Fashion pirates find gold in stylish fakes

When stylish, metropolitan women stroll along with a Louis Vuitton Pleaty bag, they exude an air of high class, impeccable taste and considerable purchasing power.

And because this effect does not come cheap, some resort to buying knockoff designer goods that have found permanent homes in the malls and along the pavements of the country's main cities.

Unlike fake cosmetics or medicines, commodities that can be potentially lethal, replicated fashion goods seem harmless -- especially on the consumers' pockets.