This is turning into a duplicate of the Shopping thread regarding Hermes's new sales policies. If you have comments about that, about acquiring (or being unable to acquire) Hermes goods, please post them there:

new policy at hermes on phone orders

This also isn't a thread about bashing LV, Hermes, or any other brand. The article was a business piece focusing on brand value, sales, etc. Preferring one brand over another for whatever reasons doesn't mean the other is necessarily "less than" - it just means you have a personal preference.

Please remember that there are members reading and posting here who do love brands in addition to or other than Hermes and try to be respectful.

Thanks.

I was a Vuitton girl for many, many years and loved my canvas bags. They were well made and lasted a LONG time and Vuitton would make repairs when a zipper needed to be replaced or a strap. Then I bought a replacement for a beloved bag that had lasted 16 years - same style etc. What a piece of garbage!!! It started having quality troubles immediately, and when I took it back to Vuitton in NYC, they told me they only repaired bags with manufacturing defects - buy a new bag if it didn't hold up was their motto. I was shocked! And I decided that I would never again buy Vuitton.

As for the article - geeze but that is one gawd-awful bag in the picture. Could they have added anything else to it? Looks like they threw every scrap of everything available on it!

And the comment on young professionals buying luxury handbags because they can't afford housing...well, how on earth will they EVER be able to afford housing if they spending all their discretionary income on luxury handbags! I hope that's not what they are really doing as it's a road to a pretty grim life.

Originally Posted by IFFAH

xiangxiang0731. Always wise, dear jmen. But, it's not true.

All I can say is my Asian stocks did well. . .

This is why I don't bother to read Business week.

Louis Vuitton is LV just like Chanel is Chanel... just buy what you love

& who really cares about how much business any company does globally...

LV sales were 29.5 billion... unbelievable but good for them!!

Same for you IFFAH!

Originally Posted by IFFAH

xiangxiang0731.

Originally Posted by mistikat

This is turning into a duplicate of the Shopping thread regarding Hermes's new sales policies. If you have comments about that, about acquiring (or being unable to acquire) Hermes goods, please post them there: new policy at hermes on phone orders This also isn't a thread about bashing LV, Hermes, or any other brand. The article was a business piece focusing on brand value, sales, etc. Preferring one brand over another for whatever reasons doesn't mean the other is necessarily "less than" - it just means you have a personal preference. Please remember that there are members reading and posting here who do love brands in addition to or other than Hermes and try to be respectful. Thanks.

Originally Posted by India

As for the article - geeze but that is one gawd-awful bag in the picture. Could they have added anything else to it? Looks like they threw every scrap of everything available on it! And the comment on young professionals buying luxury handbags because they can't afford housing...well, how on earth will they EVER be able to afford housing if they spending all their discretionary income on luxury handbags! I hope that's not what they are really doing as it's a road to a pretty grim life.

Very very true! Wise words, India, as always!

Originally Posted by jellyv

Well, it's not ironic, it's just fact. LV makes laminated canvas goods and does so proudly. This is not declasse on the face of it; it's a luggage-heritage brand thing. For me, the wisest comment here thus far is the one about LV being there to sell, and having the nerve to actually sell to customers. Most puzzling response thus far has been some expression of wonder/being turned off by seeing customers inside stores in big numbers and actually buying stuff there. A reminder perhaps that selling is the purpose of stores.

I am a retailer and own 3 businesses so I naturally will express surprise at any store that is packed with customers. Even if my llocal grocery store is overly jammed at any time, I wonder if there is a good sale, if there is a statutory holiday or what the attraction is. When it comes to luxury stores and items, I am even more surprised because the items are not cheap. It is the nature of the retailer....we look at plastic bags as we walk through malls to see which stores are attracting the most customers and we try to find out why. We calculate # of people currently in the store and divide sales by sq ft etc. I dont care what the product is, it could be fish for all I care.....the only issue is what makes any particular product relevant at any particular time.

Originally Posted by CallMeMel

Oh wow. Was LV always an eyesore for you or only when you think you have been upgraded yourself?

no it wasn't. i carried LV since i was a teenager and i stopped 5/6 years ago because their designs and leather quality became more and more of an eyesore to me. i am utterly confused how expressing one's personal opinion and preference can be construed as thinking "that i have upgraded myself"

I'm personally glad that H isn't listed as one of the most "valuable" brands - honestly, if it was, would most of us covet it as we do? The more ubiquitous something because, it loses its allure. LV has sacrificed a lot of that in order to obtain global domination of the luxury market. Am I saying that's wrong or evil? No, they're a business, I totally get that - however, it turns me off from them, and there's nothing wrong with that either.

Originally Posted by CallMeMel

Karma? What goes around comes around. I am thinking - So if one carries a diamond studded croco birkin - it gives you a free card to snob the lesser birkins? What more looking down the noses on people who's just trying to get their first LV bag like me. It's a scary world.

Yeah I agree callmemel. It's a privilege to have nice things that you work for. This thread is the most snobby ever. I like the tPFforum to get all the bag addicts to talk about their obsession. Its fun. It's disheartening when you get people to make "class" distinctions by the bag you have.

Originally Posted by LoVeinLA

Yeah I agree callmemel. It's a privilege to have nice things that you work for. This thread is the most snobby ever. I like the tPFforum to get all the bag addicts to talk about their obsession. Its fun. It's disheartening when you get people to make "class" distinctions by the bag you have.

Please see my post above asking people to be respectful of each other and to get back to topic.

Thanks.

I think its really sad how some people think they're clearly better than Louis Vuitton because they can 'afford' a birkin.
I don't think its really 'affording' a birkin when you have been saving up the cash for years.

I think its affording when you can spend that kind of money without putting a massive dent in your savings, and I am sure thats what the Hermes market's intentions are.

As for the article's sense, Louis Vuitton have a wider range of collections, from different price ranges.
Do you think LV would receive this much criticism if EVERY bag was 5-6k and up and it wasn't accessible as it is now? Probably not.

I think bottom line is, people are annoyed that everyone else is carrying 'their' bag, and they used to feel 'special' being the very few carrying that bag and Louis Vuitton's marketing strategies are out of the roof and it will only increase with customer sales.

Overall, I'd like to see comments on disliking Louis Vuitton because of the actual quality/style of the bags.... not because of how many people are in the store and how a 13 year old was carrying them and you cant be seen in that kind of presentation... that's just being self centred.

Congratulations to LV, I'm sure they will only get better :)

Originally Posted by KazzJulez

I think its really sad how some people think they're clearly better than Louis Vuitton because they can 'afford' a birkin. I don't think its really 'affording' a birkin when you have been saving up the cash for years. I think its affording when you can spend that kind of money without putting a massive dent in your savings, and I am sure thats what the Hermes market's intentions are. As for the article's sense, Louis Vuitton have a wider range of collections, from different price ranges. Do you think LV would receive this much criticism if EVERY bag was 5-6k and up and it wasn't accessible as it is now? Probably not. I think bottom line is, people are annoyed that everyone else is carrying 'their' bag, and they used to feel 'special' being the very few carrying that bag and Louis Vuitton's marketing strategies are out of the roof and it will only increase with customer sales. Overall, I'd like to see comments on disliking Louis Vuitton because of the actual quality/style of the bags.... not because of how many people are in the store and how a 13 year old was carrying them and you cant be seen in that kind of presentation... that's just being self centred. Congratulations to LV, I'm sure they will only get better :)

Last time ... this thread is not about disliking a brand, about elitism, or snobbery or anything like that. It was a link to an article.

If people cannot be respectful this thread will be closed.

Thanks.