To Gj-Thank you for bring up the animal suffering issue!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Do you wish LV had a selection of "vegan" handbags?
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It is nice and all, but also a hippie daydream that causes way more suffering. Plastic is always absent from vegan reasoning.
First, this is how nature works. If cows were running out in the wild and there were no humans on the planet, their life would be spent in constant survival more, fear and pain. As what all living organism on the planet did since the beginning of time and will until the Sun dies. Modern privileged people have it so good these days, that they now want the ultimate luxury: having a compassionate and noble social image. No matter how many tons of microplastics it will cost.
We — at great cost — created artificial luxury lives for a very select range of animals. Just because they are cute. Our cats live and unnaturally comfortable life. No wonder how they sneak out to hunt (and kill) from time to time, just to spice things up. But the point is, there is no way that all animals can and should live like that. What is the endgoal? All carnivore animals should go extinct so there are only friendly hippie herbivores chilling on the planet in peace? Come on.
First, this is how nature works. If cows were running out in the wild and there were no humans on the planet, their life would be spent in constant survival more, fear and pain. As what all living organism on the planet did since the beginning of time and will until the Sun dies. Modern privileged people have it so good these days, that they now want the ultimate luxury: having a compassionate and noble social image. No matter how many tons of microplastics it will cost.
We — at great cost — created artificial luxury lives for a very select range of animals. Just because they are cute. Our cats live and unnaturally comfortable life. No wonder how they sneak out to hunt (and kill) from time to time, just to spice things up. But the point is, there is no way that all animals can and should live like that. What is the endgoal? All carnivore animals should go extinct so there are only friendly hippie herbivores chilling on the planet in peace? Come on.
I agree 100% with Bull on this. It truly is a hippie daydream. It’s wonderful to wish for a world free from cruelty but it’s not going to happen. There is no way to feed the masses without some cruelty unfortunately. I can tell you that in the U.S. the hippies wanted to end horse slaughter and they did in fact shut down slaughter of horses in the U.S.. Problem is what they caused by doing so. Now the horses are still sold for meat but now get to take 18 hour trailer rides to Mexico or Canada where they are still slaughtered. So the animals now suffer much more than before and are slaughtered in much less humane ways. I worked in rescue for many years during all of it and it was devastating to witness the horses piled in 18 wheelers being trucked hours across the border. Knowing half wouldn’t even make the trip there with no water and being trampled by the strong ones. Who won in that situation? Definitely not the animals. I’m a huge animal lover and own way more than I should. That includes horses, dogs, cats and a couple bunnies that people dumped in the middle of nowhere which is where I live. My cows are feed and cared for and when the time comes they also sustain my family by way of providing food for us to eat. I care for them, protect them and feed them. The cattle industry is very misunderstood. I don’t know a true cowboy alive that doesn’t care for his animals before he cares for himself.
The hippie dream is great, but it is just a dream.
I don't think when people think of Louis Vuitton they think of vegan handbags. I think Stella McCartney has the corner on the vegan "luxury" handbag space?
If LV tried to offer a vegan bag, they would get an earful as to why are they still selling leather on other bags. The vegan consumer tends to want to support a business that embraces the ethic fully. So it would be difficult for LV to be successful with this kind option at LV price points.
If LV tried to offer a vegan bag, they would get an earful as to why are they still selling leather on other bags. The vegan consumer tends to want to support a business that embraces the ethic fully. So it would be difficult for LV to be successful with this kind option at LV price points.
Thank you. This is what genuine animal care and living in balance with nature really means.
I don't want to deny that there are also farm animals that are well kept. In Germany we don't have enough green spaces to keep the animals that are needed for today's meat consumption in a species-appropriate manner. We don't have any cowboys either. Here, factory farming is the predominant form of farming. Of course, there are very big global differences in this regard. Europe doesn't have unlimited land. In Europe, the EU also allowed long animal transports again, which causes a lot of suffering. The problem of factory farming could be curbed by less consumption. Factory farming arose from the need to eat meat or sausage several times a day. Two generations ago, meat was consumed 1-2 times a week and there was no factory farming. I also understand the point about microplastics. But canvas is also treated and not a raw, natural material. And when I look at all the superfluous plastic in supermarkets and cafes, the leather substitute would not be the deciding factor. There are much more sensible ways to save on microplastics. My opinion has nothing to do with hippie wishes, my concern is to create a little more awareness for sentient beings. It is a question of empathy. I am pleased to hear that other countries treat animals better. My contribution is not meant as an attack. The animal from which the leather is made has not been mentioned in the discussion so far and that is why I brought up this point. This is not a provocation, not daydreaming, it is my personal concern, I am far from trying to lecture anyone. It is food for thought and I accept those who see it differently or who are not interested. It is completely normal for everyone to have a different opinion. I also use leather. You should just never forget that leather is not a raw material that grows in nature. There is a life behind it. And unfortunately often a terrible one.
