When you type Eames or Le Corbusier in a price comparison, you find sites offering furniture at prices ranging from simple to triple. So, good deal or copy? You would have to be Sherlock to say that. Especially since some sites inspire rather confidence, are hosted in France and offer furniture at more than 500 € (all the same)… Except that under French law, these are counterfeits and that – theoretically – with them, we risk prison…
The problem is much more complex than for luxury brands. Because, in principle, it is up to us to find the company that officially has the rights to manufacture designer furniture reproductions. Ex:Cassina is the only company that has the right to reproduce Le Corbusier furniture. But the info is almost impossible to find. No one centralizes it. The problem is the same for other designers.
There, it gets complicated. In England, the law is different and many copies of major designers are legal! But become counterfeits when crossing the Channel... In Italy, Steelform.com, which has a storefront, is clear:the firm accepts that its furniture is called counterfeit, but highlights the quality of their manufacture!!!
We use common sense. What alerts us:a price 50 to 80% cheaper. A site that mentions “inspired by” and an English site, with an address ending in co.uk. To know:if the furniture is seized and destroyed by customs, OK, we have little chance of ending up in prison, but we will never be reimbursed.
