Charles & Keith is one of the Singaporean brands that many Malaysians know and love. It turns out that this brand is also very well-loved in China as they have more than 270 stores in the country!
As Charles & Keith is a little long for people to pronounce, those in China prefer to call it little CK while big CK refers to Calvin Klein.
Recently, a woman in China shared on Xiao Hong Shu about how she mistakenly went into a store resembling Charles & Keith, bought something there, and then realised that the store is actually named Chermas & Kaeth.
According to the post she uploaded on 25 June, the woman said that she went into the store and bought a pair of black sandals for CNY500 or approximately RM322.
After she wore the shoes for a while, she realised that the quality was not as good and upon further inspection, she found out that the shoes she bought were from Chermas and Kaeth (a Guangdong brand) and not Charles & Keith like she wanted!
The woman then brought the pair of sandals to the store and asked for a refund but she was unable to get it.
“I bought a lesson for 500 yuan.”
Many netizens in the comments noted that the font and store layout is the same and that those who do not know how to read English would surely mistake it for the real deal.
Well, we never knew that Charles & Keith had such a big market in China to the point that there are so many copycats.