Gucci zeal to protect brand extends into the hereafter

Hong Kong

ON Java Road in Hong Kong, a new pair of brown leather Gucci loafers, lovingly wrapped in cellophane, hangs from a storefront - the deal of a lifetime at less than US$3.

Just not this lifetime.

The shoes are paper replicas, meant to be burned as offerings to relatives who have died - a modern twist on an old Chinese custom. At specialty shops across this city, the bereaved can choose from an impressive array of goods to send to their departed loved ones, including Italian sports cars, smartphones, six-packs of beer, cigarettes, dress shirts and sports jackets.

One store, next to Hong Kong's Ten Thousand Buddhas Monastery, even …