Thank you GJ for writing your opinion!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Well written!!!!!!!!!! I think everyone eating animals or using any of it's parts for other uses should never forget there was a beautiful life behind it!!!!!!
Again, what is the viable, less impactful alternative? *crickets* as always
I totally see that meat consumption is very high in developed countries compared to what it used to be. Here it used to be the "Sunday lunch" only, and all the other days had no-meat meals (but even those were never vegan, only very rarely).
Harari, the accomplished liberal philosopher wrote in his great book, that cows — in the evolutionary sense — are a VERY successful species. There are 1.5 billion of them, their biological safety is absolutely secure, almost 0 predators are allowed to hurt them. We made sure of that. Their DNA is safe from extinction, all thanks to us domesticating them and keeping them safe. If there were no humans on Earth, some other species (or even just a disease) could have already killed all of them long ago. Nature is horribly cruel. The lives of everyday cows these days might look unpleasant through the glasses of very privileged Western people, but they are there for a reason. Feeding people, feeding children. There are more and more people on the planet, so we need more and more food.
What can we do?
Option A. — working towards improving cattle farming all over the world by innovation, so even though we'll need more cows, their farming will be nicer, less impactful.
Option B. — heavily reducing meat (and leather) consumption, so we'll have less cattle to take care of, hence we might do it better.
The vegan movement only ever wants Option B. But that option will leave us with a less meat (and leather), and they offer no viable alternative to fill the void. And the results of this path are absolutely cruel to both cows and people.
It would mean that there will be less cows. The 'excess' cows won't just roam around the world in a hippie wonderland. They won't happen at all. So the vegan anti-cruelty movement will literally end cruelty, those cows won't have cruel lives, they won't have any lives at all. Very anti-life stance.
And for the children. In privileged Western bubbles meat consumption might look excessive. There are 1 billion people on the planet living on less than $1 a day (most of them children), also 180.000.000 children starve every day. Removing any serious protein source will only make this worse. That will lead to more starvation, death of (predominantly) children. This really rhymes with the "there are too many people on the planet" stance, which is usually repeated by the same privileged people, and which means the same fate for children as for the cows. Less people, less lives, less lived childhoods. Those people will never come to life. And that is a nihilist, absolutely horrible and zero-empathy way of thinking about the world. And this view is exclusive to extremely privileged people, that live elite lives, and for the sake of moral superiority, they are OK with sacrificing billions of animals and billions of children. Come on. This is just elitist cruelty masquerading as fake empathy.
I am all for making the world more balanced, but when there is a (quite big) nihilist, virtue signalling movement against this beautiful, culturally rich craft that we all love here, then I am getting vocal. Again, not against anyone personally, only against the destructive ideas only. When people don't give them a second though, they sound absolutely great at first, but in reality, horrible. The classic case of "sounds good, doesn't work".
I totally see that meat consumption is very high in developed countries compared to what it used to be. Here it used to be the "Sunday lunch" only, and all the other days had no-meat meals (but even those were never vegan, only very rarely).
Harari, the accomplished liberal philosopher wrote in his great book, that cows — in the evolutionary sense — are a VERY successful species. There are 1.5 billion of them, their biological safety is absolutely secure, almost 0 predators are allowed to hurt them. We made sure of that. Their DNA is safe from extinction, all thanks to us domesticating them and keeping them safe. If there were no humans on Earth, some other species (or even just a disease) could have already killed all of them long ago. Nature is horribly cruel. The lives of everyday cows these days might look unpleasant through the glasses of very privileged Western people, but they are there for a reason. Feeding people, feeding children. There are more and more people on the planet, so we need more and more food.
What can we do?
Option A. — working towards improving cattle farming all over the world by innovation, so even though we'll need more cows, their farming will be nicer, less impactful.
