It was quite astounding the day I discovered that a fake boy had the audacity to bag Chanel! My first thought was “That’s some shade of brave”, followed by “let me hear your story”. No one can deny the brand’s illustrious reputation – the extravagance, the resources, the feel of luxury and the idea of sophistication that comes with the Chanel name. It could only be something special that would risk being caught with counterfeit pieces.
From what I was told, the boy had been in the shadows of the cashcow Chanel was, learning the ways in which to survive without ever succumbing to a purchase of their trendy apparel. Until one day, he mustered up all the courage he had – in saying, he was brave enough to go ahead and acquire something without a worry of cost attached to it, and made the gutsy move. He bragged about the fact it was as if finding a needle in a haystack. To him, that in itself was truly amazing!
On further inquiry, he proceeded to explain it was quite the heist he and his team had managed to pull off. It was a piracy scheme. They sat like vigilantes undercover for a special period of time, until there was an opportunity to strike and bag up the items. In truth, they had spent many sleepless nights waiting for the perfect opening, gathering intel on security layouts and secretly tracing their moves with precision. It was a dangerous kind of fun.
There were highs and lows during the operation, but the reward of getting away with something so special had been worth every bit of it. To him, it was like having a piece of the pie, a middle finger to the entire system that oppresses you. You just needed to think out of the box, the way some of our greatest intellectual holding the power to effectuate policy change have.
He was living it large with this “stolen” Chanel bag like a boss. His braggadocio was truly something to behold! Everyone wanted what he had and for once, he was the one basking in the admiration – it was an elated feeling of ‘glorious victory’. After all, wasn’t the idea that each one of us works hard to get to the top and reap the sweet rewards?
This escapade truly pushed the boundaries of success – this fake boy was a master of his own game. And the moral of this story? “If you want something, hustle for it!” Fair warning though – please don’t do anything illegal in pursuit of your goals.
So having heard all his fabulous success, I began asking around the same question – what else was out there? Not just Chanel, but what other bright possibilities were present? If this lad had managed to work his way around an obstacle so as to get his prize, what else was there in store for anyone?
What I learnt was that if you look around you, in the secret streets of Hong Kong, for example, there existed plenty of businesses still peddling fake bags, shoes and other luxurious items that otherwise required hefty investments. To add to this was the fact that people like him, who had managed to get their hands on such counterfeit items, had always been in in the know. But the real game changer, or should I say the secret sauce, was the ability to turn cold hard cash hidden away from plain sight into something special, visible enough to make a statement.
The key then is understanding how to leverage opportunities, getting on the same page to work as a team towards a common goal and always remember that any dream is only as far as a dream if you don’t take action. The fear of losing out on a potential win can often be daunting, but look back at the tale of this clever fake boy! He made it happen. So if there’s something you want to reach for, don’t be afraid to take the leap of faith..
The finds were even greater next, when what I thought to be true about Chanel became just so much more. Sure, it was easy to get enamoured with the idea of how to acquire something expensive without having to cough up the dough. However, in many cases, if you probe deep enough there were also smaller things which made an impact.
At the grassroots level, you would often find ingenious people who had made tangible progress with limited resources. It was interesting to observe that handle with pull straps fashioned from homemade materials, but could also be skillfully constructed into something with ‘style’ in the most unexpected industries. The business model of reuse and recycle, when applied correctly, was most definitely a boon both economically as well as socially.
Take the case of a dainty bag made available in the markets of India, for instance. This had been made by skilled craftspeople and was known to be much sturdier than a regular knock-off bag. Names such as ‘The Jhakaas’ had been created to give credence to a range of goods made and distributed through government basti or slum initiatives. It was a whole journey in itself, and it felt like a departure from the usual hustle to procure Chanel.
This area was bustling with vibrant colours and designs, and the fact that this project was dubbed ‘India ka jhakaas chashma’ for localised market speak was also inspiring. It reflected truly on the inherent resourcefulness of people, be it in curating the perfect counterfeit item or dreaming up a unique solution to an existing problem.
The next thing that I discovered was the ground reality of an entirely different industry – that of upcycling. People had quite innovatively taken the concept of replacing existing Chanel pieces with something entirely new and beautiful. Old bag straps, broken jewellery and other such bits of waste were being made into something useful – a trend that has granted sustainable businesses many patrons in recent years.
Along with this, companies had developed a variety of ‘vintage’ offerings, which were made up of original items such as fabric, buttons and logos that were for sale in stores upcycling them into something completely new. Plastic junk and vintage prints were being used to render a completely different kind of style, engaging others both ways – in terms of customer experience as well as economically.
So, what was initially about a fake boy bagging Chanel, had become a moment of self-discovery and in the process an eye opener. All along, fake boys and girls had been at the end of the spectrum, hustling and bustling, while here was open marketplaces and industrial supporters singing a completely different tune. In the end, here was a lesson to be learnt – the world is filled with infinite possibilities – at the end of the day, isn’t it up to us to explore them?