Around the same time those Ksubi shades sold out everywhere, we saw them in abundance on Canal Street. Is a street vendor on Canal Street the epitome of a downtown trendsetter? Kind of, but by default. Most likely those shades were mass produced at the same time, perhaps even in the same factory, as those coveted fifty odd pairs of original Ksubi shades.

So, whatchu gonna do? Well, for starters you don't buy anything you suspect is a fake (and if you buy those horrible Steve Madden knock-offs, well, that's your own problem). You can also clap your hands to the fact that eight people, and 1,113 boxes of counterfeit goods, were seized yesterday in Queens. That's two forty-foot trailer trucks worth of Lacoste, Izod, and Tommy Hilfiger bags. The raid was a result of case that started back in 2000, which is, according to Peter J. Smith the Immigration and Customs Enforcement special agent in charge of New York City (by the way, doesn't that sound like the. coolest. job. ever.?) eight years of, "taking a little piece of information and building on it". He said of the work involved in capturing these importers, "You do your surveillances, you make your purchases, you get your seizures at the border, you run money through their bank accounts to see where it comes back to.". All we can say is, happy Friday fashionistas.

These Ksubi Write Sunglasses demonstrate the illustrious power of limited edition accessories. With only 50 pairs made worldwide (in New York they went to OAK, of course) in the gunmetal and white versions, if you don't have them already, you probably never will. Never fear, that's what ripoffs are for, and they don't have to be from the street vendor (funnily enough we saw a vendor selling a rip off yesterday on Broadway, making us wonder if street vendors might be just as skilled at trend forecasting as the agencies). Maison Martin Margiela turned out an even pricier version of these wrap around glasses for Spring 08. Also, hey, there's always those grandpa versions from the drug store.




Image courtesy of OAK
Click for more Immaterial