Option B. — heavily reducing meat (and leather) consumption, so we'll have less cattle to take care of, hence we might do it better.
The vegan movement only ever wants Option B. But that option will leave us with a less meat (and leather), and they offer no viable alternative to fill the void. And the results of this path are absolutely cruel to both cows and people.
It would mean that there will be less cows. The 'excess' cows won't just roam around the world in a hippie wonderland. They won't happen at all. So the vegan anti-cruelty movement will literally end cruelty, those cows won't have cruel lives, they won't have any lives at all. Very anti-life stance.
And for the children. In privileged Western bubbles meat consumption might look excessive. There are 1 billion people on the planet living on less than $1 a day (most of them children), also 180.000.000 children starve every day. Removing any serious protein source will only make this worse. That will lead to more starvation, death of (predominantly) children. This really rhymes with the "there are too many people on the planet" stance, which is usually repeated by the same privileged people, and which means the same fate for children as for the cows. Less people, less lives, less lived childhoods. Those people will never come to life. And that is a nihilist, absolutely horrible and zero-empathy way of thinking about the world. And this view is exclusive to extremely privileged people, that live elite lives, and for the sake of moral superiority, they are OK with sacrificing billions of animals and billions of children. Come on. This is just elitist cruelty masquerading as fake empathy.
I am all for making the world more balanced, but when there is a (quite big) nihilist, virtue signalling movement against this beautiful, culturally rich craft that we all love here, then I am getting vocal. Again, not against anyone personally, only against the destructive ideas only. When people don't give them a second though, they sound absolutely great at first, but in reality, horrible. The classic case of "sounds good, doesn't work".
Vegan leather ages absolutely terribly and most likely always will and there’s also no way to recondition it.
I have some mylar/kevlar bags from nautical lines that are fun but they were in no way priced in line with what you’d pay at LV.
There’s certain leathers that are only harvested from animals that died from natural causes so in a sense hippo is probably one of the most ethical materials.
I have some mylar/kevlar bags from nautical lines that are fun but they were in no way priced in line with what you’d pay at LV.
There’s certain leathers that are only harvested from animals that died from natural causes so in a sense hippo is probably one of the most ethical materials.
THIS! Even Hermès stopped using Elephant leather (I think in the 80's), since most of their Western clients though that they are too cute to be Birkins. While in reality, those are one of the most ethically sourced skins, and their luxury price tremendously help preserving local wildlife.
@LVlifer
Thank you for bringing this up. 👏🏻
I have always thought if A luxury house were to produce vegan bags and still sell, it would be Louis Vuitton.
With most of their canvas bags being 90 percent canvas, I find vachetta leather unnecessary.
I don't care for the patina and prefer it pre-tanned and the water marks are hard to care for anyways.
I applaud Pharrell's response that he's "working on it" which could imply to a full non-leather bag and his statement on reaching a certain influence and power before change can actually happen however the amount of exotics in the current men's line from crocs to fur is plentiful.
Thank you for bringing this up. 👏🏻
I have always thought if A luxury house were to produce vegan bags and still sell, it would be Louis Vuitton.
With most of their canvas bags being 90 percent canvas, I find vachetta leather unnecessary.
I don't care for the patina and prefer it pre-tanned and the water marks are hard to care for anyways.
I applaud Pharrell's response that he's "working on it" which could imply to a full non-leather bag and his statement on reaching a certain influence and power before change can actually happen however the amount of exotics in the current men's line from crocs to fur is plentiful.
Seaquin-
'With most of their canvas bags being 90 percent canvas, I find vachetta leather unnecessary.
I don't care for the patina and prefer it pre-tanned and the water marks are hard to care for anyways."
I AGREE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Thanks!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
'With most of their canvas bags being 90 percent canvas, I find vachetta leather unnecessary.
I don't care for the patina and prefer it pre-tanned and the water marks are hard to care for anyways."
I AGREE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Thanks!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
And they will double down, because it sells and because it is luxury. And believe me, he is not "working on" anything, unless he meant even more leather products. Neither Vuitton nor Hermès took part in the (business wise) absolutely horrific virtue signalling. Only the bare minimum. Look at all the brands who did, they tanked... Burberry, hahaha
I really don't get these people. They have 0 empathy towards culture, heritage, business, economy, people and most importantly the animals themselves. And literally 0 argument reaches their ears. Cult like, destructive, absolutely inhumane.