Brand Protection for Apparel and Footwear in Africa
Apparel and footwear are, by volume, the most counterfeited goods on earth: clothing, footwear and leather goods together account for 62% of all counterfeit items seized globally. For African fashion labels and for international brands selling into the continent, the problem is the same — a hangtag is trivial to copy, and a customer paying real money has no way to know.
The category where the label is the product
In fashion the brand is most of the value, which is why the OECD and EUIPO find clothing, footwear and leather goods making up 62% of everything customs seizes. A counterfeiter does not need your factory, your fabric or your finishing. They need your name on a tag, and tags are printed.
This hits two groups differently. An international label losing sales in Lagos or Nairobi needs to know which outlets are selling copies. A growing African label — and there are many now exporting within the continent — needs its customers to be able to tell a genuine piece from a market copy, because at that stage a reputation for being copied is as damaging as the lost sale itself.
Hangtags get swapped. Here is what to do about it.
Any tag can be removed and put on another garment, so a code on a swing tag alone is weak. The stronger placements are a woven or printed label sewn into the garment, a code on the care label, or a tag whose removal is destructive. Combine that with the first-scan mechanic: the customer's first scan issues a proof-of-purchase code tied to that specific item, so a tag reused on a second garment shows as already registered.
Diversion between markets
Fashion's other loss is not counterfeiting at all — it is your own stock appearing where you did not intend, at prices that undercut your distributor or your flagship. Tie each production run to the market it was allocated to and scans elsewhere are flagged, which gives you a factual basis for a conversation with a wholesale partner instead of a suspicion.
What you get
- A unique signed code per garment or pair, on a sewn label, care label or destructible tag.
- A proof-of-purchase code issued on the buyer's first scan, which doubles as a resale and authentication record.
- Clone detection, exposing one code copied across a run of fakes.
- Destination-market geofencing for grey-market and parallel-import stock.
- Boutique and distributor verification codes, so stockists can check a delivery without consuming customers' first scans.
- Geo-tagged customer reports naming the shop or market where a copy was bought.
Apparel & Footwear: common questions
What brands in this category ask us before they start.
Tags can be cut off and reused. Does a code really help?
Only if you place it well, which is why we push for sewn-in or care-label codes rather than swing tags. Beyond placement, the first scan registers that specific item to that buyer, so a reused tag shows as already registered and repeated scans of one code across different towns are flagged as a clone.
Can a customer check before they buy, in a shop?
Yes. Scanning is a browser page with no app, so a customer can check in the shop, in seconds, before paying. For your stockists, a verification code marks their own stock checks as trade scans so they do not use up customers' first scans.
We sell through boutiques in several countries. Can we see who is selling where?
Yes. Allocate each production run to its destination market, and scans outside it are flagged as possible diversion. Combined with distributor codes, you can see which partner's stock is turning up in another country.
Still have a question? Talk to our team — we usually reply within one business day.
Protect your apparel & footwear
Start with 250 free codes, or talk to us about a market check in the country where you are losing sales.