Coach and Sweatshops?

Fendi84NJ

Fendi84NJ

purselove
O.G.
Sep 26, 2007
1,783
59
#1
Hey ladies...

So last night I was having a convo with another bag lover about Coach and various brands.

Then another girl was telling us about some fake Coach bags at this flea market and how some looked better than others, but how shocked she was at the prices of some of the better looking fakes.

I was telling everyone not to settle for the fake bags, cause I could show them where to find someone real at the outlet for probably around the same price.

Then I was explaining just to two people that I don't judge what other people do, it's their own business, but for me personally why I don't buy fake bags:

1. The lower quality

2. I like things to be what they are. I would rather have a $15 Target bag that is what it is, then a fake bag "pretending" to be Coach or whatever brand

3. I don't agree morally with a lot of the sweatshop conditions and terrorism funding ties that go with a lot of counterfeit designer goods

So out of no where, someone NOT in the conversation until now...cuts me off and basically in a mean way tells me to "get with program cause my real Coach bag I paid too much for is also made in a sweat shop" (as you can guess, this person has no knowledge about Coach whatsoever)

I shrugged it off and petted my bag, not wanting to start a fight.

I know most Coach and some other designers do make stuff in China now to lower production costs, but to me, being made in another country and actually being made in a sweatshop are two totally different things.

Do you think their is any justification behind her story? Or was she just being rude? In my heart of hearts, I can not accept that the real Coach would ever use a sweatshop...
 
#3
I also felt like she was purposely trying to hurt my feelings...(which she is other wise a nice person so idk why).

She really does not have a good fashion sense at least in terms of my taste (and I would never say anything mean to point that out) AND she does have a really nice Nine West bag that I like a lot and just complimented last time I saw her.

I don't know why people feel the need to try to make me feel bad about my bags. This is not the first time someone has done something similar. I don't know why my bags "bother" non bag people. I am not bothered by their: car, electronics or whatever the heck they spend their money on.
 
#4
I've never heard that, it may be true but don't you think we'd have heard about it somewhere, somehow if it was?

The problem with people like her is that most of us are honest and truthful so we're taken by surprise by people that will outright lie to put someone else down or to gain the upper hand.

I liked the part where you said you "petted" your bag, that's cute and a good reason to buy a nice bag ;)
 
#6
Well, hard to know what really goes on in a manufacturing site that is in another country unless a vendor invests in having a presence onsite, which often defeats the purpose of going off-shore for cost savings. The irony is that the nasty person who made this comment is likely wearing an item that was reasonably priced, made in another country, probably by someone under horrid working conditions, and yet they felt it appropriate to blast you because you were carrying what THEY determined to be an excessive, luxury item....

It's too bad, because I think a lot of people think that way about coach now. Back in the day, coach was great. If your bag broke or needed new life breathed into it, you could send it back to Connecticut and have it fixed or refurbished.

While it's great that coach was able to reinvent itself in the late 90s and stay alive, and some new designs are really pretty, it's also a bit of a turnoff, to me anyway. I've had my obsessive/compulsive Coach years, and I still have about 4 bags that I use. I dont mean to be insulting to anyone and I know everyone has different taste, but when consumers began to demand more "luxe" (ie, expensive and easily identifiable as such) handbags, I was surprised coach jumped in with new logos and large lettering and prints that all scream I AM A COACH. I guess that I looked at coach as a brand more like Bottega Veneta (whose tagline is pretty much something like 'when your own initials are enough'.) BV's, like coach, are well made, stylish, incorporated bits of new trends as they came out, but didn't have to scream what it was. BV had a really hard time around the same time that Coach did but they were able to maintain their same style and understated quality....not that i'd ever buy one of their bags unless they were really discounted because theyre so expensive...which again is why I liked Coach! I remember 398 was their most expensive bag, and the coach briefcase I bought lasted forever - I ruined it with ink stains, but it was in great shape 15 yrs after I bought it.

My teenage daughter is caught up in coach hype and loves her logo wristlet that her brother bought her and I was totally that way at 15. I am just tired of the flashy stuff...maybe I'm old but i want to support more socially resp brands like ignes and belen. I know corporations like coach do socially responsible stuff, and I realize I"m rambling here. People like this nasty person are just ridiculous. they're part of a completely different kind of snobs/elitists. My cousin is one - totally turns her nose up at what they think are mainstream highend products and looks down on folks who don't buy whatever crunchy elitist stuff she's into.

Also, I'm not saying that folks who buy logo'd stuff do it to be noticed, some people truly love a design and that's great. Just feeling like we're so focused on material stuff too much.
 
#7
Fendi84NJ said:
I also felt like she was purposely trying to hurt my feelings...(which she is other wise a nice person so idk why).

She really does not have a good fashion sense at least in terms of my taste (and I would never say anything mean to point that out) AND she does have a really nice Nine West bag that I like a lot and just complimented last time I saw her.

I don't know why people feel the need to try to make me feel bad about my bags. This is not the first time someone has done something similar. I don't know why my bags "bother" non bag people. I am not bothered by their: car, electronics or whatever the heck they spend their money on.
Click to expand...
It's just jealousy, really it is. Or maybe that girl thought you were downing other lower end bags, which you clearly weren't. It's probably a problem these people have w/in themselves and nothing you can do about it. Enjoy your bags and forget them, because EVERYONE has their "thing."
 
#8
I have no idea what the conditions of the Coach factories are like, and I would guess only a few people here would know for sure, either.

Coach is massed produced mainly in China, which is a practice associated with a range of social and economic issues. Everyone has to decide for themselves how they feel about those implications.

The person who said that to you was being rude regardless, though.
 
#9
I read about the bag producing factories in China and they sound similiar to a college campus with dorms and game rooms...etc There are some underage who sneak in and some who do work too much overtime but it doesn't sound anything like the conditions of the fake making rings which tend to be mobile and just horrible.
 
#10
siouxie said:
The irony is that the nasty person who made this comment is likely wearing an item that was reasonably priced, made in another country, probably by someone under horrid working conditions, and yet they felt it appropriate to blast you because you were carrying what THEY determined to be an excessive, luxury item....
.
Click to expand...

Thats what I think too. The odd thing is people think that the fakes are so much more affordable and cheap, when you can score Coach for pretty decent prices these days! I've seen horrid overpriced fakes all the time too. I wish some people would give it a chance and take a good look at the real thing vs. fake.
As for the sweat shop thing, I don't know. I would certainly hope that a brand as big as Coach, whom although produces their goods in another country, would ensure that it's through good working conditions, adequate wages for workers & etc.
 
#11
ask her if she wears victoria's secret-while it is not produced in sweatshops it uses prison labor, which in my opinion is just as bad as sweatshops, probably even worse in most cases and it happens not far from our own homes...or revlon make-up, also a prison labor produced product line...forever 21 was busted for using sweatshops a few years back...i bet she owns at least one thing from at least one of these companies
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Top
Back