Critical Consumer Pat Sidley
WHAT’S in a name? Anybody who was at The Rolling Stones’ concerts last weekend would know the answer.
There was all the ”official, authorised” memorabilia, inlcuding the copyrighted name of the Stones. There were the concertgoers who wore jeans carrying the familiar back-pocket red label of Levi’s.
Yet, like the ”genuine bootleg” Stones items on sale around the stadium, a fair proportion of those Levi’s would in fact have been fakes. Unlike the Stones corporation’s promoters and merchandisers — who exhorted the public to stay away from fakes, then supplied far too few authentic items — the Levi- Strauss company is going to make sure the local market is adequately supplied with its famous jeans.
The Levi’s name, on a small label attached to the seat of the jeans is, to some, is the all-important part of the purchase.
To the Levi-Strauss company, its name is of such significance that it has started a massive operation to ”clean up” the local market and rid it of imitations. Only a corporation with vast resources can afford to take such action to protect its trademarks and position in the market.
Later this year it will begin manufacturing its jeans in Cape Town for the local market. Although Levi- Strauss will not confirm details of its plan, two of its (legitimate) stockists in Johannesburg told this critical consumer that the company will bring in most of its own fabric, but the jeans will be made here. In order to get an 80 percent rebate on import duties, Levi-Strauss will also export.
The company did, however, say it hoped to sell the jeans for less than the present going rate of about R300 to R350. That price is usually determined by import duty, foreign exchange, freight and then profit. If consumers see Levi’s on the market for substantially less than that, they are likely to be fakes. By late this year consumers can expect to find the real thing in stores: they will display a certificate bragging of their authorisation from the company and selling for around R250.
Between now and then, however, consumers will not be able easily to tell whether or not they have bought a fake or a pair of original Levi jeans.
The issue of imitations is not confined to Levi’s. Many of the plush city shopping areas contain boutiques now selling expensive and famous couturier brand names such as Armani, Versace and Moschino. This can mean buying a pair of jeans for anything from R500 up. Of great importance is the branding of the product. In the case of Moschino, a peace sign stiched into the trousers’ rear-end, which can’t be registered as a trademark, is often used on jeans. In the case of Armani, there is a small V-shaped emblem, which is registered as a trademark. Versace has its name on the jeans — that’s all.
The consumers of such fashion house jeans often only want the name — and of course the fit of the jeans. To protect the right to sell that name, companies take quite aggressive legal measures to ensure that the market is not distorted (or ruined) by cheaper fakes.
Thus, Lutiks in Johannesburg have been rooting out fake Moschino items and taking legal action on behalf of the Italian company which owns the trademarks. They are not the sole licensed dealers in these up-market items, but they protect themselves as much as they can, by stopping other stores’ illegal practices.
According to Levi-Strauss South Africa’s managing director, Waddell Blackwell, the jeans market in this country comes to something between 10-million to 13- million pairs sold each year. A good 500 000 pairs are fake Levi’s, which are being sniffed out with the help of the South African Police Services. According to the British Consumer Association’s Which? magazine, 2- million fake Levi’s were seized in 1991.
The company builds several secret security items — never disclosed to the public — into its jeans, known only to a very few specific authorised company executives. Thus fakes can be detected.
Consumers who are buying jeans for the name Levi- Strauss could question shop staff in stores, though at least one store in Sandton (LA Clothing, which is selling genuine items), ordered its staff not to answer questions on the issue, which created undue suspicion when this critical consumer called in to get advice on jeans. Other stores, such as Moolla’s in Johannesburg CBD and Sandton, are more forthcoming — and even refer consumers to the Cape Town head office of Levi Strauss if they are very sceptical.
Meanwhile, consumers looking for a good pair of blue denim jeans in which to attend the Phil Collins concert may want to know that both United Kingdom and United States consumer organisations have tested jeans for their durability and other factors. So consumers are able to check jeans for factors such as:
* Fit. No two pairs seem ever to be exactly alike, and consumers should try on several pairs. They should also check for the construction of the jeans and the finish.
* Are the pocket linings and their stitching tough? It’s silly to buy a pair of jeans with weak pockets that will shed your money.
* Shrinkage. Regardless of claims of being pre-shrunk, jeans can shrink in different ways. Check out what the care instructions say, and find out from the store what its returns policy is.
* Colour running. Although jeans manufacturers often proclaim that the fabric colour does not run, Which? magazine’s tests show that colour usually does run.
* Fabric toughness versus a worn look. The US consumer journal Consumer Reports and Which? contradict each other. Which? says the process used to fade jeans weakens the fabric; Consumer Reports says it makes no difference.
* Belt loops are an area of jeans which take a lot of strain — check that they are tough and big enough for your belts.
So how did Levi’s do in the two countries? In the UK, the Which? tests results on two styles (501s and 615s) did not rate them as among the best, but their size variation and colour loss were lower than most. Other indicators were somewhat mediocre. In the US (home to Levi’s), they tended to get mediocre ratings.
By the way, for those still hunting down authentic Stones memorabilia — don’t bother. The official merchandiser does not return his calls and evidently couldn’t be bothered with consumers. When the fakes turn up at the flea markets, go for the cheapest and show that consumer service counts.