Incredibly disappointing. Reminds me of the poor labor rating Prada got years back. I wonder if this extends to Dior RTW as well. I mean a $2k shirt and the mother of pearl buttons are plastic!
Dior supplier in Italy under fire for labour exploitation
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Gucci have their own factories, SLP, Bal and McQueen are made in the same, so if the same happened Gucci/Kering certainly couldn't plead ignorance
We have to be careful we're not pulled into believing either Dior/LVMH on their sustainability BS (greenwashing) or those that jump on incidents like this and then use a broad brush to tarnish all Dior, all LVMH brands, all luxury.
I'm sure you already realise, but the way news commentators quote even real figures is for sensationalism. They probably only account for the cost of the work the factory gets for a job done. The figure's quoted by BoF was "€53 ($57) for a handbag that’s otherwise sold at €2,600 ($2,794)" .Could be sewing the base of a bag before the part goes to a different factory, could be a simple pouch, could be the whole thing. A journalist may go through a spreadsheet and choose the lowest figure and say 'bag' because the factory is often used for bags, could be the info from lawyers. I know the mark-ups are sky-high but I'm also I sceptical because it's what people (non-consumers) want to read "Oh the evils of the luxury industry".
Granted YTubers waving around a Lady Dior doesn't help. The figures quoted don't include leather or other materials including hardware, don't include the thousands of wages that Dior have to pay (directly) whether they sell a bag or not, prime real estate leases, fixed/variables on stores, the website, the marketing, the celeb endorsements (how much is Willow Smith getting as the face of Dior beauty???). At the end of the day we're buying into in a dream world whether buying Dior or Primark.
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CEO of Dior is also an Arnault, Delphine Arnault. Monsieur Arnault makes sure the top jobs go to the 'best', and what a good way to control all the companies he owns the parent company of.
BTW, Dior are not being investigated, their suppliers are. I hope they seriously get a grip. It just goes to show, sustainability polices, aurora blockchain, it's all BS unless you have the will and interest in implementing the rules and have someone randomly check from the company. It's Dior's rep on the line, the factory's company name will be forgotten, it will close but the owners will set-up another company and have the same conditions there. 32 exploited workers, 9 working illegally. I thought technology was going to solve everything, something in the Aura blockchain isn't working, something must have glitched at the Product Origin and Traceability stations.
They’ve already had bad PR from Loro Piana for similar issues. Wouldn’t be surprised if their entire supply chain is compromised TBH.
But you’re right that it doesn’t mean they are aware. There was recently a brand that was offering a direct to consumer model who suffered catastrophic damage to their reputation due to the actions of a contractor. They were making handwelted shoes and halfway through production started to produce shoes through another production method which was cheaper / faster on the sly. (Was only discovered after a client took their shoes to a cobbler for a resoling)
Fashion supply chains are often large and convoluted and rarely vertically integrated. Unfortunately the unscrupulous actions of one actor can create a cascading effect with sometimes irreversible harm.
This can really damage the carefully-curated image of Dior's elevated craftsmanship with all those "savoir faire" videos. Although few in number, there are already people misquoting the 53 euro price and the sweatshop conditions as comments on those Dior savoir faire videos. It's easy for customers to be swayed in a direction because of the media. For instance, that whole Balenciaga situation with the children's ad campaign juxtaposed with a different campaign was so misrepresented by media, but the misinformation hurt Balenciaga's sales in the end.
I'm hoping that Dior has a strong PR team to navigate this.
I also hope Dior is able to actually elevate its craftsmanship (there is a lot of room for improvement currently) and convince the customers of this. Maybe it's time to open more production facilities in France instead of relying on suppliers in Italy, similar to the one that Fendi opened (but Dior's will be in France) and show it off to the world with a fashion show.
Why shouldn't Dior be investigated and responsible for these terrible working conditions?
Not trying to argue just genuinely curious why it's not on them to know what the factories are doing and whom they're hiring
Not trying to argue just genuinely curious why it's not on them to know what the factories are doing and whom they're hiring
For me it's simple.
Luxury that sells at 50 percent or less in the resale market is just not worth it.
Imagine, without Dior price increases, bags will be selling even lower than outlet prices.
Dior bags in resale market goes for a minimum of 40 percent cheaper than retail and seasonal colors 50-70 percent.
I can picture a small Dior oblique bag with very minimum leather priced even more than the YSL.
The higher the brand prestige, the more the markup.
I wholeheartedly agree with your point but Dior, you have to do better.
If a Multi Billion dollar company is doing this, let alone the other organizations.
OK, but I don't sell bags. I'm only interested in materials, quality and workmanship re. longevity - and not supporting slavery, forced labour and inhumane and dangerous working conditions.
You won't see anything, but maybe in a general sense on the next Aura or Dior policy statement (which will obviously means nothing)
Yup how else is M Arnault gonna be world's first trillionaire??
There's still marketing, retail, legal, etc costs.
Based on this article, leather+material+labour are abt 10% of total cost. So a E2.6k bag might cost E260 to make. E53 sounds abt right given the ways costs are cut based on the article. Probably a mainly-fabric bag.