I'm going to just throw this out there because I was born in India and lived there when I was young. It's been my experience that Indian workers are far more hardworking than the French. I don't think quality will go down in any way.
I am concerned about price point though and would be very concerned about what kind of wage they pay. This could be a wonderful living wage for a lot of people in India, to feed their families, etc. The people in India, by and large, are very well educated (indeed, their schools are better than the schools in North Carolina in terms of math, science, humanities, history). It's immportant to remember that while the wage may seem very low to us, the cost of living is far lower as well. If they pay a decent living wage, please realize this could save lives, families, provide schooling for children, etc.
Don't necessarily assume though that there is an automatic exploitation of workers. What you may have is families and lives changed and made better by having a job that can support your family, send your children to school, etc.
The poverty in India is terrible. The thought of people having money to care for their families, get health care, schooling, etc., (for someone who has lived there and seen the poverty first hand) might be a really wonderful thing for some of these people.
Beg to disagree. Workers are workers and their degree of skill does not depend on the country they come from. If production standards are kept, the country of manufacture should not be an issue.
Yes, that may be true...but people are honestly less likely to buy something that says - made in China versus made in France!!
There is most definitely a difference in quality in things made in China versus France for example, and with the prices WE PAY and the PRICES always INCREASING - for most, seeing LV made in India is the same as being made in China.
I am not talking about the quality of the workers, I am sure workers in India are hard workers - outsourcing is so common these days, hell you call an american company and their customer service has been outsourced to India!!!
....If this is true, I hope their prices come down - but we know the truth, NOT LIKELY!!!!!
ITA. It's the mental picture that comes with the label. France and Italy, to me imply luxury, more so actually than a product made in US or UK. It's probably the mental association with couture items.
uh. if thats true.. goodbye eluxury!
im most DEFINITELY hand selecting my bags at the boutique.
no offence.. but YUCK. saying made in india as as good as saying made in china...
lower wage workers= lower quality!
my first thought was - lower wage workers= unfair rights
that's one of the reasons why i prefer the real to faux because i always assumed since made in france / spain meant no unfair labour compared to china but maybe i am wrong? lower wage workers means i will have to try to find another brand :s
Other than the issues that everyone has already brought up -
Lower quality
Unequal pay across countries.
They have shown that in many cases the factories in third world contries open up after hours to produce fakes. So after producing Coach or whatever for 8, 10 or 12 hours they stop for a moment, load up lower quality materials and start up again and produce the same bag, but fake. Quality control definitely goes out the window. When this happens, I will stick 100% to Chanel.
I'm going to just throw this out there because I was born in India and lived there when I was young. It's been my experience that Indian workers are far more hardworking than the French. I don't think quality will go down in any way.
I am concerned about price point though and would be very concerned about what kind of wage they pay. This could be a wonderful living wage for a lot of people in India, to feed their families, etc. The people in India, by and large, are very well educated (indeed, their schools are better than the schools in North Carolina in terms of math, science, humanities, history). It's immportant to remember that while the wage may seem very low to us, the cost of living is far lower as well. If they pay a decent living wage, please realize this could save lives, families, provide schooling for children, etc.
Indian people have a VERY strong work ethic when they are able to get jobs (my father was a surgical missionary there). I would venture to say their work ethic is far stronger than the typical work ethic for the French. Please don't judge an entire country.
I do realize that the price increases have been terrible lately for LV; perhaps this might help with the 3 increases in a year thing . . . perhaps not. We wouldn't love LV as much if the luxury wasn't associated with it (if we're honest).
Don't necessarily assume though that there is an automatic exploitation of workers. What you may have is families and lives changed and made better by having a job that can support your family, send your children to school, etc.
As far as exploitation too, most LV SAs that I know have second jobs due to the fact that the wages they are paid are not a living wage. The one I knew in Charlotte prior to my SA now had to quit because her salary could be higher working as a legal assistant.
The poverty in India is terrible. The thought of people having money to care for their families, get health care, schooling, etc., (for someone who has lived there and seen the poverty first hand) might be a really wonderful thing for some of these people.
I know the outsourcing for cell phones has changed the lives of Indian woman tremendously for the better. They have more say in their lives, more power, less need to marry young for money. While we tend to look at this as a sweatshop type thing, most LV factories are clean, bright and well-maintained. The cell phone companies in India have really nice working conditions for their employees (by and large) and it is a godsend to them. India and China, while both being in Asia, per se, are VERY different countries.