Reactions to Dana Thomas' New York Times Piece

After publishing "Terror's Purse Strings," an op-ed where Newsweek's Dana Thomas discussed the paramilitary connection to counterfeiters, the New York Time's received some interesting responses. Be sure to check out Thomas' new book, Deluxe: How Luxury Lost Its Lustre, now out in bookstores.


To the Editor:

In ''Terror's Purse Strings'' (Op-Ed, Aug. 30), Dana Thomas says the counterfeit handbags for sale here may have been made by child laborers in China .

I live in Westport, Conn., where ownership of the correct handbag is essential, and I'm lucky enough to be able to afford it. But each season, as I walk the Marc Jacobs or Prada to the register, I look at the price tag, become queasy and just say no.

I am an admitted hypocrite who goes in for designer furniture and status automobiles. These luxury items are used for at least several years, so I somehow rationalize their purchase. The designer bag is used for one season and then its panache is no more.

Perhaps Ms. Thomas can help more directly by creating a new movement -- call it the ''re-use last year's handbag movement.'' For one season, we don't buy a bag. (Hey, we're breadwinners, give birth and raise children -- so we can handle the self-deprivation. )

Then we donate the price of a new bag ($800 to $4,500) to a charitable group that focuses on Chinese child laborers. That may do a lot more good than running out to buy original Gucci bags.

Westport, Conn., Aug. 30, २००७
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To the Editor:

As the quality of luxury goods diminishes, how much difference is there between the fakes and the real things? No wonder shoppers willingly admit to buying fakes.

I certainly don't want to support terrorists, but as designers try to make more and more money by cutting costs the prices border on extortion -- not that anyone ''needs'' a designer label।

Nutley, N.J., Aug. 30, २००७
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To the Editor:

Dana Thomas says ''counterfeiting rackets are run by crime syndicates that also deal in narcotics, weapons, child prostitution, human trafficking and terrorism.''

But as the Wal-Mart phenomenon has illustrated, everyone likes a bargain and for the most part is disinterested in the source of production.

With the profits of the big designers bordering on the usurious, and constant media images of glamorous women toting expensive designer bags, the idea of owning a few is, of course, rather seductive. Yet women might be persuaded not to buy the counterfeit bags if the real ones were not so ridiculously expensive.

It comes down to a purely economic choice: $20 for a rip-off or hundreds for the real thing?
Valparaiso, Ind., Aug. 30, २००७
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