singapore//what to buy/fake???
 

hi.going to singapore late january..wants to buy clothes..anybody knows where to buy fake jeans, t-shirts etc, or some ok shopping places..thanks

Knock-offs are illegal in Singapore, just like many places in Asia, but here the police actually enforce it. I had a great spot in Chinatown for very good quality copy watches and handbags, but it was raided and shut down.
I've heard Bugis Junction has some copy stuff, but I can't vouch for the quality. I think for the kind of thing you are looking for, you will find more in BKK and HK.
For general souvenir shopping, there are millions of places in Chinatown, Little India and Arab St. Beautiful handmade crafts from all over Asia. There is a place in Tanglin Shopping Center that has excellent quality Laotian silk shawls, scarves and wallhangings. If you want nice Burmese laquerware, there is a great little shop in Chjimes. (Sorry, can't give you specific shop names....I just know where they are. But you will enjoy wandering around those two places anyway. They are full of interesting shops.)
Raffles Hotel Arcade has many nice shops. Pricey, but beautiful merchandise. There is a Jim Thompson store there that has great stuff. More expensive than BKK of course, but if you are not going to BKK, it might appeal.
Also, the Raffles logo shop has some good gift items. Cookbooks, china with Raffles logo, shirts, etc.

Fakes are now illegal in Thailand and it is now very difficult to find stuff. The risks are too high, you 'can' find but it is simply not like it used to be.
Due to 'pressure' from various areas fakes are disappearing fast, I think it has something to do with major fashion house shareholders living in abject poverty and recording stars not having enough cash for their new mansion or private jet, something like that.
In many poor areas in Asia it has resulted in vast numbers of people losing work and income, still all in a good cause!

I used to work for the fashion designer, Todd Oldham. Your argument, James, about fashion designers and musicians living in poverty because of the clamp down on fakes is specious. The logos and labels on clothing are registered trademarks of the designers, therefore their property. I am sure you would not like someone STEALING your property. We would probably get a very long diatribe on this site if your wallet was nicked by one of the locals, but, hey, it's OK to steal from a millionaire fashion designer or Eminem. Who was your ethics teacher??????

I would venture to suggest that not one of those artists would ever have achieved any fame in Asia if the music had not been available cheap, it was through cheap cassettes that people like Tina Turner became favorites. The quality was not that good so many who could afforf turned to buy the new CD's. The simple solution would be to have prices that reflected local income, that is the point, whether I made it clearly or not. It irkes me that only the rich and wealthy can enjoy such items or listen to such music. My staff are very well paid, but even for them 1 music CD costs the equivelent of 1.5 days salary ( pre tax ), to the average person 1 CD costs them about 4 days pay.
However, the majority of people who bought those fakes, especially clothing, were not local people, but foreign tourist from USA/Europe etc. My concern is that local people have no access to such items.

The thing I have noticed about knock-offs is that most of the people (like me)who buy them, are those who would never in a million years spend the money for the real thing anyway, because designer prices are ludicrous.
So it's not as though I am taking money out of the designer's pocket, because I would not be buying the product, even if there were no copies available.
Meanwhile, people do make some sort of a living out of selling those copies, even if it is outside the law in most places.
This is talking about clothes, watches, handbags, etc. I think movies and music are a different story, because for those I do buy the real thing. So if I buy illegal copies it does take money away from those poor artists and producers.
I'm sure I will get royally flamed for that twisted logic, but that's how I look at it.

ok...i understand everything about trademarks etc, but i buy it anyway!!!
i have done it many time in bkk, and in saigon, and i will keep on doing it..
i agree with lindsey, the real thing is way to expencive..but i understand that dior,boss,etc will try to stop it, but i think they never will,,perhaps i did start a debate about this??

So what you are saying, in a nutshell, is that it is OK to steal from someone as long as they are rich??

It seems morality flies out the window when the person you steal from is faceless.

James, I understand that there are hundreds of millions of people who live in horrible poverty. But, we aren't talking about food and shelter here, we are talking about fake designer goods and CDs. Why would someone who can't afford a sandwich want with a fake Louis Vuitton purse??

They probably don't want it, but they are employed selling the stuff! I know it is a touchy subject. Maybe an example is someone who bought a fake watch, liked it so much they decided to buy a real one! I still maintain that many pop-stars would never have been heard of if they were not able to access the cheap copies.
It depends very much where you live and how you view these things. Yes, the young girls in my office who see the LV advertising in the press would love to have a handbag like that, if they can get one for $4 they buy it, but for $800 they wouldn't.
I guess you could say that with originals they will never have a large market simply because of the cost, and only the very very wealthy will ever be able to afford them.
By the way most fakes have now disappeared even from BKK and none at all anywhere in Phuket. There has though been a surge in local design goods hitting the streets along with designer style promotions obviiusly to fill this gap, so maybe shoppers should look in the malls for 'new' local produced stylish items.

ThinGorjus::i dont say its right what we fake buyers are doing, but as long its here, people are buying, but i understand that boss,armani,etc want to stop it, and if i had been in the same position i would have tried to stop it myself but you did mention something about ethics..do you think its right that they (boss etc)can take that price for a dress,bag etc,as they are doing?? is the clothes they are sellig worth that price??, or does it cost that much because its populare?