Hermès — the lux brand behind the world-famous Birkin handbag — has found itself at odds with an unlikely competitor: Walmart.
Driving the news: A Birkin bag duplicate, or dupe, on Walmart's website flew off the shelves after reviews of the lookalike handbag went viral on social media. The Walmart bag, which retailed for ~$115, became popular enough to be unofficially dubbed the “Wirkin.”
- An actual Birkin bag from the store carries a price tag of anywhere from US$9,000 to over $300,000 and has become one of the hardest luxury items in the world to buy.
Catch-up: Dupes largely exist in a legal grey area by focusing on design instead of branding, a strategy that makes it hard to be sued. The bag sold at Walmart doesn’t have the Hemès logo, but the Canadian website described it as a "Birkin-style bag," before the listing was taken down.
Why it matters: Birkin bags and other luxury goods have become even further out of reach for most consumers, even aspirational buyers. Experts say that as prices for the real thing get higher, the dupe market will only become more popular with the majority of people.—LA