Vintage experts suggest that more than three-quarters of the cult belts in circulation are bootleg. Would our writer’s treasured vintage piece pass the test?
SCREAMING GOLD CAPITALS, a 2in-wide calf-skin leather belt and zero holding-up power. To some, it’s just a belt. To others, it’s daft. Either way, as accessories go, Moschino’s logo belt pulls no aesthetic punches, which explains why the belt – one the most covetable accessories of the past 25 years – is now reportedly one of the most faked accessories too, with vintage experts suggesting more than three-quarters of belts in circulation are counterfeit.
Adam Skeleton, who sells 1990s Moschino pieces through his site Nothing-special, reckons 80% of eBay’s 150-odd belts are fakes. He has accidentally bought two and recently wrote a firm blogpost about how to spot one, including “letters that slide along the belt”. Gabrielle Roberts, the co-founder of vintage streetwear site Wavey Garms, thinks it is closer to 90%. She has sold more than 100 in the past 18 months, but such is the increase in fakes, she has had to implement a vetting system. “Real ones have Redwall, Made in Italy and the serial number embossed on the back,” she explains from her HQ in south London. “That and the letters are elongated or the holes are the wrong size [on the fakes].”
Of course, in an age of discreet branding, the belt isn’t for everyone. But it is for me, and I can safely say what my (vintage) one lacks in functionality, it makes up for in kudos. When I wear it, “hilarious” friends might ask me where it’s from, but I have since learned this reaction is rooted in bitter jealousy because the real ones are almost impossible to find. The prospect of it being fake is pretty devastating.
The belt’s ascent can be neatly linked with the rise of Jeremy Scott. A label known for its GSOH, last autumn Moschino hired the American designer as creative director. Wit and overt branding have been Moschino’s stock-in-trade for more than 30 years – much of the belt’s success comes via “advertising itself through the logo,” says a spokesperson – but Scott took it to the next level with his AW14 catwalk, which teemed with fast food branding and grinning models, and the SS15 collection in Milan last week, in which models actually rollerbooted down the catwalk.
The vibe worked, and reported sales under Scott are “up in triple and quadruple digits”, according to a spokesperson. Interest in the belt has never really diminished (it’s a “consistent bestseller”), but it doesn’t hurt that celebrity wallflowers Miley Cyrus and two-thirds of the Kardashians have just started wearing theirs. Prior to this counterfeiting era, Wavey Garms got £200 a piece; 18 months later, the ubiquity of fakes means that is more likely to be £100. The most desirable one is white, says Roberts, who can’t find one for love nor money.
Following Roberts’s advice, I check mine. The letters don’t move, the holes are precise and it has a serial number. Relax, Fashion – it’s real.
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