Lotus Notes: Philip Lim

It first happened while having breakfast in a small French café in Kirribilli. A very fake-tanned woman, dressed in a little mini skirt and a far-too-tight singlet teetered in. As my eyes scanned her outfit, I couldn’t help noticing the red sole on her sky-high heels. Christian Louboutin's! In fact, they were a pair of this season’s snakeskin peep-toe platforms. My first day in Sydney and already I’d spotted my first pair. Really? On her? I was intrigued.

When I overheard she worked at the boutique next door I thought I’d investigate. Immediately I spotted the offending shoes but when I turned them over, they weren't Louboutin's at all. The label read Peeptoe Shoes and they were about AUS$1200 cheaper than the real thing. Now I spot women running all over the city in them, every day.

Browsing the racks of Witchery the next day, a very pretty skirt caught my eye. After I picked it up I realised why I liked it so much (and why for some reason it looked so familiar). I had tried on the exact same skirt, seam for seam, and zip for zip, at Phillip Lim in New York only a few months earlier. Fake Christian Louboutin's, fake Phillip Lim, what the hell is going on?

I know it's normal for chain stores over our side of the Pacific to use garments they pick up in Paris, New York and London as inspiration; I mean that is their whole raison d'être, but isn’t this a tad illegal? It certainly brings a whole new meaning to fast fashion.