We had Knoll come in an give a presentation over their design history and talk a bit about their company a few years ago. The questions on Knockoff’s came up. Their response was something along the lines of. “if you can live the fact that you have a knockoff then by all means buy a knock off. Most people that see or sit in the knockff will never know. Only you will really know that you do not have an original, and if every time you look at it or sit in it doesn’t bother you, then buying a knockoff is ok.”
They later went on to say. They really don’t lose business from people buying knockoffs. They people who buy replicas often are not the target consumer for the products anyways. I sometimes wear a replica of a $3,500 watch, would I have bought a real version if I had the disposable income, maybe. Could I afford that now, no way.
BTW I’ve heard good things about this company. http://evincodesign.com/molded-wire-side-chair.html