By Hannah Yakobi

Photography courtesy of eBay

Running for only a week, the latest one-of-a-kind campaign by eBay is a collaboration with the Council of Fashion Designers of America (CFDA). For this initiative, called You Can’t Fake Fashion, 90 of the top American designers are coming together to raise awareness against counterfeit goods and celebrate fashion craftsmanship.

Participants include Catherine Malandrino, Carolina Herrera, Ralph Lauren, Prabal Gurung, Rachel Roy and Diane von Furstenberg.

Designer Rachel Roy spotted in New York City with her personalized You Can’t Fake Fashion tote for eBay and CFDA. Photo: Michael Simon, startraksphoto.com.

All designers got drawn to the project in different ways.

“My involvement with YCFF came from a phone conversation with Steven Kolb (of CFDA) about counterfeit,” Catherine Malandrino told FAJO. “Some business opportunists take advantage of hard-working, dedicated and passionate creative talent to make a profit, but at the end the product has no story, no love, no soul and the piece becomes just a commodity.”

Each designer is creating their own customized, unique tote that is available for auction on eBay, starting at $100. The standard canvas tote is also available at a “Buy It Now” price of $50.

“My favourite aspect of the YCFF campaign is that you take something generic and transform it into a fashion statement,” said Malandrino.

“For young designers who rely on sales of their clothing, authenticity is everything,” said Brian Wolk and Claude Morais (Ruffian) in an interview with FAJO. “You Can’t Fake Fashion initiative is two-fold: first, [it brings] awareness to the fashion industry of the problem with counterfeiting, and second, [it brings] awareness to the millions of eBay consumers who can participate and buy a one-of-a-kind piece at a great price to support a great cause!”

This is the first time eBay has auctioned the designer bags, and the first time the auction/sale will be open to Canadians (with free shipping). The auction will wrap up on Monday, Mar.25 at 9 a.m. PST/12 p.m. EST.

All proceeds from the collection will benefit CFDA Foundation to support this important cause.

For more information about YCFF, click here.

Some of the pieces at the auction