My professor told me Chanel bags are all made in China but assembled in Europe?

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#91
tutushopper said:
You've not checked in for a long time; it's now over $600 for that refurbishment, and just FYI Hermes is also affected by the Chinese labor & materials "trade." Many people have not been very happy at the way they have been treated by the "everything that comes after" the sale. Just start reading the threads and you'll see a lot of evidence of that. Dior never charges to put soles on my shoes or to tune up my watch; Chanel charges for both and they take 3x as long. Go figure. Chanel really doesn't do much for you after they have your money.
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True. Aesthetics apart, I'm much much more satisfied with Dior than with Chanel in terms of quality and service. Once Dior took a large lambskin bag I bought 2-3 years ago back to completely repaint it. And I didn't even ask for it. I was toting it when visiting the boutique and my SA noticed a stain and immediately offered refurbishment, free of charge, delivered to door, like brand new. At Chanel they really don't do anything after they have the money, they do almost nothing even before...that's why I've never become a 'loyal' customer to Chanel. I buy quite a lot from other premier designers too (mostly clothes), and unfortunately Chanel has the worst services, hands down...

Back to the main topic, I'm not surprised at this outsourcing and it's happened for quite a bit of time now. One of my best friends actually owns a factory that supplies cashmere scarf/stoles to Loro Piana (if this is inappropriate please feel free to delete it.) Personally I'm not very troubled by this. As long as I'm paying for a design+quality I feel worth the pricetag, which with experience is not a hard thing to tell, I'm happy to pay, regardless of the made in xxx tag.
 
#93
Interesting discussion. I read the book of Dana Thomas back in 2008, and realized the changes in the high-end brand industry. It was not until I went to visit China for the 1st time in 2009, that I felt how wide-spread it is.

We were brought to many nation-owned factories for buying souvenirs, which is a compulsory for tour groups. During one of those session, in a textiles factory, they explained in the 1st shift, the factory is used to make xxx brand. However, it is perfectly legal for the same factory to use the exact same facility to do "extra income" for other shift. Imagine that.

And later that day, we were brought to shopping arcade, there, you see rows and rows of counterfeits. I talked to one of the vendor, asking for xxx brand that were not on display. Turned out they have to sell the xxx brand in hidden manner due to the heavy raiding at that time.

She pulled out a porfolio, and show me all the models she has for that brand, and mark from B grade all the way to AAA grade. The B grade probably only 1/50 of the market price of the authentic counterpart, but the AAA grade, which is about 1/10 of the original, claimed to be the exact replicate, even the material used.

And yes, Prato in Italy has turned into a pretty significant Chinatown. Would like to see that myself one day.
 
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#94
This is so interested I feel like a fool for spending so much money on bag made in china, and I desperately wanted to prove my teacher wrong
kuishinbomeow said:
Interesting discussion. I read the book of Dana Thomas back in 2008, and realized the changes in the high-end brand industry. It was not until I went to visit China for the 1st time in 2009, that I felt how wide-spread it is.

We were brought to many nation-owned factories for buying souvenirs, which is a compulsory for tour groups. During one of those session, in a textiles factory, they explained in the 1st shift, the factory is used to make xxx brand. However, it is perfectly legal for the same factory to use the exact same facility to do "extra income" for other shift. Imagine that.

And later that day, we were brought to shopping arcade, there, you see rows and rows of counterfeits. I talked to one of the vendor, asking for xxx brand that were not on display. Turned out they have to sell the xxx brand in hidden manner due to the heavy raiding at that time.

She pulled out a porfolio, and show me all the models she has for that brand, and mark from B grade all the way to AAA grade. The B grade probably only 1/50 of the market price of the authentic counterpart, but the AAA grade, which is about 1/10 of the original, claimed to be the exact replicate, even the material used.

And yes, Prato in Italy has turned into a pretty significant Chinatown. Would like to see that myself one day.
Click to expand...
 
#95
lulalula said:
True. Aesthetics apart, I'm much much more satisfied with Dior than with Chanel in terms of quality and service. Once Dior took a large lambskin bag I bought 2-3 years ago back to completely repaint it. And I didn't even ask for it. I was toting it when visiting the boutique and my SA noticed a stain and immediately offered refurbishment, free of charge, delivered to door, like brand new. At Chanel they really don't do anything after they have the money, they do almost nothing even before...that's why I've never become a 'loyal' customer to Chanel. I buy quite a lot from other premier designers too (mostly clothes), and unfortunately Chanel has the worst services, hands down...

