Dupes on TikTok: how brands are losing control of their image?

On TikTok, everything moves very fast. In just a few seconds, an unknown product can go viral, and its imitation, its dupe, can spread around the world. These unapologetic copies, often sold at rock-bottom prices, captivate a generation constantly chasing instant trends. The result: brands see their image slip away, dissolved into the endless flow of videos, reviews, and shopping links.

TikTok: the launchpad for dupes

The word dupe (short for “duplicate”) has become a cultural phenomenon in itself. On TikTok, the hashtag #dupe has amassed more than 7 billion views, turning bargain-hunting into a collective sport.

In one viral video, an influencer compares a Dior lipstick to an €8 drugstore version, captioned “same shade, smaller price.” Within hours, the affordable item sells out. This mechanism reflects TikTok’s own logic: an algorithm that rewards virality, not authenticity. Whether a product is original or inspired doesn’t matter, what counts is that it triggers a reaction.

Dupes now touch every sector:

• the Dior Lip Oil, overshadowed by e.l.f. Cosmetics’ “dupe” gloss;

• Lululemon’s Align pants, mimicked by Aerie at a third of the price;

• or Chanel’s 2.55 bag, whose copies proliferate on Shein and TikTok Shop.

This reflects a new culture, one where young consumers are unashamed of imitation, valuing trendiness and immediacy over brand identity.

Emotional impulsivity: the power of TikTok Shop

TikTok’s power doesn’t stop at virality, it’s now backed by an integrated commercial ecosystem. With TikTok Shop, the loop is complete: users discover, compare, and buy products without ever leaving the app.

A study from HEC Montréal highlights how this fusion of entertainment and e-commerce encourages impulsive buying. Consumers move directly from discovery to purchase, often driven by an instant emotion, excitement, desire, curiosity.

This environment overwhelmingly favors dupes: cheap, instantly available products promoted by micro-influencers. Take Shein, now the most promoted brand on TikTok, according to RTBF. Its “inspired” products, echoing luxury fashion houses, circulate in videos that rack up millions of views, sometimes outperforming official luxury campaigns.

For established brands, it’s a symbolic disaster: their image is captured, recycled, and repurposed by independent creators, beyond their control and without compensation.

A loss of control and identity for brands

The Unifab 2025 report reveals that 66% of 15–34-year-olds have already bought a dupe, and 55% use social media, especially TikTok, to find them. This data shows a profound shift: the dupe is no longer a shameful imitation, it’s a fully accepted trend.

Yet behind this apparent lightness lies a genuine crisis for brands. The word “dupe” blurs the line between inspiration and counterfeiting, between homage and exploitation. Unifab warns: “The term ‘dupe’ often conceals a normalized counterfeiting practice.” Even more strikingly, 51% of consumers actively search the word “dupe” on Google to find cheaper alternatives to branded products.

The result: brands are losing not only control of their image, but also their symbolic value. Luxury prestige, product heritage, and brand identity are being replaced by a copied, standardized, viral aesthetic. On TikTok, a pair of Shein shoes can be hailed as a “perfect dupe” for Balenciaga, and audiences embrace it. It’s proof that the perception of authenticity and value has shifted dramatically.

Taking back control: experience as a weapon

Fighting dupes solely through proof of authenticity is a losing battle. Consumers who buy a dupe aren’t seeking a brand signature, they’re looking for an instant emotion, a fleeting sense of belonging to a trend. To reclaim this ground, brands must reinvent their approach: offering more than a product, but an experience of identity and community.

Placing the brand within its narrative universe

A dupe can copy a design, but never a story.

Brands that successfully maintain their aura—such as Dior with its “Maison” or Hermès with its craftsmanship—focus on a coherent narrative, linking heritage, creation, and exclusivity. On TikTok, this means creating content that doesn’t just sell a product but makes visible the world a customer gains access to: behind-the-scenes, workshops, values, and gestures. A digital certificate has the power to strengthen a brand’s narrative by integrating the customer into its universe, extending the brand experience beyond the point of purchase.

Creating a sense of belonging

One of the drivers behind dupes is the desire to “be part” of a viral trend. Brands can respond to this need by creating their own communities, built on prestige, rarity, and shared experiences.

A prime example is Loewe and its Loewe Craft Prize. Since 2016, the house has celebrated contemporary craftsmanship by selecting around thirty artists each year from hundreds of applicants worldwide. Beyond the competition, Loewe fosters a culture of creation, bringing together a community of talents and admirers around shared values: authenticity, skill, and the beauty of craft. Integrating a digital certificate helps extend this connection by allowing owners to follow and engage with the brand’s universe in a secure, reliable, and enchanting way.

This approach illustrates a key strategy: shifting desire from the product itself to the desire to belong to a story. Where a dupe promises appearance, the brand delivers the meaning and emotion of shared heritage.

Offering exclusive services and privileges

True luxury is no longer measured solely by ownership of an object, but by access to experiences that are otherwise unattainable. This is where brands can truly differentiate themselves: making the value of the “real product” tangible by adding emotional and social benefits that no dupe can replicate.

A digital certificate further enhances this experience by ensuring privileged access to post-purchase services tied to actual ownership of a brand product. Where a dupe can offer only an object, Louis Vuitton provides access to a privileged world, a culture, and a community that a copy can never reproduce.

Louis Vuitton - Customisation Loewe Foundation - Craft Prize

The future of luxury on TikTok does not lie in a frontal fight against dupes, but in reclaiming desire through storytelling and belonging. Brands must go beyond merely defending their logo to become creators of culture once again.

After all, a dupe can copy the form, but it can never replicate the emotion of the original experience.

Sources :

     - Madmoizelle — “Comment TikTok accélère le jeu des dupes des tendances mode”

     - Capital — “Les dupes, les produits stars de TikTok qui boostent les ventes”

     - Le Figaro — “Les dupes, ces imitations de vêtements ou d’accessoires qui affolent la jeune génération”

     - RTBF — “Shein, marque la plus promue sur TikTok”

     - HEC Montréal — “TikTok Shop : marketing viral et menace pour l’image des marques de luxe”

     - Unifab (2025) — Communiqué de presse “Lancement opération anti-contrefaçon”

     - FashionNetwork — “Les dupes, ces imitations low-cost dont les jeunes raffolent”

     - Sup de luxe - Loyalty strategy to follow in the luxury sector

     - Loewe Foundation - Craft Prize