Mulberry was founded in 1971 by a young entrepreneur named Roger Saul and his mother Joan. They began making poacher bags and binocular cases in their factory in Somerset but soon moved into the world of women’s fashion. The brand has gone from strength to strength with Creative Director Emma Hill taking over in 2007 turning Mulberry into the It Girl brand collaborating with the likes of Alexa’s Chung and even impressing the Duchess of Cambridge with their stylish designs.
Today, Mulberry is one of the most popular Handbag and Accessories brands in the UK and at Handbag Clinic the Bayswater is one of our most requested bags. Although compared to likes of Chanel and Louis Vuitton, Mulberry is fairly new to the luxury market but counterfeit handbags are frequently produced with the Bayswater, Alexa and the now discontinued Roxanne being the most counterfeited styles.
Mulberry can be tricky to authenticate but attributes such as leather weight, texture and even scent are indicators of quality and cannot be replicated perfectly in a non-luxury bag. At Handbag Clinic each Mulberry is carefully assessed by our team of experts, this is what our team look for in each Mulberry bag:-
Leather and Lining
Although Mulberry make a wide range of bags many Mulberry bags are made from grained, thick calf leather that makes them sturdy, durable, and structured. Not all Mulberry bags are lined and the lining can vary between the styles of bags. For example, the classic Bayswater regularly doesn’t feature a lining simply shows the raw suede inside the bag. Some bags such as the Alexa will have a plain canvas lining, while others may have a fabric lining that is printed with the mulberry tree logo. The important thing to look for with Mulberry is the quality of the material used even though this varies from style to style.
Stitching and Edging
As with all bags stitching can also be an indicator of authenticity. Counterfeit handbags will often have thick, uneven and messy stitching. The stitching on an authentic Mulberry will be straight and each stitch is the same size throughout. The edging around handles and the edges of the leather will also be neat and consistent, many counterfeit bags have messy edging which varies in width throughout the bag.
Hardware
If a Mulberry has buckles these will always be stamped and the font should be consistent with that of Mulberry’s branding. Many counterfeit bags feature a font that is thinner and slightly askew. An authentic Mulberry handbag will have a branding stamp that is thick, straight and even.
Mulberry also stamps rivets and other round small hardware with the Mulberry tree logo. This stamp should be consistent with that of the mulberry tree on the inner metal disc.
Mulberry mainly have used two brands of zip’s, RiRi and their own branded zips. If you look at the underneath of a Mulberry zip it should either say RiRi or feature the Mulberry tree Logo. As with all of the metal work this tree should be consistent and neat.
The back of the front plate which is regularly used on a Mulberry Bayswater will also be secures with flat head screws. Many counterfeits use a different, probably cheaper screw to secure the plate.
Made In
Although Mulberry used to produce all of its leather goods in England this is no longer the case. As the Mulberry Factory in England is running at full capacity in recent years the brand has started outsourcing some of its production to places like China and Turkey. Today, only about 30% of Mulberry bags are actually produced in England so it is common to see a “made in China” or “made in Turkey” tag inside a newer Mulberry bag.
Heat Stamping and Brass Disc
All Mulberry bags comes with a leather tab heat-stamped with its logo as well as an attached metal disc engraved with the iconic Mulberry tree. The heat stamp does occasionally vary, I have seen some which feature the tree logo and some which only feature the word “Mulberry”. Although this may vary the font will always be the same, Sans Serif, as shown above. The heat stamp will also be in the center of the leather, many fakes show off center or uneven stamping.
The metal disc is always a key feature that the replica manufacturers regularly get wrong. The tree should be stamped very delicately with negative space between the leaves. The metal disc will also feature a serial number on the underneath of the disc, this also is also fraudsters regularly get wrong.
Serial Number
Do not be too alarmed if a Mulberry bag does not feature a serial number, this can be the case for older models or styles which come from an outlet. At Handbag Clinic we have only seen a small number of bags without a serial number and these have only been on extremely old models. Though Mulberry uses a unique serial number for each bag, there are certain serial numbers that are red flags and oftentimes used in counterfeits. The serial number’s listed below are common numbers used in many replicas.
Regularly used fake serial numbers: –
254571, 026904, 565321 and 262541
Other numbers which may be counterfeit: –
258798, 275288, 257528, 373140, 258668, 025869, 932351,166757, 924565, 249328, 982573, 346352, 207542,1572839, 757156, 256678, 390207, 256760, 240535 ,929976 ,929885.
Very few counterfeit manufactures get the font right for the serial number as well as the heat stamping. As well as being in the wrong font the counterfeit disc’s are regularly deeply engraved rather than lightly laser etched.
Mulberry have been an iconic English brand for decades so these point may vary slightly depending on the age of your bag.
www.handbagclinic.co.uk
How To Authenticate Mulberry – Charlotte Staerck, Handbag Clinic
