LeSportsac is an American handbag, luggage, and accessories company that has enjoyed a resurgence in popularity since collaborating with Japanese pop aesthetic and Harajuku streetstyle -inspired artists such as TOKIDOKI and Gwen Stefani’s L.A.M.B.
Le Sportsac bags have been seen on the shoulders and arms of local cosplayers and Japanese street fashion enthusiasts — thanks largely to their funky, colorful designs and extra roomy capacities.
The question is, however — how many of these seemingly ubiquitous bags are actually authentic? And if you are on the quest for a genuine Le Sportsac and not one produced in a knock-off factory in China, how do you tell these bags apart? Here are five signs to look for when looking to purchase your first authentic Le Sportsac handbag.
Zippers
The most telling sign for spotting fakes is the zipper. Authentic Le Sportsac zippers feature solid colors complementary to the main color theme of the pieces (for example, on a predominantly black wallet the zipper is black, and on a mainly brown bag the zipper is brown). They are very rarely silver, and are never in rainbow colors.
Another way to tell is to look at the zipper head. There should be a tiny embossing on the side of the head that says “YKK” — which is the name of the Japanese company that supplies them with zippers. Meanwhile, the zipper pull should feature the company logo embossed in steel; if you have an ordinary zipper pull then the bag is very like a fake.
Straps
Authentic Le Sportsac feature nylon straps. They are very rarely leather — only the TOKIDOKI ones have straps made out of leather. Even then, the leather used is genuine and of very good quality; if your handbag has fake leather straps that crack or peel easily, chances are you picked up a fake.
Inner Lining
The inner lining of genuine bags are as thick and have a substantial feeling as the outer covering, and also feature the trademark textured surface of genuine Le Sportsac fabric. They are also more often than not — just like the zippers, in solid colors reflecting the main color theme of the piece. If you have a bag that features either a thin white fabric lining that is not textured, or a printed lining with the same fabric as the outside of the bag, chances are you purchased a fake.
Fabric
Genuine Le Sportsac fabric is fairly thick and scratchproof, and has a distinctive square texture that can be seen when the bag is held against the light, or felt if the surface is stroked with your palm. It also features crisp, in-line printing with nary a line out of place. Fake bags usually look a little too smooth, which means that the fabric used is not the authentic kind. Many fake bags also have prints that are poorly aligned or miscolored — like a comic book that did not have its individual parts line up during press.
Price
The last indicator is price. At the Le Sportsac online store, small pieces run about USD 25 to 40, while larger ones can go for up to USD 140 to USD 200. The collaboration bags like TOKIDOKI and Stella McCartney of course go for a premium — starting at USD 250 for just the medium sized totes. So if you found a TOKIDOKI overnighter for just PhP 1000 it would be safe to assume that it’s fake — but hey, if you’re okay with that, go knock yourself out~
For more detailed descriptions on telling fakes apart from the real thing, visit the TOKIDOKI blog.
Buying your first piece is always an important learning experience, since girls are known to move on from Le Sportsac and Kipling to Vivienne Westwood and Jean Paul Gaultier (and of course on to LV and YSL). Making sure that your pieces are good investments is simply good money sense. Good luck and have fun with your first buys!
JPOP Manila 
Thanks for the tips (doesn’t have any Le Sportsac bag but wants one) now I know what to look at if ever I’m gonna buy one.
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no worries, hun. good luck with your first purchase!
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Nice, how about spotting a fake Louis Vuitton bag? Since Japan is known to have a big share on customers buying luxury consumer goods.
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i’d love to write a how-to for LV but i don’t own an authentic one, so i can’t be entirely sure if the guide will be correct or not ^^;; sorry~
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I’m guilty of buying a fakey. But then again, I don’t think I deserve an authentic one, considering how *barumbado* I normally get with my bags. ^_^;;;
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buying fakes is not a big deal in itself — it’s when people start claiming that they’re original that the trouble starts…
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V. helpful, thanks. Where can you buy Le Sportsac bags in Manila?
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yup — the local distributor for genuine Le Sportsac is RUSTANS DEPARTMENT STORE; just check out their stores at the SHANGRI-LA MALL or GLORIETTA 🙂
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Actually there IS a kind of TokiDoki LeSportsac bag that comes with rainbow-colored zippers… since it was a present from my mom and came from an official retailer at a rather hefty price (complete with the odd lil’ Qee doll keychain) I can safely say it’s original. It’s worth nothing that the TEETH of the zipper are what’s multicolored, though, not the fabric of the zipper itself.
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brilliant — the more we know the better it is for buyers; thanks for the heads-up, Kytha!
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A lot of fake Le Sportsac bags in Divisoria. I got a couple of fake Le Sportsac cellphone pouches as a present last Christmas, I think they are selling these for 3 for Php 100…
You should post photos of a fake one and an authentic one…. kaya lang bibili ka pa ng fake, haha…
I don’t get the point why people buy fake designer bags if they can’t afford it. They should support local products instead…
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hi there! i’ve received a couple of replica pouches over christmas — i’ll see if i can find the time to have extensive interior and exterior shots taken of both the replica and the genuine clutch i picked up at a DUTY FREE outlet to show the differences between the two 🙂
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I’ve seen some of the LeSportsac bags that do not say anything on the strap. Does this mean its fake?? The funny thing is, all the authentic stores that sells these in Asia, none of them say “Le Sportsac” on the strap… only the ones from U.S.A. says it. It is confusing.
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hmm that is curious — i’ll ask a couple of pals who’ve bought stuff from retailers both in ASIA and the US to see if they’re noticed the difference in the straps. i’ve only ever bought from stores here in ASIA (mostly duty-free outlets at airports) so i don’t have the expertise to comment on that ^^;;
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Just a heads-up, there are two el cheapo Simone Legno-designed bags from Target. They’re 20 USD each. Note though, that these are from Target, not LeSportsac and while it’s designed by Simone Legno, it’s not part of his Tokidoki line.
I think it’s still helluva cute though, and I’d prefer using that over real Tokidoki / LeSportsac locally for the simple reason that there’s just too much of the fakeys here.
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“I think it’s still helluva cute though, and I’d prefer using that over real Tokidoki / LeSportsac locally for the simple reason that there’s just too much of the fakeys here.”
sadly very true — it makes owning the TARGET bags sound so much nicer, better than having your authentic TOKIDOKI mistaken for a fake
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i love LeSportsac especially its cool designs. my nieces call me a LeSportsac addict!
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Thanks for the great info on spotting fake Lesportsac bags, sorry to say I didn’t see this sooner. I just bought on Ebay what I believe it a fake. I should have known from the price, but never even thought this might be fake. No “YKK” on the zippers anywhere and the fabric is sewn very crappy inside underneath the handles by the zippers. I’ve contacted the seller, waiting to hear back. So upset, I hate being scammed!
Thanks again for the help, I’m a much wiser Lesprortsac buyer now!
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Glad to help, and so sorry you got burned 😦
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