“Princess With My Eyes” would be a good name for an emo rock band.

I understand your point and completely agree, however I do need to say that luxury products are generally made in Europe or the United States, not sweatshops in Taiwan.

This is how their high-prices are justified, by higher quality and exquisite craftsmanship. They purposely avoid production in Asia so their products won’t be perceived as cheap or poorly-made.

Not that quality products DON’T come out of Taiwan, but it wouldn’t be fair to attribute this country of origin to most designer and luxury houses.

Counterfeits? Definitely…

hi,

actually, for many luxury wares, only a portion is made in Europe, Dana Thomas, in her book “Deluxe: How Luxury” lost it’s luster notes:

Quality has long since been replaced by quantity, and almost all of the manufacturing has been outsourced to large factories in places like China, where your expensive luxury brand handbag is being put together right next to a one from a mass-market label that costs substantially less. Dana Thomas has dug deep into the dark side of the luxury industry, finding out all the secrets that Prada, Gucci and Burberry don’t want you to know. She visits the last bastion of old-world luxury - Hermes, which is still based in France, where old-fashioned highly skilled artisans still make their coveted Kelly and Birkin bags by hand. But most of its competitors in the luxury fashion business have outsourced; they’ve gone corporate, they’ve gone large scale. Thomas takes us right into the action, from the scent factories in Grasse that manufacture Christian Dior and Prada perfumes, to the crowded factories in China, full of workers gluing together “Made in Italy” bags by the thousands.

That is very interesting…
Apart from LVMH manufacturing(which I know first-hand) & Hermes (which I know by reputation and coworker reports), it is true that I don’t know where those other brands are made. I can say with all confidence that LVMH brands are made where they say they are…

It certainly could be that Prada, Gucci, & Burberry may well be made in Asia. I’m not certain about PPR Group sourcing & manufacturing, but legally, there are standards for inserting any sort of country of origin labeling - certain percentages of manufacturing must be met within country, etc… I’d be surprised if they were legally able to put “Made in Italy” labels inside of items that weren’t MOSTLY made in Italy.

Haven’t read this book though, obviously just basing this on my own experience. Will look into getting a copy!

This is sooo my topic! The thing about the expensive dresses made in china or india? People let themselves often fool by the price tag or the name that goes with it. This is something i struggle with being a designer myself. We once had a presentation in a luxury store among with other young designers and someone said while looking at the exhibited goodies: “okay, and now off to the big names”. How dumb is that?

yeah… i am not for sure where things are made, or what exactly the standards are from anything, and once something like this enters my head, it’s hard to get out. I wish there was a reliable source to go to, for determining the working conditions of the craftsmen. i really don’t care what country it is, as long as they are fairly compensated, and highly skilled.

i do believe however, that the big names don’t necessarily equate with quality and certainly not value. i guess this means that you just have to learn to develop an eye for quality.

Great post.
I agree with you in so many points. “they don’t necessarily offer what they promise.” I’m tired of seeing astronomic prices in “luxury goodies” tags and touching the thing in question to find out is mere plastic…

BTW at ms. p&c: I work in the fashion business and know what “made in US” or Europe means… we do also have sweatshops and I have witnessed more than two.
Many brands (more that you’d think)hide their “national” sweatshops in a “made in US” label because they know we all think sweatshops exist only in eastern countries… when the truth is that no matter where they’re producing, the workers’ conditions are the same. Crap.

so much to talk about here… i don’t know where to start, so i will bring up something related: those chanel sunglasses aren’t made by chanel but rather by some manufacturer that has licensed the chanel name. of course chanel has an interest in making sure the product reflects their brand, but if it’s essentially being designed/quality controlled/project managed/produced by another company (and with actual production being contracted/subcontracted) how much more “chanel” are they than any other sunglass label produced by that same company? i.e. is there anything really “chanel” to them besides the logo? i personally don’t think so.

patricia/ yeah… did you see ‘made in la?’ about the sweatshops that exist in la…
it’s really moving

and a/
if the sunglasses aren’t made by chanel companies then why do the spend so much advertising to sell them and why do they sell them in the boutiques? i don’t get how that is different from any other product a brand is trying to push…
sorry, but i don’t

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