By Park Chung-a
Staff Reporter
``Do you think this one really looks like the original?'' asks 15-year-old high school student, Jang, to her friend Kim, who is known for having a ``trained eye'' to distinguish authentic luxury goods from fakes at a store in Itaewon, Seoul on Sunday.
Jang, after looking for a ``fake'' luxury bag with the best imitation of the original, finally buys a bag with a Louis Vuitton logo on it at one-sixth the price of the original.
The luxury product boom, which has been significant amid young women in their 20s to 30s, is spreading to teenagers these days. However, due to a lack of purchasing power, most teenagers indulge in buying fake brands, which are still rampant here despite increasing control.
``Most of my class mates these days have products on which luxury brand names like Louis Vuitton, Gucci or Chanel are marked,'' said Jang.
She said that she is addicted to purchasing copies of designer bags as they make her feel special and cool.
``I heard that some kids in Gangnam area use Gucci erasers and Hermes pencils which cost more than 100,000 won. But I know that I am not as rich as them. Knowing that I can't afford to buy the real thing, I just go for the copy, a good one," she said. ``I like bags with large letters of luxury brand names since they can be recognized well by others.
Some students known for a good ``trained eye'' even get paid for accompanying others to a fake luxury market and help them buy the best imitation.
``The things that you should look most carefully for are the small details like the stitching, zipper, and lock of a bag,'' said 15-year-old Kim who is popular with other students for having a ``trained eye.''
Thirty-eight year old Hwang, who sells fake luxury products in Itaewon said that an increasing number of middle school and high school students come to the market for such purchases.
``They look for products that they can bring to school and show off to their friends,'' said Hwang.
Experts say that such a luxury boom shows the contradictory mentality of teenagers.
``Teenagers' strong will stands out from others, as well as their will to assimilate with others, are the causes for such a craze of luxury products,'' said Cho Seong-nam, a sociology professor at Ewha Womans University. ``When one student buys a luxury product out of desire to stand out among a crowd, other students start to buy them due to peer pressure, thinking that they should not be left behind.''
Cho, said, however, grown-ups' preference of luxury products and vanity is most responsible for the boom among teenagers.