Streetwear Authentication Specialist
Streetwear authentication specialist. Focuses on print quality, tagging, and seasonal production codes.
Published October 2026 · Contact
What Makes Comme des Garçons PLAY Hard to Judge From One Photo
PLAY is Comme des Garçons' casual line: cotton T-shirts, polos and cardigans carrying a small heart with two eyes, drawn by the Polish artist Filip Pagowski, plus a long-running collaboration with Converse on the Chuck 70 and Chuck Taylor All Star. It is widely copied, and the identifying work is done by a handful of small marks: a woven neck label, a separate care tag, a stitched heart, and on the shoes printed and moulded details.
Here is the honest limit of this guide. In our records, the counterfeit PLAY pieces we have seen copy every one of those marks. Fake labels, fake care tags, fake tongue labels, fake insole prints and fake heel and outsole plates all turn up in a layout that looks correct. So we do not claim a single tell, and nothing below is a pass mark on its own. What follows is what genuine pieces in our records show, so that you know what you are comparing against. The marks have to be judged together, and in hand, because a photo of one label proves very little.
Worth knowing
This guide is built from genuine PLAY pieces in our authentication records. The counterfeits we have reviewed reproduce the labels and tags closely enough that we cannot offer a fake-versus-real comparison without overclaiming. The formats below are what genuine pieces in our records show, not the brand's own published system, and we have not confirmed what several codes mean. Where we are unsure, we say so.
The Woven PLAY Label
On the genuine tees in our records, the neck carries a white woven label printed "PLAY" in large black capitals, with "COMME des GARÇONS" in smaller type beneath it. Three things are worth reading closely. The name has a cedilla on the Ç of GARÇONS. A small star sits under the name, towards the right end of the line. And the size is not on the main label: it is on a separate small white tab sewn just beneath it, with the size letter alone.
We have not found an official explanation of the star, so we describe it only as a feature of the genuine labels we have seen. The same label turns up with the size tab on the right of the label on some pieces and beneath it on others, so tab position alone is not a test. In hand, look at print quality and the evenness of the stitching around the label.
The Separate Care Tag
A genuine PLAY garment carries its care information on separate white tags rather than printing it on the neck label. On the tees in our records there are two: a Japanese-language tag and an English and French one.
The Japanese tag lists a style code, the fibre, the size, and a red hanko (a round personal stamp) in the sewing-responsibility field, then the wash symbols, "日本製" (made in Japan), the name 株式会社コム デ ギャルソン (Comme des Garçons Co., Ltd.) and a Tokyo address in Minami-Aoyama. Near the stamp is a season code. The examples we have seen read AD2012, AD2016/9 and AD2017/8, though we have not found the brand explaining how the code is formed.
The style codes on the pieces we have reviewed look like AZ-T101, AZ-T108 and AZ-T113. We do not know how the AZ-T numbering is assigned, so treat these as codes we have seen, not a list to check against. The same code usually appears again on the English and French tag, which gives you a cross-check: the two tags on one garment should agree with each other.
Tags also change over time: some older genuine pieces in our records have a Japanese tag with empty fields and no style code. A tag that differs from these is not automatically wrong, and one that matches is not automatically right.
Worth knowing
Origin on genuine tees. Retailers such as Selfridges, Harrods and Tres Bien list PLAY tees as made in Japan, which matches the tags above. Reseller sources suggest some PLAY items were made elsewhere, so we do not say every PLAY piece is made in Japan. We have not confirmed any Made-in-China PLAY line, and we do not use origin alone as a test.
The Embroidered Heart
The heart is the most photographed part of a PLAY garment and the least useful on its own. On the genuine tees and polos in our records it is a small embroidered patch, red or black, with two white eyes with black pupils, stitched with a raised, tightly packed fill and a satin edge. The size, colour and eye position differ between styles, and the heart on a collaboration pair is printed rather than embroidered.
You will see online advice that the pupils should touch the edge of the heart. We did not find that to hold across genuine pieces, and the eye placement varies from style to style, so we do not use it. A better question is whether the stitching looks clean and dense, and whether the heart is placed where that style puts it.