Back to the main topic, I'm not surprised at this outsourcing and it's happened for quite a bit of time now. One of my best friends actually owns a factory that supplies cashmere scarf/stoles to Loro Piana (if this is inappropriate please feel free to delete it.) Personally I'm not very troubled by this. As long as I'm paying for a design+quality I feel worth the pricetag, which with experience is not a hard thing to tell, I'm happy to pay, regardless of the made in xxx tag.
Click to expand...

Hi lulalula,

Re loro piana, I'm assuming your friend's factory is in Asia somewhere? Do you mean the yarn is from Asia or the factory that makes the woolen accessories is in Asia?

Kudos to your friend for having Loro Piana as a client. Aren't they owned by lvmh? Bigger contract potentially!
 
#96
I am also curious about Loro Piana is there anything about it that's italian other than the label?
lulalula said:
True. Aesthetics apart, I'm much much more satisfied with Dior than with Chanel in terms of quality and service. Once Dior took a large lambskin bag I bought 2-3 years ago back to completely repaint it. And I didn't even ask for it. I was toting it when visiting the boutique and my SA noticed a stain and immediately offered refurbishment, free of charge, delivered to door, like brand new. At Chanel they really don't do anything after they have the money, they do almost nothing even before...that's why I've never become a 'loyal' customer to Chanel. I buy quite a lot from other premier designers too (mostly clothes), and unfortunately Chanel has the worst services, hands down...

Back to the main topic, I'm not surprised at this outsourcing and it's happened for quite a bit of time now. One of my best friends actually owns a factory that supplies cashmere scarf/stoles to Loro Piana (if this is inappropriate please feel free to delete it.) Personally I'm not very troubled by this. As long as I'm paying for a design+quality I feel worth the pricetag, which with experience is not a hard thing to tell, I'm happy to pay, regardless of the made in xxx tag.
Click to expand...
 
#97
Barbie444, thanks for starting this thread. I've been a bit crazy on buying Chanel bags lately. After reading all the comments I'm a bit put off by Chanel. This has helped me to step back and think about where I should put my hard earned money into. Honestly, I don't feel that special about owning Chanel anymore. I still love my bags, just not as crazy about them after knowing what I know now.
 
#98
#99
No Problem! I couldn't believe my professor and came here for verification.
allthingsblack said:
Barbie444, thanks for starting this thread. I've been a bit crazy on buying Chanel bags lately. After reading all the comments I'm a bit put off by Chanel. This has helped me to step back and think about where I should put my hard earned money into. Honestly, I don't feel that special about owning Chanel anymore. I still love my bags, just not as crazy about them after knowing what I know now.
Click to expand...
 
#100
tutushopper said:
You've not checked in for a long time; it's now over $600 for that refurbishment, and just FYI Hermes is also affected by the Chinese labor & materials "trade." Many people have not been very happy at the way they have been treated by the "everything that comes after" the sale. Just start reading the threads and you'll see a lot of evidence of that. Dior never charges to put soles on my shoes or to tune up my watch; Chanel charges for both and they take 3x as long. Go figure. Chanel really doesn't do much for you after they have your money.
Click to expand...

Tutu, the day Dior starts having the same sales volume of Chanel, expect to see the end of those nice perks. I am sorry if I sound cynical...

Coco Chanel was very passionate about her work. I wonder what she would think if she could see what's going on with the business of luxury.
 
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#102
barbie444 said:
To say today was a crappy day at school in an understatement. Anyway I am a fashion merchandising major and today there was a discussion about Chanel. I pride myself in all the Chanel knowledge I have learned from The Purse Forum throughout the years. I also own quite a "modest" Chanel collection (two more reveals coming this week). She went on a about how China is taking over the luxury sector including Chanel. When I said I doubt Chanel will move it's production away from Europe to China, she said "Sweetheart it already has, all the pieces come from China, they just assemble it in Italy." I was floored for a FASHION professor to be so ignorant, but I kept my cool and decided to ask you ladies if theres is any truth to this.
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barbie444 said:
No Problem! I couldn't believe my professor and came here for verification.
Click to expand...

