A global multi-billion-dollar counterfeit crisis has reached a “critical velocity,” according to a data-driven analysis of the 2025 resale market.
Entrupy has dropped its annual “State of the Fake” report, revealing that the New York-based company processed $3.7 billion worth of products in 2025 alone—appraising the marketplace’s “trust gap” by identifying a total market value of $3.34 billion across luxury, footwear and apparel. An additional $294 million was in supply chain protection.
Entrupy reported that 91.9 percent of luxury items scanned were deemed authentic; meaning 8.1 percent were flagged as unidentified.
“Scale changes everything. Even with a moderate fake rate compared to brands like Goyard (around 18.9 percent),” the report reads. “[The] sheer volume means it represents the single largest counterfeit exposure in the market.”
Vidyuth Srinivasan, the authentication technology platform’s co-founder and CEO, warned that the current “speed of the counterfeit cycle” has compromised even the stronger of supply chains—forcing retailers to rely on technology to detect forensic microscopic details the human mind, it seems, cannot.
“In today’s AI-hungry world, our growth has been spurred by an increased demand for trust—by consumers, by businesses, by brands and even governments,” Srinivasan wrote for the report’s CEO letter, emphasizing that over a decade of building “scalable AI” is what allowed for the collection of this specific data.
“In 2025, we processed over $3.7 billion worth of products—an indication of the accelerating growth across the market,” he continued.
Luxury handbags commanded the highest total values, Entrupy reported; Chanel alone represented roughly $959 million in scanned value, according to the official authentication provider of pre-owned luxury handbags for TikTok Shop. Because “unlike logo-heavy or more accessible brands, Chanel’s exclusivity works in its favor, the report reads. “This keeps value high and fake penetration comparatively low.”
While volume often concentrates around legacy leather goods, like the Louis Vuitton Monogram—which saw $37 million in detected fakes—the relative risk is highest where the “speed of the counterfeit cycle” meets materials that require less specialized craftsmanship to replicate.
Put simply, the highest “odds” of encountering a fake are found in specific styles and stuffs.
Products made from canvas and nylon—including the Milanese luxury group Prada and its iconically “ugly chic” nylon bags—were among the most frequently counterfeited; what the report’s structural analysis reflects is how such ease of replication continues to shape where fakes concentrate.
“Nylon bags are easier to replicate than leather. As Prada’s nylon silhouettes have surged in popularity, counterfeiters have followed,” the report reads. “Accessible, high-demand basics with simple branding and steady resale appeal are the easiest targets.”
The vulnerability of a brand is often tied directly to the materials used in its most popular products, according to the trusted third-party luxury authenticator. Entrupy highlighted the runny nature of phony economics; it shifts focus toward materials that are easier to mimic at high speeds.
“[T]he fake economy is fluid; when one brand gets harder to fake, another becomes the new obsession,” the report reads. Though luxury handbags commanded the highest total value, footwear exhibited a higher overall percentage of fraudulent items—outpacing the former category by about three points, with about 11.1 percent of kicks flagged as unidentified.
“Sneakers are a winner-take-most market,” the report reads. “Nike dominates—and so do Nike fakes.”
The “Just Do It” giant dominated the category, accounting for more than 80 percent of authentication volume. Luxury sneakers, meanwhile, emerged as a distinct risk segment. Louis Vuitton footwear posted a fake rate of 54.1 percent, followed by Dior at 42.5 percent—taken together, data suggesting that high price points combined with logo-driven demand are accelerating counterfeit activity.
To note: while the authentication specialist has long provided services for luxury goods and footwear markets, Entrupy’s 2025 category expansion into clothing revealed levels of counterfeit penetration that the report referred to as prolific.
“As we progressed through the year, we noticed the trend of counterfeit production being right around the corner from any physical product that had demand,” Srinivasan said. “The speed of the counterfeit cycle has created even more distrust in both unorganized and regulated markets alike.”
Apparel emerged as the high-risk frontier, showing the sharpest divergence to stand out as the most vulnerable category SOTF covered. Nearly one in three items scanned—about 37.5 percent—could not be authenticated, per the report.
“This is evidenced by the increasing number of retailers—who are known for their trustworthy supply chains—scrambling to protect their supply chains and reputations,” Srinivasan said. That said, Entrupy tallied a stark contrast between established, resale-controlled brands and mass-hype diffusion brands. Brands built on accessible, high-demand basics showed the greatest exposure.
American luxury label Fear of God Essentials recorded an unidentified rate of 95.75 percent. Japanese streetwear brand BAPE and Atlanta-based streetwear brand Sp5der followed at 85 percent and 61 percent, respectively. By contrast, more tightly controlled brands—such as Supreme and Off-White—maintained significantly lower counterfeit rates, reflecting the role of distribution discipline and the maturity of the resale ecosystem.
“Apparel splits into two clear ecosystems: established resale-controlled brands [and] mass-hype diffusion brands,” the report reads. “Accessible, high-demand basics with simple branding and steady resale appeal are the easiest targets.”
Regionally, the data points to infrastructure as a key differentiator.
Despite having the highest market value—$1.67 billion, by the way—the Asia-Pacific (APAC) region has the lowest global fake rate at 7.5 percent due to heavy investment in authentication infrastructure. The Americas represent 99 percent of apparel authentication volume. In luxury, it shows a higher risk profile (8.8 percent fake rate) than APAC, despite having a lower total volume. The Europe and Middle East area, meanwhile, maintains an 11.3 percent market share with a 7.9 percent risk share.
“The region has invested heavily in authentication infrastructure and built one of the most mature resale ecosystems in the world,” the report reads. “The gap makes the case: strong infrastructure beats scale every time.
Stateside, apparel authentication remains heavily concentrated in the country, though accounting for the vast majority of volume. Within the United States, risk varies widely: Arizona recorded an unidentified rate of 97.21 percent.
“Arizona—the fakest state,” the report reads. “Nearly every item submitted for apparel authentication in Arizona turns out to be fake—making it the highest-risk market in the country for apparel.”