The Converse Chuck 70 PLAY Pairs
The CDG PLAY x Converse Chuck 70 and Chuck Taylor All Star are a different product from the clothing, and the genuine pairs in our records are Vietnam-made. Retailer listings for the Chuck 70 PLAY also give Made in Vietnam. Do not read our guide to the standard Chuck 70 as a reference for these: the PLAY pairs differ from it, and details described there do not carry over.
On the genuine pairs we reviewed, the inside tongue carries a white label with "MADE IN VIETNAM / FABRIQUE AU VIETNAM", a small red heart, a style code, a size table, a QR code and a date line reading "9A" followed by four digits and "M88". We have not found a source for what that date code means, so we report it as a feature, not a way to date or verify a pair.
Inside the shoe, the insole is printed with the CONVERSE star chevron logo, a red heart with eyes, "PLAY / COMME des GARÇONS" and a separate white "MADE IN VIETNAM" sticker. At the back, the heel carries a moulded plate reading "CONVERSE ALL STAR" with "Chuck Taylor" in script on either side of a large star.
On the underside, the outsole has an embossed Converse and ALL STAR plate with the size moulded in.
The printed hearts on the uppers vary between the multi-heart low-tops, the single-heart hi-tops and the polka-dot versions, so we do not treat heart shape or eye direction on the shoes as a test.
Worth knowing
Fakes copy this whole list. The counterfeit pairs in our records carry a tongue label with the Vietnam wording, heart and QR code, a printed insole with a Made in Vietnam sticker, a heel plate and an outsole plate. A matching tongue label does not make a pair genuine, and a slightly different one is not enough to call it fake.
Putting It Together
Use these marks as a set. On a genuine PLAY tee in our records the neck label, size tab, care tags and heart all agree with each other: the same style code on both tags, a cleanly woven label, a heart that suits that style. A mismatch between two of them, such as different style codes on the Japanese and English tags, tells you more than any single detail, though we would still not call it from a photo.
If you are checking other Japanese labels, our guides to Issey Miyake and the Kenzo tiger sweatshirt show how labels and tags are read on other designers' pieces.
When to Get a Professional Opinion
Because fake PLAY labels, care tags and shoe details are copied so closely, a listing photo cannot settle the question. The decision rests on how all the marks, the fabric, the stitching and the construction fit together against confirmed genuine pieces. LuxeDetect authenticates PLAY clothing and Converse collaborations from photos, starting at $15 for a 24-hour check, with a Certificate of Authenticity for pieces that pass. Start an order with clear photos of the neck label and size tab, both care tags, the heart, and for shoes the tongue label, insole, heel and outsole.
A code that checks out doesn't prove the item is real. Counterfeiters copy genuine codes.
Our authenticators check the labels, print and stitching of your Comme des Garçons against verified references, from $15. You get a verdict within 24 hours, and a Certificate of Authenticity if the item passes.
Authenticate My Comme des Garçons →FAQ
How can I tell if my Comme des Garçons PLAY shirt is real?
Look at the labels and tags together instead of one alone. A genuine PLAY tee in our records has a woven PLAY label with the cedilla and a small star, a separate size tab, and separate care tags with a style code, a Japanese address and made in Japan wording. Fakes copy all of these, so these checks only tell you what to compare, and a professional check is the reliable answer.
What does the AZ-T number on the care tag mean?
We do not know. Genuine pieces in our records show codes such as AZ-T101, AZ-T108 and AZ-T113, and the same code appears on the English and French tag of the same garment. We have not confirmed how the numbers are assigned, so do not use the code as a decoder.
Where are Comme des Garçons PLAY shirts made?
Retailer listings for PLAY tees give Japan, and the genuine tags in our records say made in Japan in Japanese, English and French. We have not confirmed that every PLAY item is made in Japan, and we have not confirmed any Made-in-China PLAY line, so use origin as context, not a verdict.
Are CDG PLAY Converse Chuck 70s made in Vietnam?
The genuine pairs in our records are, with Made in Vietnam on the tongue label and a sticker on the insole, and retailer listings agree. Counterfeit pairs copy that wording too, so Made in Vietnam does not prove a pair is genuine.
Can fake CDG PLAY have perfect labels?
Yes. In our records counterfeits carry correctly laid-out woven labels, Japanese care tags with a hanko stamp, and tongue labels and plates on the shoes. A perfect label is a baseline, not a pass.
