How to tell FAKE ANYA HINDMARCH “I’m NOT A Plastic bag”!

I started writing this guide when the fake Anya Hindmarch I’m Not A Plastic bag started showing up on the pages of ebay. The purpose of this guide is to prevent ebay buyers from purchasing fake merchandise when expecting to get the real thing.

The number of sellers and the types of fakes that have shown up on the market have become so numerous that I had to reorganize the guide in the hope that everyone will be able to differentiate the fake ones from the real ones based on several key guidelines.

If you are interested in the Lavender / Purple bag, I have created a separate guide just for that here.

Here are some BASICS.

A.   There are 5 colors of this bag: Brown (most call it UK), Navy/Blue (most call it US), Grey (most call it Hong Kong or Asia), Green (most call it Japan) and Lavender/Purple (the special edition made for the Lavender Trust for Breast Cancer fundraising).

B.   The basic material of these bags is CANVAS. Each different version is differentiated by the color of cloth used to spell out “I’m NOT A Plastic bag” on the front of the bag, the AH (Anya Hindmarch) bow logo embroidered near the top front of the bag between the chrome rings for the handles, the “we are what we do” and “ANYA HINDMARCH LONDON” printed on each side of the inside flaps, as well as the trim.

C.   These bags have a foldable hard bottom made of cardboard or plastic material covered in canvas. These bags are your BASIC shopping/grocery bags, no zippers, no buttons, no inside or outside pockets.

How to spot the FAKES!

1.   The most obvious fakes are the ones with zippers, with side pockets or with inside pockets. These are the earlier and more discernable fakes.  Some also have brass rings where the handles are attached to the bag, whereas the real ones have chrome rings.

2. There have been, and I still see one occasionally, a fake where the letters on the front of the bag that spell out “I’m NOT A Plastic bag” are PRINTED instead of being DIE-CUT out of CLOTH and STITCHED on.
There are also a few fakes I’ve seen that have the letters EMBROIDERED.

CONTINUES ON PART 2: