Once upon a time, you might have been embarrassed to be seen with a counterfeit Chanel handbag from a Turkish market stall, and only worn it on the sly. But not today: in 2026 #dupe has become one of the most searched terms on social media, with young people across the globe flexing their knock-off products as a more cost-efficient way of keeping up with trends.
Caitlin Monahan and Olu Alege call this a “reverse status symbol” in their report on the changing dynamics of dupe culture. Having come of age during the hypebeast era of the 2000s, both writers had noticed this extreme shift in how young people were engaging with fakes. “I was seeing Labubu dupes in my off-license, designers saying that their work is being plagiarised, and StockX celebrating World Anticounterfeiting Day,” Cait tells me over Zoom. “And I was like, no one cares that things are fake anymore. And then I was like - but do they?”
It’s the very essence of being a fake, Cait argues, that makes something so powerful. To buy a dupe in today’s context signals knowledge, effort and resourcefulness. “The person who bought the dupe is the smartest one in the room,” she and Olu write in their collaborative report. But what does that mean for the brands being duped, and why have they lost the kudos that once came with authenticity?
Read the full interview on our website
Money Troubles: The New Dynamics Behind Gen Z Banking Trends
A challenging economic climate is changing how Gen Z consumers engage with money, banking and finance.
Legacy brands are still on top, but their cultural connection to younger consumers is fraying.
Brands winning in this space are the ones speaking openly and honestly about the challenges, and meeting young people where they are.
Money talks, and what it’s saying right now is clear: from living costs to the housing market, the climate crisis and AI, young people face a more hostile economic landscape than any generation since the Great Depression a century ago.
Whenever we ask the young people in our network about their worries and fears, economics are consistently at the top of the list. “With everything going on with the housing market, the cost of living crisis, everything feels like an impossible battle, like unachievable goals,” Nico (23) from London told us recently. Kareem (22), also from London, shared similar thoughts: “I feel like there's a big problem now with like grad jobs and there not being enough. University students having to constantly apply to like so many jobs and then not get any interviews.”
"Young people are smart, they can see the way the world's going," says Kristian Kolakovic, ON ROAD's Head of Network. "They're very aware that the things they've been promised by society, from housing to jobs, don't always line up with the reality they're living day to day. There's only so long that situation can last before people's mental health starts to suffer, and they start looking for alternatives that better meet their needs."
So what can brands - both inside the finance sector and more broadly - do to help Gen Z meaningfully tackle these challenges? The good news is that, while the problems can sometimes feel insurmountable, there are plenty of options for confronting them.
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We’re the research agency that gets brands closer to culture, via our global network of Gen Z creatives, innovators and community-builders.
If you want to find out more, get in touch: info@onro.ad