Hello fatfire, I've read some of your comments on this thread and feel the hostility towards JD lol. I can tell you are from the industry, either you have worked for a brand or are still working for a brand. Good on you for your knowledge and for schooling us on whatever you know about the leather industry. Kudos to you for that!
Now, I actually feel compelled to comment on this particular post of yours. Your discussion about workmanship between the 2 maisons is what actually fascinates me.
I recently had the pleasure of checking out Delvaux's latest collection in Paris and was very warmly welcomed by M.Loubier and his team, all of whom were always very sweet and kind. While I find Delvaux's pieces elegant on the whole (design-wise), I will have to refute you on your statement alluding to Delvaux's workmanship being far more superior than JD's. While "200 year old business perfecting leathercraft" of Delvaux may be part of the brand story, I don't think any consumer buying a Delvaux bag will receive a bag made by an artisan who has had "200 years of leathercraft" experience lol. Find me any 200-year old artisan who has perfected leathercraft, please-- I'd love to interview them!
In fact, as I remember, I've chatted up to a few of Delvaux's artisans in the past who were actually very, very young. I clearly remember one in his early 30s and one in her late 20s! So let's not discount young artisans or even artisans-in-training. Some are truly talented and are far more advanced than others who have been in the leathercraft trade far longer. If you are in the industry, surely you'd either have had visited or at least have access to the age demographic of the artisans at the Hermes atelier in Pantin. So, an artisan's age or the length of time they've spent training and then working on creating premium leather products is not the only barometer for how good their work can be. Talent is too. And there are many young, talented artisans around today-- and that's great for us consumers! I hope they can keep the art of leathercraft alive
At the Delvaux showroom, I expressed interest in the ceramic Le Caprice which would be available only by pre-order. And as a rule, I always like to inspect the bag inside out before I commit to making a purchase. After all, 5 figures and above for a designer bag is not chump change (unless you're a trust fund baby haha, and even so...). Anyhow, the Delvaux team apologized that they are "unable" to open the ceramic Le Caprice for me to inspect. Instead they offered to show me the all-leather Le Caprice. So I played with the bag and really inspected it. Exterior was beautiful, and yes, machine stitched, which is not a problem for me. I also loved the handle.
But the interior of the bag was what surprised and actually disappointed me. For what you have said is a brand with "200 years in business perfecting the leathercraft," the Caprice's interior stitches were uneven, and I also found it baffling that they'd put a separate piece of a leather base and secure the bag with 4 metal rivets inside. The leather version of Delvaux's Le Caprice is priced a little over 7,000 Euros. When I pointed out the uneven stitching of the interiors to them, they were taken aback. And profusely apologized and even said "oh because the bag is just a press sample." I find that even more surprising. Because if you are indeed a luxury maison, you should never put out subpar-finished product that would otherwise cost the consumer over 7K euros, as a sample. Doesn't matter if it's someone from the press who will inspect it or a paying customer (or both).
Don't get me wrong, I like Delvaux very much too, and like many fashion houses today, they are not immune to quality issues too. I don't shoot them down for it completely nor do I make the decision to fully remove Delvaux from my list of brands to "watch out for." I continue to look forward to seeing their pieces and how they can improve further, but that particular experience left me questioning my desire to purchase their bags, at least for now.
I've attached a video of the Delvaux Le Caprice as well as a photo of its interior. And I can tell you too that from personal experience, I've never seen that kind of quality from a Duclos bag so far.
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