How Good Are Amazon’s Luxury Dupes, Really?
The Row sells jelly flats for $890. Amazon sells the same ones for $30.
If the biggest fashion story of 2023 was luxury brands prioritizing über-wealthy clients and raising prices to match their budgets, one of the biggest fashion stories of 2024 was the rest of us embracing dupes as a result.
The viral Walmart Birkin dupe (or “Wirkin”) transfixed the internet in recent weeks because, as creator Manny Buckley said on TikTok, “Some wealthy woman carrying her $13,000 bag and someone asking her if she got it at Walmart — that idea is just absolutely delicious.” Most consumers cannot afford a pair of designer shoes that cost as much as their rent, let alone a handbag ten times that. But even if they could, seasoned shoppers who splurge on the occasional luxury item sometimes proudly opted for uncanny fakes as the quality of luxury goods declines and the precision of copies increases.
“If I'm going to spend a lot of money on something, I like to make sure I'm either in love with it deeply, or at the very least, I think it will last,” said Tahirah Hairston, a freelance fashion writer and author of the Substack newsletter Ridiculous Little Things. In 2024, she surprised herself by purchasing two dupes off Amazon: A pair of silver teardrop earrings ($15) that looked like ones made by Bottega Veneta ($1250) and a pair of plastic jelly flats that looked like those made by The Row ($890), which many customers said broke after just a few wears (though no longer available on the brand’s site, Nordstrom still carries them). When I asked what made her do it, she paused. “I don’t know,” she said. “I guess I don't like being duped!”
As long as there have been covetable luxury goods, particularly ones made by European designers, imitators have raced to replicate them for less since apparel designs generally can’t be copyrighted (certain prints and logos, however, are legally protected). Before technology made it easier, the art of the copy involved spy-movie levels of espionage. Designer Elizabeth Hawes detailed in her 1940 book Fashion Is Spinach her early career covertly sketching couture runway clothes for the express purpose of duping: “Copying, a fancy name for stealing, is also interesting as an example of what a curious and rather degraded business dressmaking may be… The passion which has been created for being chic leads to almost any thing, probably including murder.”
Hawes, who encouraged American women to free themselves of the “French myth” and invest in designers at home, would be horrified to learn that two of our greatest exports — Mary-Kate and Ashley Olsen of The Row — are currently some of the most-duped designers since the style of their minimalist elevated basics is easily copyable by brands like COS. (And, to twist the knife, they show in Paris.)
There is no shame or secrecy around copying anymore, either. In fact, finding a good one is something to brag about. Reputable publications like New York have devoted entire weeks to unearthing the “best” dupes, and many writers and influencers who own and recommend the real thing now also recommend the fake version on their social media channels and in their newsletters. Because dupes are so abundant now, they can be hit or miss (not unlike their designer counterparts), and an entire cottage industry has emerged to help you decide whether to invest or not.
Jess Graves, author of the popular shopping newsletter THE LOVE LIST, purchased a pair of the Row’s jelly flats for $890 and their equivalent on Amazon (then $30, now $55) this summer after she saw others do the same. “I was one of the ding-dongs that bought the real ones, which promptly broke [at the arch] after I wore them three times,” she said. “I was like, You know what? If the brand's not going to have your back, then, yeah, buy the $30 dupe.”
Graves said the Amazon pair she purchased was “frighteningly accurate,” down to the logo placement. The only difference she could find is that the knockoffs ran about a half size smaller than The Row version, and they took about a month to arrive. They’re also still going strong after more than three wears out, while her real ones remain busted. (The Row, meanwhile, is fine; the flats sold out on its site and the company enjoys a $1 billion valuation.)
When Hairston wore her fake Bottega earrings to the brand’s store at the Oculus in New York City, she said employees thought they were real. “They were like, Oh, she’s already a customer, let’s chat her up,” she recalled, laughing. She bought them because she predicted the real version would tarnish, anyway. “I’m not normally a dupe buyer, but I justified that purchase because they’re already a dupe of Elsa Peretti,” she added. The ones she found on Amazon were strikingly similar. “It's crazy that this Amazon dupe had the exact weight and shape.” At the store, she chose not to blow her cover.
Not all dupes are created equal, though. Graves bought a pair of Jil Sander-esque sandals off Amazon this summer that she said made her “look like a platypus.” She also purchased, for research, dupes of The Row’s flip-flops, which she said “looked bad on and didn't fit right.” So, what makes a good dupe? In the case of The Row jelly sandals, arguably the most popular dupe of 2024, the plastic fabrication certainly helped. Replicating something like luxury leather, for example, is much more difficult, as evidenced by Walmart’s Birkin dupe (which has been removed from Walmart’s site). In her gift guide this year, writer Hunter Harris also recommended a dupe of The Row’s mesh flats, which she found on Amazon — another material that isn’t luxury to begin with.
In this way, the desirability of a dupe actually says more about the design of the original product than the skill of its copier: How luxurious can a pair of plastic or mesh sandals really be? Are silver drop earrings that interesting? When you take the luxury out of quiet luxury, it’s just another thing. In 2025, luxury brands need to convince buyers their products are actually worth these exorbitant prices. I believe we’ll see a shift towards couture or craft that truly can’t be replicated, with fabric wizard Matthieu Blazy, who elevated Bottega Veneta’s ready-to-wear to the level of couture with jeans and tank tops made of leather, leading the charge at Chanel. This year, the ultimate luxury will be the un-dupable.
After reading about dupes all year, I decided to try a pair myself. I ordered The Row’s mesh flats in black off MyTheresa and Harris's recommended pair from Amazon, which took a few weeks to arrive from China.
The Row’s version felt soft like a sock and thick enough to withstand New York streets. They weren’t as sheer as I thought they would be and very tight around my ankle. Though impressed by their sturdiness, I sent them back because I wasn’t about to spend $690 on shoes I didn’t think flattered my feet at all.
The Amazon version, meanwhile, was a half size too big, freakishly sheer, and reeked so strongly of plastic that I felt a bit woozy when I opened the box. They also weren’t as narrow and sleek as The Row ones, and I felt like I was flopping around in them like a kid wearing their parent’s shoes at the beach.
In the end, the dupes actually made me appreciate the design of the real version more, which I wasn’t expecting. They also further emphasized what I’ve always thought about The Row shoes: they’re not actually meant for walking. Rich people take Ubers! Unfortunately, there's no way to fake that.
Update: This post has been updated since publication to accurately cite the year Fashion Is Spinach was published; it was 1940, not 1938.
Emilia Petrarca is the author of Shop Rat here on Substack. Subscribe to her newsletter, and follow her on Instagram.
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The psychology of dupes (and counterfeits for that matter) is very interesting. I don't like the design of the Birkin and would never own one. BUT when I saw the $70 Walmart version, I suddenly had this craving to get one. (I didn't). But it just goes to show how strong our drive is to fit in and be accepted. Which, after all, is the point of designer fashion.
I'd love a re-launch of Lacroix and I wish them well. That AbFab line lives rent-free in my head: "Lacroix, darling, Lacroix!"