Fashion Under Seige: Motorcycle Gangs Target Luxury Fashion
By Denise Grayson May 29, 2009
Photo: Denise Grayson
There’s a disturbing new trend in fashion and we’re not talking about a return of popped polo-shirt collars. Rather, this one is even more diabolical. Bold smash-and-grab thefts of handbags and jewelry in London’s upscale designer shops are increasing both in frequency and brazenness.
Louis Vuitton, Luella Bartley, Marc Jacobs, Salvatore Ferragamo and Sonia Rykiel are just a few of the shops targeted by “scooter gangs” – criminals on mopeds who drive through the windows and take what they want; usually it’s handbags. Oddly, they don’t clear out the shop; rather, they pick and choose specific styles and colours. This suggests they are taking orders, possibly for collectors who don’t want to wait. It’s all speculative at this point, as tracking of the stolen goods has proved unsuccessful.
London’s Metropolitan Police say the gangs work in groups of six or more young men, and there are currently about six gangs operating in London. They work for a middleman who shifts the goods which are thought to be transported overseas, “likely Russia and the United Arab Emirates where you can still get a high price for a designer bag.”
Just this month, the Knightsbridge location of luxury department store Harvey Nichols was targeted during the night by six men – three used sledgehammers to smash glass doors at its Sloane Street entrance before snatching tens of thousands of pounds of jewelry as the other three waited outside on high-powered motorcycles. They are thought to be part of a “Fagin’s Kitchen” group of about 50 loosely connected individuals consisting mainly of teenagers. They have struck dozens of times and are thought to have stolen more than £4 million of goods in the past year alone.
Handbag designer Anya Hindmarch is a regular victim having been burglarized six times, the most recent being earlier this month. Bandits smashed into her Pont Street shop, escaping with goods valued at £45,000. A frustrated Hindmarch told the London Evening Standard: “It is so infuriating. It seems as though we are a bit too popular in gangland. It must be hard for the police. Apparently they came very quickly and are always very helpful but there is not much they can do if the thieves have already left.”
Many times there are several witnesses to the crime but the raiders wear helmets and therefore can’t be identified. They typically grab so much in goods that it’s not unusual for a bag of jewelry or handbags to be left behind on the pavement because they can’t manage the entire load on the motorcycle.
Making headlines last December was the shocking daytime burglary of the Harry Winston boutique on Paris’ Avenue Montaigne, a street dedicated to high-end designer shops and hotels. Four gunmen, including three disguised as women, made off with $108 million of diamond rings, necklaces and watches during the 15 minute raid. A police official said the thieves called some of the store employees by name and even used intimidation to further frighten the victims by reciting their home addresses. A year before this same boutique was robbed of $28.4 million in gems. The thefts remain unsolved.
Designers aren’t only hit at the retail level. In August 2007, a shipment of shoes that Alice Temperley had co-designed with Christian Louboutin for her Spring/Summer 2008 collection in New York was stolen during transport in Italy during what appears to be a planned hijacking. They’ve never turned up anywhere which is something insiders find odd; because the shoes are one-offs they would be instantly recognizable should they be put up for sale or worn in public.
More devastating is that some thefts could potentially ruin careers. Christopher Kane, one of London’s brightest young talents, was burglarized eight days before the start of London fashion week in September, 2007. Ignoring the neighbouring photography studios filled with expensive equipment, the thieves entered Kane’s and carefully hand-picked items, says Kane “as if they were in a shop.” Fortunately, he was able to remake the missing pieces in time to show his third collection, which was a hit. Had the entire collection been stolen, Kane acknowledges that in “such an unforgiving industry” he would have been “ruined”.
Until the fashion industry is willing to tolerate a reform in their exorbitant pricing and the consumer gets some perspective on the real value of luxury goods, the waiting lists and the frenzied competition to acquire the latest ‘hot’ designer item will continue. And the fashion houses can expect more of this ‘smash and grab’ approach to shopping.
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Submitted on May 29, 2009 in Industry News.
Denise is a Canadian living in England who is fascinated by the fusing of fashion and art. Her obsession with the details and an insatiable urge to share beautiful discoveries drives her Paris-loving blog, www.TheSwelleLife.com, and recently she opened Swelle Boutique at www.swelleboutique.com which offers exclusive one-off and limited edition dresses and accessories.
Denise Grayson has contributed 59 articles to Models & Moguls.
