I have been to the Hermès shop down here in Melbourne twice. Not to shop, once to look for a summer job and once to accompany a friend looking for a gift for her brother. Hermès sales assistance has shown me not only respect but kindness. They knew it is expensive but they nevertheless asked us for our budget to see if they could help in anyway. Louis Vuitton and Gucci were disgusted by me and wants me to get out once they know I am not a genuine customer.

Superficial? Hell yes. While I can be extremely good friends with fat people, and I love them for their intelligence, personality and charm, I can’t see myself fucking them. Not that I didn’t try… I just wasn’t turned on.

Snob? Why yes, and thank you, by the way, for that compliment. I’ll be a snob to all snobs and I won’t be shy about it.

Disgustingly foolish? Hmm. I would love to hear your definition of this.

George and Marijeanne Antounian recently filed a lawsuit against the two Paris, France-based luxury brand giants and their attorneys. The Antounians claim that a prior suit that the companies filed against them was itself unlawful.

A federal court eventally dismissed the lawsuit against the Antounians and awarded them approximately $70,000 in lawyer’s fees. That covered about half of what they spent on legal representation in fighting the case, according to a lawyer representing them in their suit against the luxury brands.

The Antounians are seeking unspecified damages from the companies in a malicious prosecution suit alleging that representatives of Louis Vuitton and Christian Dior, and their respective lawyers, knew that allegations of copyright and trademark infringement against them were not true but nevertheless continued with the litigation.

The cost of the defending against the charges eventually forced the Antounian’s to close their Bijou Palace shop on the 1100 block of Santee Alley, according to the couple, who claim they were also forced to liquidate their inventory, a process that typically involves selling off merchandise at very low prices.

The Antounian’s malicious prosecution lawsuit claims that representatives of the two giant luxury labels hired a private investigation company called Investigative Consultants in 2005 to determine whether stores on Santee Alley were selling counterfeit Louis Vuitton and Christian Dior wallets, purses, and other goods. An investigation of nearly two years led to the firm to wrongfully conclude that the Antounians had sold fake Louis Vuitton and Christian Dior products, according to the lawsuit. The Antounians claim that a video used in the investigation showed such counterfeit transactions occurring at adjacent stores and on the pathway of Santee Alley itself, but not at Bijou Palace.

“The Antounians’ store sold only costume jewelry and was not in the business of selling purses and wallets,” said Sean Macias, managing partner of Macias Counsel, Inc. in Glendale, and the lead attorney representing the Antounians.

William Salle, co-counsel for the Antounians, said that a member of the investigation team, Arianna Ortiz, admitted she provided false testimony in identifying Bijou Palace as one of the stores selling knockoff products.

“Ortiz alerted Kris Buckner, president of Investigative Consultants, and lead counsel Janine Garguilo for Louis Vuitton and Christian Dior, of the errors in the investigation reports months before trial, but legal action still proceeded against the Antounians,” according to Salle.

The Antouians lawsuit also alleges that during a trial on accusations against them, in July 2007, Buckner testified that he never saw handbags, wallets, or sunglasses—or any Louis Vuitton or Christian Dior items—for sale at Bijou Palace.

“These were the same items that the Antounians and Bijou Palace were to have allegedly sold,” said Salle.

Macias said that efforts to combat counterfeiting of merchandise are understandable, but contended that his clients were wrongly caught up in the efforts.

“Maybe they wanted to send a message to would-be counterfeiters that they mean business,” Macias said. “Instead, Louis Vuitton and Christian Dior succeeded only in destroying an innocent small business.”

Representatives of Louis Vuitton and Christian Dior could not be reached for comment, as of presstime

It is my preference to keep an open mind unless otherwise proven with substantial evidence, rather than hearsay. I hear you, but I don’t reckon I need to agree or disagree with you.

Yes, perhaps a $100 profit vs a trip potentially amounting to 30 times more make no economic sense to me, but I assure you that my view stems not from elitism (haha) but from the fact that I do not have substantial knowledge to make a claimable judgement – and hence you find none.

Aside to Pooh, I don’t think I ever said I think I did a noble cause at all. What I’ve done so far in my article, if you do bother to read in detail, is to recall my experience. There is a difference between refusing to make a judgement due to the lack of actual evidence, and being in denial of the truth. Not sure about you, but someone making a claim does not equate to the truth for me. Nice nickname, by the way.

dude, wake up and be realistic. they dont even need to be tourists. there are local chinese in the city staying there and buying bags every day just to supply the syndicates.

a $100 profit may meant nothing to u (I’m an economist but to hear u use “opportunity costs” smells of elitism) but it meant a few weeks of income for some pple.