Well, now you can trust that your professor knows what they are speaking of, and it's good to trust the information coming to you in a learning setting. It's hard to know all of the "behind the scenes" things as the companies specifically do not want you to know them.

An interesting discussion to have with your professor is what they think about the fact that the Chinese market is waning, both from a monetary standard and from a luxury goods standard. As I mentioned earlier, they seem to be going to "American" brands (most of which are made in China), which are in the hundreds of dollars rather than in the thousands. The large majority of shoppers are younger compared to European or American buyers, which tend to be a bit older (percentage of young buyer market in China is huge).
 
#103
Chanbal said:
Tutu, the day Dior starts having the same sales volume of Chanel, expect to see the end of those nice perks. I am sorry if I sound cynical...

Coco Chanel was very passionate about her work. I wonder what she would think if she could see what's going on with the business of luxury.
Click to expand...

I actually don't see Dior behaving the same way; their RTW is seen so much more than Chanel's (outside of fashion shows), and their bags are pretty popular and growing. I think they will remain a "nice" niche, even if their sales numbers rise dramatically. It's a bit of that "take care of the customer and they'll be back" idea rather than Chanel's "we are indifferent or could care less" way of handling customers. If it does turn to that, you may be assured I'll be the first out the door.

Coco was also a businesswoman, and a sharp one at that. I think she would have slapped Karl on the head a few times, then joined on the profits bandwagon. She was of all things opportunistic. The vision of the poor orphan left her long before she started making fashion and accessories, although things got a little "sticky" during and after the war. If she could take back ownership of all of her namesake items (and so many brands are franchising these out, including Chanel), I'm sure she would so that she might tweak them and decide which things to franchise out and which to keep under her control. She did get a pretty sweet deal from the Wertheimers.
 
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#104
There have always been some questions I have had about some of Chanel's decisions, like pricing the "boy bag" as high as the classic. I understand the astronomical price for the classic as it's not only popular but really represents Coco Chanel and her aesthetics. But I never understood the price justification for the Boy Bag. I felt that was just a greedy move to make it an "over night classic" so they can charge higher prices.

I did notice Dana Thomas was mentioned frequently on this thread but as of 2012 she still sticks to her assertions that Chanel and Hermes still maintain their high quality.

"When you wrote Deluxe, Hermes and Chanel were two of the rare houses that seemed to be trying to preserve their luxury heritage and craftsmanship. Do you still believe this to be the case? Are there any other brands that have captured your attention over the years?

Yes, I do think those two still maintain their integrity because they are still privately held and do not make short term decisions to yield big immediate profits for shareholders. Instead they think about their long term reputation. Other brands that to do this? Tom Ford and Loro Piana are two that come immediately to mind. I’m sure there are others. Particularly smaller firms that I don’t know."

http://www.featherfactor.com/2012/10/interview-with-dana-thomas.html



I did see a presentation by Dana Thomas a few years back where she did mention that North American consumers cared more about the Made in Italy Label then Europeans did. She made a joke about Italians being seen as elves lol.

Regardless even if Chanel and Gucci made all their handbags in Italy , over 50% would obviously have had to be made by Chinese workers as they are the dominating workforce in that Market.

But companies should be honest regardless of dealing with stereotypes (and xenophobia for some cultures) that could hurt profits.

Bottega Veneta, Gucci and Louis Vuitton have these events where they show craftsmen come and create the bags in person and they never show a worker with an Asian or Mexican (LV has a factory in Mexico and California) background. The craftsman or craftswoman is always white and European.
 
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#105
tutushopper said:
You've not checked in for a long time; it's now over $600 for that refurbishment, and just FYI Hermes is also affected by the Chinese labor & materials "trade." Many people have not been very happy at the way they have been treated by the "everything that comes after" the sale. Just start reading the threads and you'll see a lot of evidence of that. Dior never charges to put soles on my shoes or to tune up my watch; Chanel charges for both and they take 3x as long. Go figure. Chanel really doesn't do much for you after they have your money.
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$600!? Apparently I haven't needed to use their service for a while. I can get the same quality work done for half that amount elsewhere, no thank you.
 
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