Today, the most popular Kenzo model is their shirt with a tiger face, which means it is their most forged model, too. We decided not to step aside and leave this topic alone, so today we are going to help everyone who wants to buy an original and not be conned. To make a comparison we bought an original t-shirt that we bought in TSUM department store in Moscow for 6 200 rubles 85$ (with a 10% discount) and a pretty good imitation from Ebay for 3 000 rubles 41$.

Fabric

A real t-shirt is made of one hundred percent cotton, which it is dense to the touch. The fabric can only be stretched a little, which means that the t-shirt will be able to hold its shape for a very long time. An imitation is also made of cotton, but mixed with Lycra; this kind of fabric is less thick and more silky, it can be stretched really well.

Print

An original print is much bigger size than a fake one.

However, since you probably will not be able to run around with a fake searching for an original, let’s concentrate on something more obvious to notice with a naked eye. We are going to look at the brand name on it first.

Pay especially close attention to the letters N, Z and O. The letter N has its middle part not connected to the other parts, while a copy would not have any space between those parts of the letter. Z letter also consists of three parts that are not connected, but a fake has the diagonal line connected with two horizontal lines. The letter O of an original has an ideally round shape, on an imitation – a bit oval.

A writing saying “PARIS” is also different: the text font is not the same, and besides that, you can see the difference between fake and original letters A and R.

Even the tiger face is not the same: some details are located differently, but you can only notice it if you precisely both versions. A difference most noticeable is, besides the size of the whole face, the tiger’s nose which is connected to the edge of the animals’ mouth with a tiny vertical line. A copy does not have such a line.

Seams and edging

The neck of an original product is edged using a tight inlay. This inlay is sewn to the neck with a double seam, you can see both of the seams from the inside as well as the outside. However, there is one tiny nuance, which you might not notice from the first time. This double seam on the back ends near the shoulder seams; it becomes one seam after that. You should also pay attention to the inlay joint: on an original t-shirt, it is located right in the middle of the back.

A copy cannot give you neither this precise location of the inlay joint, nor correct, neat stitches on the outside. Especially the neck, where all the seams are all absolutely wrong, terribly made. In addition to that, the material this inlay is made of is very loose and quite soft, which means that the neck is going to stretch pretty fast.

All the stitches of an original t-shirt are straight; they are made neatly, carefully. The double seams are located less than 5 millimeters from each other on all t-shirt details. Inside, all the seam joints are made using an overlock machine, the edges fit snugly to the t-shirt and do not cause any discomfort while you are wearing it.

An imitation might also have pretty straight stitches that are made using an overlock machine, but on the outside the neck and shoulder stitches look like overlock seams, too.

Tags and labels

 On the neck of an original product, there is a small rectangle label with the brand name logo, and a square label with t-shirt size written on it. On one side of this label the size is written using letters (we have XL), and on the other side there is a size from the US chart and a Chinese size, too.

A fake neck label has a different text font with which a logo and size is sewn. In addition, on the smaller label there is writing on one side only, with no extra sizes that are written on an original t-shirt.

To this neck label an outer cardboard tag is connected. It consists of two different parts. Both tags are white on one side and green on the other. One tag has a sticker glued to its white side. This sticker as a barcode, model name, size and vendor code, and on the other, green side there is a brand website address. The other tag has the brand logo on its white side, while the green side is just blank. These tags are attached to the neck label using a cloth lace, which has a round plastic letter O from the brand logo.

A fake cardboard tag consists of only one part. On the white side of this tag, there is a brand logo, and the green side has s a sticker on it with a barcode and model information. You will not find any plastic letters on a fake lace, of course, but we should note that some fakemakers have learned to make their products with this tiny but important detail, too.

In the side seam, there also is a label, which consists of two parts. These two labels have a brand logo, too. Besides that, there are care recommendations, fabric contents, manufacturer country and manufacturer headquarter address. All this information is written in different languages, including Russian. Above the brand logo there is a model vendor code.

An imitation has a small label consisting of only one part on its side seam. All the information on it is blurred and hardly readable, which makes you think this product is a copy from the first sight. From what we were able to distinguish on this label there are fabric contents, care recommendations and manufacturer country.

Price

An original T-shirt costs 7 300 rubles 125$ without any discounts, you can find a copy from 2 000 rubles. If you want to buy original Kenzo products, we advise you to purchase them here.