Giorgio Gucci Visits Capitol Hill To Protest Counterfeit Trade and Distribution

by McLean Robbins (RSS feed)
Sep 23rd 2010 at 3:01PM

Giorgio Gucci made his first visit to Washington yesterday as part of a forum discussion entitled "Intellectual Property Rights in the Fashion Industry and Its Effects on Our Nation's Economy." Gucci, descendant of the famous Gucci dynasty, is the third generation of Gucci heirs that began with his grandfather, Guccio, who established the Gucci House of design in 1905. Panelists included Caroyl Miller, deputy textile negotiator from the U.S. Trade Representative Office, Jean Bonilla, director of the Office of Intellectual Property Enforcement and Steve Hicks, director of trade policy and agreement at the office of U.S. Customs and Border Protection.

The forum was jointly hosted by the Greater Washington Fashion Chamber of Commerce, a trade association for Washington's fashion industry, and Representative Diane E. Watson (D-CA). Panelists discussed two bills being circulated on the House and Senate sides that would impose stricter regulations on the production and distribution of counterfeit goods as well as the current actions U.S. agencies are taking to stop the trade and sale of such products.

"Survival in fashion is dependent on [designers] being able to produce creative, individual materials," said Rep. Watson, who represents the red carpet-rich district that includes Hollywood.

Gucci spoke passionately against the trade, calling it a "terrible business [that is] ruining the economy ... and promoting child slavery."

Panelists urged audience members, many of whom were staffers tasked by their Members to attend the session, to help promote the two bills, arguing that counterfeit production leads to child endangerment (due to unregulated child labor), possible terrorism (as black market money is put into the wrong hands) and organized crime as a result of the trade of the goods.

"The people who are exploiting the work of others have no conscience," said Gucci, who also spoke directly to the women in attendance, saying that "all women want nice things ... so I understand how tempting it is ... but any woman who carries a copy is hurting other women." He also directly addressed the men in the audience, saying that if they loved their women, they would buy only the "real thing." This statement elicited strong applause from the crowd.

Known for his Giorgio G brand of clothing, accessories and now cognac, Gucci is celebrating his tenth year in business with a week-long trip to the United States. He will be in New York City on September 29 to launch and auction his cognacs at the Taj hotel.

[Image courtesy of Kate Michael]

Tags: capitol hill, counterfeit, diane watson, giorgio g, giorgio gucci, greater washington fashion chamber of commerce, washington dc

Filed under: Apparel, Handbags

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Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)

Mikki Sep 23rd 2010 4:17PM

Something needs to be done! It is long over due. They high end designers can't have knockoffs being made for those who can't afford the real thing.

reallytorkedoff Sep 23rd 2010 9:52PM

As long as designers keep charging exorbitant prices for their goods and advertising how wonderful their status symbols are, criminals will keep knocking them off and selling cheap copies for much lower prices.

The designers create the demand, then charge customers through the nose for the supply.

But I guess that's blaming the victim.

The real culprits are the people who are so desperate for status symbols that they are willing to work with criminals to get them.

It works the same way with drugs. The users drive the trade.

mnlumpur Sep 24th 2010 2:11AM

WHY DO EUROPEAN MEN, ALWAYS DRESS WAY BETTER THAN AMERICAN MEN? FASHION IS IN THEIR BLOOD, AMERICANS ARE JUST MEDIA FOLLOWERS.

n kogan Sep 27th 2010 1:17PM

I recently found Gucci shoes in discount warehouse DSW store.They looked authentic, but 10 colors of the same style gave me some doubts. I never seen in Gucci catalogs, stores, outlets such array of colors. DSW says these are authentic. When I called Gucci corporative office they didn�t know anything about DSW and they were very surprised. Meanwhile DSW still selling them month later. I can�t imagine DSW would sell fakes, it is known chain, not like some mom and pop�s store. Gucci hunt poor Ebay sellers and end their auctions if they suspect the item is fake. So, I would imagine, they will not allow DSW to use their trade mark. So, what is this? Special deal Gucci has with DSW they don�t want admit? Puzzle...

derrode Oct 10th 2010 2:23PM

gucci knows nothing about those discounted stored because places like dsw do no buy there designer brands from the designers. it is brought from the department stores, and other high end stores that can't sell all that they brought from the designers. its simple. if i am Bergdorf goodman, and i ordered from gucci 100 pair of shoes and i can not sell all 100 pairs to my customers, i'm gonna sell the rest that i have to the discount stores. They will cut the price down to half or more, and that's how you get designer from dsw. thats why gucci did not know anything about dsw selling their products, its was because gucci wasn't the ones who sold them to them.