Dubai is indisputably the luxury goods center of the Middle East. The burgeoning market –  which boasts wildly upscale shopping centers and its own version of Fashion Week – is not without its setbacks, namely, a plentiful supply of counterfeit goods. In 2017, alone, more than a half of a billion dollars worth of counterfeit goods were taken off the streets of Dubai. So far this year, even more have been confiscated, as authorities continue their years-long efforts to tackle a global trade that damages legitimate businesses and fuels organized crime and terrorism, and that is not slowing. 

In early 2016, Louis Vuitton started a trend, one that had nothing to do with styling or silhouettes, handbags or footwear. It had to do squarely with models. The Paris-based fashion house tapped an anime character, Final Fantasy's female heroine, Lightning, for its Spring/Summer ad campaign. Lightning appeared on billboards alongside models Rianne Van Rompaey, Sarah Brannon, Jean Campbell, Fernanda Ly, Doona Bae, and Jayden Smith. The casting by Louis Vuitton was explained by creative director Nicolas Ghesquière to be a perfect representation of "a global, heroic woman for a world where social networks and communications are now seamlessly woven into our life."

Thanks to brands like Prada, Phillip Lim, and Balenciaga, the latter of which moved the production of its wildly popular Triple S sneaker out of Italy, a “Made in China” label is not what it used to be. Miuccia Prada has been boasting about the manufacturing capabilities of the Far East nation for years, saying in 2011, "Sooner or later, it will happen to everyone because [Chinese manufacturing] is so good.” Phillip Lim has also made it part of his New York-based brand’s mission to help destigmatize Chinese-made products, declaring last year: “For us being ‘Made in China’ was a privileged thing – our products were being made by the most skilful, talented people.”

Etro may have a “glamorous public image” but a new lawsuit alleges that such branding “has long concealed a dark and malevolent secret.” According to a complaint filed in New York state court on Tuesday, former Etro employee Kim Weiner claims that the Italian design house’s American arm – Etro USA – has for at least two decades maintained a “discriminatory animus, [which] has festered among the highest levels of management and plagued employees at Etro.”

In the early hours of September 14, 2015, Kim and Khloe Kardashian, and Kendall and Kylie Jenner debuted individual mobile apps and corresponding websites. The subscription-based apps – which, for $2.99 per month (after a 7-day free trial), give subscribers increased access to the lives of the reality television mega-stars by way of photos, videos, and blog posts – immediately shot to the top of Apple's App Store charts. Youngest sister Kylie nabbed the title of the most downloaded free app in the U.S. for two days straight, with Kim trailing behind.

A central part of the premise of luxury consignment platform The RealReal is its dedication to ensuring that the Chanel bags, Alaïa frocks, and Manolo mules you are buying are real. The San Francisco-based site touts itself as “the leader in authenticated luxury consignment.” Rival Vestiaire Collective similarly boasts about its grade-A offerings, which are “expertly checked for 100% quality and authenticity.” Even eBay has made inroads in this realm, introducing a network of brand experts to its service in order to verify the authenticity of goods being offered for sale in its marketplace.

Scattered throughout shopping malls in India are low-cost, trend-specific garments and accessories courtesy of H&M. The Swedish fast fashion giant opened its first brick-and-mortar outpost there in 2015, and in just three years, it has expanded to upwards of 30 stores and has doubled down on the market, introducing an India-specific e-commerce site and app to enable “customers to have easy access to fashion and quality at the best price in a sustainable way at the click of a button.”

On Instagram, there are currently more than 250,000 hashtags devoted to the Museum of Ice Cream and its various temporary outposts that have popped up in New York, Los Angeles, San Francisco, and Miami. The brainchild of 26-year old Maryellis Bunn – a former design consultant for Facebook – and her business partner Manish Vora, the Museum is a pop-up exhibit, complete with a sprinkle pool, a room with pink saltwater taffy-covered walls, and a mint-themed “grow room” with real mint plants, a key ingredient for mint-chocolate-chip ice cream. Selfies are encouraged and ice cream is offered all around.

Despite living in a world dominated by fast-fashion retailers, which make runway lookalikes wildly affordable and almost instantly available, fewer and fewer millennial women are looking for fakes when it comes to luxury goods. This sentiment is apparent in the "buy less, buy better" mentality that is permeating this purchasing group, and central to a new study put forth by the Diamond Producers Association (“DPA”).