Inside the Knockoff-Tennis-Shoe Factory’

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For those of you who ever wondered just how that pair of fake sneakers made it to Canal St. the New York Times has a great expose on the counterfeit sneaker industry. They take us deep inside of a Chinese factory to discuss the origins of the business and what keeps it thriving to this day. Here is an excerpt from the piece:

A shopkeeper in Italy placed an order with a Chinese sneaker factory in Putian for 3,000 pairs of white Nike Tiempo indoor soccer shoes. It was early February, and the shopkeeper wanted the Tiempos pronto. Neither he nor Lin, the factory manager, were authorized to make Nikes. They would have no blueprints or instructions to follow. But Lin didn’t mind. He was used to working from scratch. A week later, Lin, who asked that I only use his first name, received a pair of authentic Tiempos, took them apart, studied their stitching and molding, drew up his own design and oversaw the production of 3,000 Nike clones. A month later, he shipped the shoes to Italy. “He’ll order more when there’s none left,” Lin told me recently, with confidence.

This should prove to be a very interesting read. Hit NYTimes for more.