Real or Fake?
Thinking about buying your first (and not last) LV pochette? Here are some tips on how to authenticate your bag and not get scammed along the way:
Examine the leather:
Yes, classic LV pochette is made of coated canvas but - handles and tags are made of Vachetta leather. It is untreated so will change the color over time from very light to golden brown. Real leather is a natural material so the color and texture is slightly irregular compared to the polyester, and more matte.
Check the monogram:
Monogram is like a signature of a Fashion House. It's perfect and always the same. The real bag never has any parts of the monogram covered by a handle or a stitch plus, authentic LV monograms are impeccably symmetrical.
The origin story:
Remember that most vintage Pochette’s were made in France however production now happens in different countries like US, Spain, Germany or Switzerland. Here is the cheat sheet for the country codes:
USA: FC, FH, FL, LA, OS, SD
Spain: CA, GI, LO, LB, LM, LW
Switzerland: DI, FA
Germany: LP
France: A0, A1, A2, AA, AAS, AH, AN, AR, AS, BA, BJ, BU, DR, DU, CO, CT, ET, FL, LW, MB, MI, NO, RA, RI, SD, SF, SL, SN, SP, SR, TJ, TH, TR, TS, VI, VX
Take a look at the font:
Remember to check the fonts of the inside stamps because LV has been using the same font for years. The lettering is always the same, for example: the T’s of the "Vuitton" should be almost touching and the letter “O” should be perfectly round as a circle and not oval like "0".
Hardware will give it away:
Authentic LV hardware is made from a brass metal so is quite heavy compared to the cheap counterfeits. Most Lotus Vuitton bags have D-ring and not round hardware. Also, look for LV logos on the metal parts of the bag.
Check the Stitching:
Precision is key. Louis Vuitton takes pride in its meticulous stitching. If it looks sloppy or uneven, wave goodbye! On classic LV bags, the color of the stitching is usually mustard yellow, it is also perfectly consistent in size and has an even distance in between.
Date Code Detective:
- Every authentic LV bag comes with a date code. Research this code to ensure it matches the manufacturing period and location.
- Remember that LV bags don't come with any authenticity cards.
- Since 1983 LV has used 6-character code stamps. The first two characters are letters (which indicate the place of production) and the rest are numbers (the month and the year of production).
- The company keeps updating their coding and since 2007 the digit code has signified the number of the week in the year when the item was manufactured.
Dust bags:
Remember that LV dust bags (usually an envelope or a string bag) will only have "Louis Vuitton" on "LV" on them - no additional information about the product.
Conclusion:
When investing in your LV bag, always use the trusted reseller! Reportedly 90% (!!!!) of LV bags sold on eBay are fake! To make sure you don't get scammed check out our authenticated bags collection: BAGS.
