Actress Mischa Barton wore fake Chanel and other designer labels on "The O.C.", says the show's costume designer Alexandra Welker.
"It was a challenge because everything had to look super high-end. There was absolutely no borrowing (from brands) involved either because nobody had ever heard of us, so they were very leery of loaning anything," Welker told Page Six.
She added: "I'll be honest. Those Chanel bags that she carried, those were not something I could have on my budget. But I found this amazing store in Downtown Los Angeles that sold the best-looking fakes I had ever seen! So we used some really, really good knockoffs."
The show, which ran from 2003 to 2007, followed a group of wealthy teenagers in Southern California's Orange County.
The Chanel boy bag, which Barton's character Marissa used as a book bag, cost approximately $1650 at the time, reports femalefirst.co.uk.
She said: "People got really worked up over that Chanel book bag; they thought that the idea of a teenage carrying one to school was obscene!"
Welker recalled trying to raise money before the show had aired and being turned down by every designer she asked.
She said: "In the pilot, I remember we did a fashion fundraiser.... I called every designer out there to explain what we were doing and who I was, and they all turned me down. So for those runway looks, we used everything from sale-rack clothes to things from costume houses to things I'd designed myself."
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