How to a Spot Fake: Louis Vuitton Speedy Bag
The Speedy Bag by Louis Vuitton is one of the most iconic handbags of all time. Dating back to the 1960’s, celebrities like Audrey Hepburn would wear this bag. Unfortunately with such classic, popular styles this well known bag brings in a large number of counterfeits. We are going to show you how to spot a real speedy bag from a fake. First there are some things you need to know about this particular style.
The Louis Vuitton Speedy comes in 5 different models, Speedy 25, Speedy 30, Speedy 35, Speedy 40, and Speedy 45. The numbers represent the width in centimeters that each Speedy bag measures. The Speedy 25 is obviously going to be the smallest. Another thing to remember is when Louis Vuitton makes their bags they use one piece of monogramed leather. This means the whole bag should have a concise pattern. Viewing from a diagonal the bag should have Circle icon, fleur de lis, Louis Vuitton, fleur de lis, circle, and so on. From a horizontal way the bag should have different variations of icons, for example a change of circle icons to fleur de lis. Same goes for the vertical orientation. Look at the picture below as reference. 
Since there is one piece of leather throughout the whole bag there should be no bottom stitching on the speedy bag. The stitching should be single, most fake bags have unnecessary double stitching. Another indicator is the leather. Louis Vuitton uses a specific cowhide that oxidizes to a darker tone over time. Same with the hardware of the bag, it becomes a darker bronze over period of time. After having your bag for a few years it should turn into a more worn color.
On the leather area where the handles become attached to the bag, there should be 5 single stitched in a mustard color. This is the same for all Louis Vuitton Speedy handbags. The color of the sticking is the same for most bags. As you can see from the photo below, the leather has browned, and the hardware has bronzed. Also notice if the leather hands are waxy, or oily in texture. The cowhide leather should be firm and rough, like leather usually feels. The actual monogram part of the bag is a coated canvas leather .
The handles of the Louis Vuitton bag are one of the most obvious ways to tell if a bag is real or a fraud. When you first buy your Speedy bag the handles should be a light tone with red lining. The red lining will eventually fade into a burgundy dark color. If the color is a vivid red the bag is probably not real. The handles like I mentioned earlier are an oxidizing cowhide so over time it should change colors. Remember to check if the material feels oily, sticky or any other texture other than rough leather. A photo below shows what a real Louis Vuitton handle should look like, opposed to a fake.
The date codes for the speedy bag is also very specific. Many fakers have been able to duplicate the date codes pretty well, but little do they know Louis Vuitton has a hidden meaning in their date codes. The speedy bags are made in France, so all the date codes should start with SD. SD means made in France. The numbers also signify the date the bag was made. The first and third number is the month it was purchased. The second and fourth number are the year it was manufactured. For example, if the date code is SD1924, we know the bag was made in France, in December (12) of 1994 (94).
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