The luxury sandal market has a lot of fakes. The most commonly counterfeited sandals are Chloé sandals. Chloé's famous logo slides and stylish leather sandals may look real at first sight, but they usually aren't made as well, have inferior materials, and lack the detailed craftsmanship that distinguishes "real Chloé sandals." Being able to tell the difference is critical for consumers who want to avoid being scammed by counterfeit products and feel confident when buying luxury items. There are 10 steps to identifying whether a pair of your purchased Chloé sandals is fake or authentic, including looking for the way the sandals are stitched, where the logo is located on the sandal, what kind of packaging was used, what the quality of the hardware is, what the serial numbers read, and how much you paid for them. By using these tips while you're seeking to buy luxury items online or from a brick-and-mortar retailer, you'll be able to determine what true luxury is versus what it is not.

1. Check The Logo Detailing

Chloé sandals have a distinctive, highly structured, aesthetically pleasing logo that is well-crafted and has a good finish. The logo should also have consistent spacing and should use a visually pleasing style with well-formed letter forms. When comparing the font of the fake Chloé sandals to the Chloé website’s images of their brand, the font of the fake or counterfeit Chloé sandals will have letter forms that are not well-formed or that have problems with the proportions of each letter form. In addition, many counterfeit logos are not spelled correctly or are altered by the addition of accent marks. A visual comparison of the counterfeit sandals’ logos with the official Chloé logos is one way to easily determine the two logos’ differences. An original logo should have a clean design, be appropriately proportioned, and have a high-quality finish.

2. Examine The Quality Of Leather 

Authentic Chloé sandals are made with high-quality leather, which is luxurious, soft, and has a smooth texture. Although natural leather will develop a distinct character over time, it is also very durable and comfortable. In contrast, many counterfeit sandals are manufactured from synthetic materials that feel rigid, plastic-like, and have an unnatural level of shine. When touched, counterfeit materials are likely to have cracks and wrinkles in an unnatural way. On the other hand, craftsmanship and comfort are always given top priority by manufacturers of authentic products; whereas counterfeit manufacturers are typically focused on providing a cheap imitation of the real product, thus producing lesser quality materials in order to save money.

3. Inspect The Stitching Carefully 

Chloe sandals are a prime example of quality workmanship; The stitching is tight and uniform with the same spacing, all the way around the entire shoe. There should be no fraying of the thread, and the threads should look uniform in size and smooth in appearance. Many replicas will have irregular or uneven stitching patterns as well as glue residue on them, which shows that the products were not manufactured with a high level of quality control. The stitch patterns of replicas may not line up properly around the straps of the sandals or the sole of the shoe. Luxury footwear has very strict quality control by the manufacturer; This is to ensure that the item can be manufactured precisely and that the manufacturer will give absolute attention to detail when making the product. As a result, any Chloe sandals that are made will be made with a high level of craftsmanship; On the contrary, a replica of Chloe sandals would have shown signs of manufacturing shortcuts or lack of manufacturer quality with regards to the overall quality of the product.

4. Inspect Dust Bag And Packaging

Chloé sandals have excellent packaging and are made from high-quality materials, which reflect their luxury brand. The box should be sturdy and have high-quality printing with accurate logos and color; legitimate dust bags should be made from soft cotton and have neat branding. Fake products have less expensive/thinner boxes and are made of high-quality/fadeless goods; fake dust bags are poorly sewn. Counterfeit boxes can contain spelling/print errors, and the letter sizes differ from the standard widths and lengths; the tissue paper may also be of lower quality than on luxury brands. So, gift packaging provides one more means to show the authentic product. You may be able to compare the packaging from authentic unboxing videos/images vs. your experience of Chloé sandals and spot differences quickly/easily.

5. Check Quality of Hardware

Real Chloé sandals will have metallic hardware, like the buckles and rings, that is made from high-quality metals that are heavy and polished. They will also have minimal wear on the metal, with no discoloration or sharp edges, while poor quality metals used to create fake or knock off Chloé sandals are easily scratched, dented or rusted. The metal on real Chloé sandals will be consistently shiny, with little to no excessive shine and will look luxurious. You should look for uniformity in the engraving of the hardware and the presence of crisp lines and a lack of irregularities or smudged areas. Chloé sandals are designed with high-quality materials and therefore the craftsmanship shown in the hardware is part of the overall design. Fake or knock off sandals do not have the quality of the original product, nor were they constructed using high-quality materials.

6. Sole Comparison of the Sandy Chloé Sandal

The soles of real Chloé sandals are made with high-quality, comfort-oriented, and aesthetically pleasing materials. When you feel a real sandal's sole, it feels both stiffer and more flexible when compared to a fake, and it has smooth edges and layers that are perfectly aligned with each other. In contrast, counterfeits may exhibit one or more signs of poor craftsmanship, such as the soles being improperly attached, uneven or poorly finished, and have visible signs of glue residue from the floor, and may also feel unusually light due to using cheaper materials for construction. Lastly, look carefully at the bottom of the sandal because most original designs will have consistent patterns for their textures and will have clear and identifiable branding elements.

7. Assess The Price & Shop Around

If you find sandals at a price that seems too good to be true, there’s a good chance the item is not a product from Chloé. Authentic Chloé sandals are very high quality & do not often sell outside of authorized sales for significant discounts. Counterfeiter sellers will often use extremely discounted prices & time limited offers to attract buyers to their products. Only buy from authorized Chloé Boutiques, trusted luxury retailers & verified resale platforms. When purchasing from unknown stores with poor customer service reviews & questionable payment methods, be careful. Authentic retailers will provide you with an invoice, authenticity card & an easy-to-understand return policy. Luxury goods will maintain their value, which makes them illegal for much less than their worth, a major red flag.

8. Identify Labels and Serial Numbers 

Authentic luxury items typically include a label, a product code, and/or a serial number that corresponds to the original item and the original package/receipt. For instance, there will be a certain level of neatness associated with all original Chloé sandals. This should include being aligned correctly and printed professionally. The majority of counterfeit items will have either: incorrect code printed on the label; the label itself will not match anything found on the item; a poorly affixed tag; or all three of these things. Some counterfeit sandals can have a serial number that does not belong to that collection. You should closely examine the placement, consistency, and quality of all fonts used because luxury brands have very rigid specifications for their labels.

9. Check The Shape And Overall Design

A genuine pair of Chloé sandals will have an appropriate proportion with all of the design elements, i.e., the straps, heel shape, sole thickness, and shape, matching perfectly with the official product photos. Fake sandals may appear to be oversized, poorly proportioned, or slightly different from the original product design.

10. Evaluate Comfort and Quality

Designers of high-end footwear understand the importance of producing fashionable, stylish, and comfortable footwear. People who buy authentic Chloé sandals generally find them to be comfortable, well-balanced, and supportive.  In comparison, fake sandals can be very stiff and poorly padded, making them uncomfortable to wear for long periods of time. Fake Chloé sandals typically take the form of high-fashion type shoes and do not reflect any intent to manufacture high-quality footwear, so they have a limited lifespan. Thus, if a pair of Chloé sandals feels poorly made, regardless of their looks, they most certainly were made as tomato cans.