Diesel is showing the world what it thinks of fake fashion.
The Italian denim brand announced Tuesday that it seized and destroyed tens of thousands of counterfeit Diesel goods around the world.
One of its main goals in 2019 was cracking down on crimes that jeopardize the brand’s integrity and creativity, including instances of counterfeiting, illegal distribution and illegal trafficking through international customs and in the digital world—and the brand did not come up short.
Last year alone, 1,244 websites promoting the sale of the counterfeit items were penalized, 2,838 cases of copyright and trademark infringements were filed and 4,901 fake advertisements were removed, the company reported.
The biggest offenders came from countries including Brazil, China, Egypt, Morocco, Portugal, Turkey, UAE and the U.K., which attempted to sell fake Diesel jeans, T-shirts, sweatshirts, belts and more. Morocco alone was responsible for 5,000 pairs of counterfeit jeans, while the UAE produced more than 8,000 pairs of Diesel-branded sunglasses.
“The unlawful use of Diesel trademarks to sell counterfeit goods through various retail websites around the world injures our customers who think they are buying a Diesel-quality product,” Renzo Rosso, Diesel’s founder and president, told Rivet. “In addition, these websites damage the brand’s reputation and goodwill, hindering the distinctiveness of authentic Diesel products’ trademark quality and craftsmanship.”
Diesel has crusaded against counterfeits for years, first partnering with item authentication company Certilogo to create a verification app in 2017.
The company, however, showed a sense of humor about the problem when it opened an ironic popup on New York City’s Canal Street in 2018. The temporary store, nestled on a street synonymous with fake fashion, featured Diesel goods with intentionally misspelled logos, almost foreshadowing the crackdowns that are currently taking place.