, says Lauren Madonia, business and intellectual property attorney at Lvlup Legal. “It is extremely difficult to protect a product’s shape, colour scheme and overall look, especially if there is no logo,” she says. Madonia points to “quiet luxury brands” like Bottega Veneta. “If you do a simple Google search on the brand’s name, dupes are provided as suggested products for purchase in the search results.”
Dupes, especially in the US, rely partly on legal loopholes. It comes down to whether or not the brand selling the dupe has profited off the sale of said dupe based on the information it did (or did not) provide to the consumer, Lakha explains. “The brand [taking legal action] has to show that a reasonable consumer would mistake the product as authentic,” she says, which is hard to do.
The big grey area makes it difficult for brands to prevail on the legal front, Scafidi says. “Compared with intellectual property protection for fashion designs in other jurisdictions, including Europe, US law feels like one big loophole,” she continues. “Fashion design protection in the US tends to be the exception, not the rule.” Brands tend to rely on trademark law to protect their labels and logos, Scafidi says, but worries that dupe culture is now eroding trademark protection. “Putting someone else’s trademark on a product is illegal, but describing a dupe as similar to a name-brand product is often permitted, so long as the consumer isn’t likely to be confused.”
What can brands do?
Brands can still take legal action. Lakha points to the many lawsuits against Shein that are either settled out of court, or result in the removal of products from Shein’s site.
Since launching in 2016, MCoBeauty has been sued by both Tarte Cosmetics and Chemcorp, discontinuing or altering related dupes. In the 2021 Tarte case, Tarte claimed the product was bordering on a counterfeit item because of how similarly misleading the packaging was. MCoBeauty changed the product packaging and the parties agreed to settle out of court. In the Chemcorp case, the company sued MCoBeauty claiming that its 2000 Hours lash and brow kit was “substantially identical and/or deceptively similar” to its trademarked 1000Hour kit. Once again, the brands settled out of court, and MCoBeauty renamed and rebranded the product.
“That was very early on in the MCoBeauty journey, but I won’t comment on those moments specifically,” Barker says. “We are careful with whatever we bring to the market. We work extremely hard to ensure that our brand and its products stand apart from others in the market so there is no confusion for the consumer.” The confusion element, after all, is key when it comes to lawsuits. Barker declined to comment further on how MCoBeauty now crafts and markets its products in a way that protects it from brands pushing back.
At the end of the day, lawsuits are expensive, and even big brands’ legal budgets are limited, Scafidi flags — especially when there’s no guarantee litigation will be successful. In December, Benefit Cosmetics unsuccessfully attempted to sue Elf Cosmetics for a dupe of the former’s Roller Lash mascara; the judge ruled that Elf’s use of a different component and packaging was distinct enough as to not confuse customers. “Brands don’t necessarily have the resources to protect every angle of every product — that just wouldn’t be commercially viable,” Iona Silverman, intellectual property lawyer and partner at law firm Freeths, told Vogue Business.
With legal action bearing mixed results, the creative route is often preferable, Lakha says. Some brands are actively working against dupe culture via marketing plays to prove their worth and status. Back in 2023, Olaplex enlisted 100 influencers to unbox fake product ‘Oladupé’. The first 160 consumers to register their details on Oladupe.com were sent a bottle of the product — which wound up being a bottle of Olaplex’s cult No 3. Last October, Charlotte Tilbury posted a now-viral guerilla marketing clip calling out the brand’s dupes. “Other brands want to replicate its viral success without the expertise, science and innovation behind my high-performance formula,” Tilbury told Vogue Business.
Duping has exploded into the mainstream. We weigh up the different ways brands are responding.
Lululemon is known for its creative efforts to combat its many dupes. For years, the brand has posted side-by-sides of its leggings and fakes (at a time when most brands refused to acknowledge dupes, Scafidi flags). In May 2023, Lululemon hosted a ‘dupe swap’ in Los Angeles, promising free Lululemon leggings for consumers who brought in dupes of the brand’s Align leggings. And late last year, the brand filed an application to trademark ‘Lululemon dupe’.
“This strategy recognises the power of digital language in today’s market and could reshape how brands approach protection in the social media era with the use of hashtags and other types of claims,” Madonia says. How Lululemon will apply the mark is unclear, as the filing is an “intent to use” registration, Scafidi adds. “The trademark filing is an additional tool to complement the robust brand protection programme we have in place,” said a Lululemon spokesperson.
Because brands have limited options for legal recourse, their best bet is to move beyond worrying about dupes and focus instead on upping their brand value. Dupes can be a jumping-off point. “Brands should wear their dupes as a badge of honour, using it as a way in for brand education, highlighting product superiority and demonstrating their cultural and social awareness,” says The Digital Fairy creative director Chemmie Squier.
Beyond this, brands need to double down on long-term brand value by emphasising (and committing to) quality and craft; making themselves more accessible via pricing strategies like price bracketing and introducing entry-level categories; and amping up their marketing strategies. “When the tangibles of your brand can be easily copied, you need to work extra hard to pull people in through the intangibles,” Yems says. “What are the feelings your products evoke? Which fantastical environments are your consumers transported to when they use your [product]?”
Higher-ticket fashion brands, like Christopher John Rogers and Maryam Nassir Zadeh, have leaned into the ‘realistic aspiration’ category resurgence via collaborations with mid-market brands such as J Crew. Gap, Dôen, Banana Republic and Peter Do have followed the same formula. These aren’t dupes at all, of course, but display a recognition that consumers are seeking out more affordable pieces — and claiming a piece of that market share, instead of leaving shoppers to look elsewhere.
“I have my own price point based on my margins, but this is why it was really interesting to do this with J Crew because they have such a different price point and way of manufacturing and doing the merchandising edit,” eponymous designer Zadeh told Vogue Business at the time. “I feel that’s why this was so successful.” As they say: if you can’t beat ’em, join ’em.
All said, even as brands work to shift their products and messaging, dupe culture’s now-iron grip will be tough to shake. “Dupe culture may turn out to be a temporary trend, as brands harness both limited legal strategies and expansive capacity for consumer engagement to turn the tide,” Scafidi says. “But it’s going to be a while before we’re done with dupes.”
To receive the Vogue Business newsletter, sign up here.
Comments, questions or feedback? Email us at feedback@voguebusiness.com.
