Dupe Culture

What is ‘dupe culture’ you may ask?  Dupes is short for duplicates.  Dupe fashion is a knock-off of high-end products, almost like a counterculture per se, made up of people seeking style on a budget. It’s a culture proudly emphasized these days especially by Gen Z proudly proclaiming how much they have saved by eschewing the designer label. 

Dupes don’t pretend to be the brand.  If anything, they stand in opposition to the brand they are duping.  But let’s not forget that dupe culture is also not an entirely new phenomenon.  The nature of the fashion industry has always involved reinventing popular trends and themes from the past.  In previous decades, fast-fashion brands would often, target high-end fashion companies and use their designs to ‘inspire’ clothes in a more affordable collection.  I’m sure we all know some very well-known high-street brands that continuously do this and wonder – how do they get away with it?  Nowadays however, when a particular item or brand goes viral, the aim of a dupe is to recreate the product in its most similar form for a fraction of the price.  It is no longer a product of inspiration, but a complete mirror image.

There is no denying that TikTok is one of the biggest platforms for fashion trends and has become a hub for hauls and reviews.  It has almost become the ‘home’ of the dupes’ hauls.  Previously, owning an overly obvious knock-off was seen as something to feel embarrassed about.  With Gen Z’s adoption of this trend, however, finding ‘dupes’ and ‘copies’ is an achievement and now seen as something to be proud of. 

So, why has dupe culture gone from being embarrassing and icky…to somewhat gaining notoriety and seen as so acceptable now?

It is worth noting that the main age demographic on TikTok – Gen Z and millennials, are less likely to have disposable income to spend on high-end products and are generally more trend-led when it comes to fashion and beauty.  Dupes encourage accessibility to those who may not have the means to purchase the original product, allowing everyone to have access to trending designs regardless of their budget.  With the current cost of living crisis everywhere being an ever-prevalent issue, dupes allow people to feel involved – creating a sense of inclusivity.

Australian Beauty brand – McoBeauty is most definitely riding the dupe wave at the moment.  They offer a range of impressive alternatives to brands like Charlotte Tilbury, Glossier and YSL. The millennial and Gen Z thirst for instant gratification has enabled McoBeauty to get products onto shelves as fast as possible and sell out.  According to McoBeauty CEO and founder Shelley Sullivan, her customers are beauty obsessed but don’t have the money to go into Sephora or Mecca.  They are priced out, so McoBeauty offers a way for people to get the products they want without the price tag.

But, with all of this there are prevalent downsides.  Firstly, fashion and beauty trends, especially on TikTok, are constantly changing at such a fast pace.  Therefore, the production of dupes requires a quick turnaround to meet tight deadlines, with fast fashion brands (as always!) not meeting sustainable, environmental requirements and standards.  It’s no surprise that the fast fashion industry contributes more to climate change than aviation and shipping combined and is responsible for 20% of industrial water pollution.  To add to this, 93% of fast fashion brands don’t pay factory garment workers a fair living wage, meaning dupes encourage an exploitative work culture.  According to @highsnobiety on Instagram, Shein reportedly adds over 1000 new styles to its website every single day.  A terrifying statistic when it comes to the future of our planet and how consumerism (and dupes) is playing a role in all of this.

Secondly, is the issue of intellectual property and who owns the design.  Whilst most high-end brands do not tend to mind when they are being ‘copied’, there are many cases of litigation in the mid-market territory. There’s also a sense amongst the big brands out there that ‘they’ve made it big’ when people are knocking off their designs.  In addition, Meta have cracked down on users posting certain dupes.  Their AI bots can pick up when someone is promoting a clear dupe of a designer fashion brand and disable accounts for doing so.

Overall, when it comes to dupe culture, there is clearly a battle of accessibility versus accountability.  It can be argued that it is elitist to assume people can afford designer clothes or always shop ethically, whereas others would argue that the sustainability concerns outweigh the argument of accessibility. 

Dupe culture whether you like it or not, is here to stay all the while disposable incomes are low and dupes themselves offer such quality and precision.

By Irene Feeney Steele