Why Louis Vuitton chose this ranch south of Fort Worth for a factory

[fabuleux]

This thread is out of control. Louis Vuitton manufacturing plants are state-of-the-art facilities and there is no reason to believe that the permanent plant in Texas will be any different. Also, the hiring practices seem very similar to the hiring practices in France: people in rural communities hired and trained on the spot. Why is that bad? You don't need a PhD to assemble a Speedy bag.

Unlike most people here, I have been to LV factories (and not just the Asnières one, which is more of a PR effort than an accurate representation of the other plants). These are good, stable jobs for people who often have little other options in their area.

 

[MooMooVT]

This thread is out of control. Louis Vuitton manufacturing plants are state-of-the-art facilities and there is no reason to believe that the permanent plant in Texas will be any different. Also, the hiring practices seem very similar to the hiring practices in France: people in rural communities hired and trained on the spot. Why is that bad? You don't need a PhD to assemble a Speedy bag.

Unlike most people here, I have been to LV factories (and not just the Asnières one, which is more of a PR effort than an accurate representation of the other plants). These are good, stable jobs for people who often have little other options in their area.

Thank you! My sentiments exactly. And jealous you've visited LV factories!

 

[Swanky]

Texas with no air conditioner lol

I must’ve missed that fact in the news....

 

[BleuSaphir]

This thread is out of control. Louis Vuitton manufacturing plants are state-of-the-art facilities and there is no reason to believe that the permanent plant in Texas will be any different. Also, the hiring practices seem very similar to the hiring practices in France: people in rural communities hired and trained on the spot. Why is that bad? You don't need a PhD to assemble a Speedy bag.

Unlike most people here, I have been to LV factories (and not just the Asnières one, which is more of a PR effort than an accurate representation of the other plants). These are good, stable jobs for people who often have little other options in their area.

I think it good that LV creating more workshops and employing people in the process. But some of the information in the articles had set me back with the brand, especially with Arnault. I personally agreed, I think $13 is very low pay for what they are doing.

 

[lv_katie]

I dont own a lot of bags but the ones I do own are made in the US and I enjoy them.

Even if I wasnt enthused about the one dude, I will still rock my LV like Rihanna

 

[DrTr]

This thread is out of control. Louis Vuitton manufacturing plants are state-of-the-art facilities and there is no reason to believe that the permanent plant in Texas will be any different. Also, the hiring practices seem very similar to the hiring practices in France: people in rural communities hired and trained on the spot. Why is that bad? You don't need a PhD to assemble a Speedy bag.

Unlike most people here, I have been to LV factories (and not just the Asnières one, which is more of a PR effort than an accurate representation of the other plants). These are good, stable jobs for people who often have little other options in their area.

Indeed - and jobs are great where otherwise not available. But two weeks of training to sew anything, especially leather or heavy canvas is simply not enough. Two weeks to sew a shirt isn’t enough! I think some of this is the reason we’ve been seeing terrible quality - not enough training for the people doing the work (not their fault, but likely a cost cutting measure on LV’s part). In the 60’s and 70’s many US companies invested heavily in training for employees and quality and pay and benefits were commensurate. And quality was too. Now not so much. It’s too bad, because we all do better when everyone does better. No easy solutions.

 

[Swanky]

I see in the 2nd article, it was before the plant opened, it was temporary.

 

[fabuleux]

I think it good that LV creating more workshops and employing people in the process. But some of the information in the articles had set me back with the brand, especially with Arnault. I personally agreed, I think $13 is very low pay for what they are doing.

People who take these jobs can turn down the $13/hour if they think it's not enough and go work somewhere else... No one is forced to work there! Not defending Louis Vuitton for its policies, but here is a company that brings jobs to a depressed area of Texas and people criticize them mercilessly...

 

[mzbaglady1]

I saw someone did mention this book Deluxe how luxury lost it's luster by Dana Thomas in a older thread. An eye opener for me and I am paraphrasing the last place where a product is assembled gets the tag of where it is made. I usually chuckle when I see comments or personal preference MIF when in actually that product was probably assembled in several other counties and maybe the zipper, button, strap or other item added was in France.

 

[idlehen]

I think it good that LV creating more workshops and employing people in the process. But some of the information in the articles had set me back with the brand, especially with Arnault. I personally agreed, I think $13 is very low pay for what they are doing.

My mom worked in a similar job - sewing clothes for some clothing brand in the US. I'm pretty sure she made less than that and in an urban area with a MUCH higher cost of living. There is nothing special about what they are doing. The actual work is the same as all other factories that make and produce clothes/bags/etc. The only difference are the conditions they do the work in and the amenities that are provided.

Note: I'm not saying $13/hr is good or bad. That really depends on the cost of living in the area. If it's a rural area then maybe the cost of living is lower and $13/hr might actually be very good.

 

[abacuo]

Wow. Eye opening. Arnault is a billionaire and all the profits made off the backs of people paid $13/hour? $27k/year before taxes? This is shameful. One of the appeals of “luxury” is that the workers are paid well, this shows that is not necessarily the case. To everyone saying this is fair - look at the cost of the bags. Millions in profits, there is certainly room to pay better wages and give the employees a better quality of life. None of these people could afford what they make. This is gross. Not to say anything about the ribbon cutting ceremony which was on Vanessa Friedman’s Twitter.

 

[Liberté]

Unlike most people here, I have been to LV factories (and not just the Asnières one, which is more of a PR effort than an accurate representation of the other plants). These are good, stable jobs for people who often have little other options in their area.

I agree with this. But you really don't have to visit the factories to see how it is either. There are news pieces and even documentaries about the factories (which they are, not sweatshops or ateliers) some of which you and others have posted on here before. Maybe you could repost some of them here. I actually don't think there's anything new about LVMH company practises in the pieces. If this turns anyone off as a customer, none of the LVMH brands are thankfully necessary in anyone's life. Usually the reason why I hear people not liking LVMH isn't because of poor labor practises, but because the patron has the habit of turning heritage brands into souless commodities or something along those lines.

 

[MooMooVT]

One of the appeals of “luxury” is that the workers are paid well, this shows that is not necessarily the case.

The cost of the item unfortunately has little to do with the pay of the workers producing the product. iphones are made in China where workers truly work in sweatshops and are paid insanely low wages even for China - but the western world gobbles them up every two years at $1,000 a pop.

 

[idlehen]

I just did some calculations to see how good $13/hr is there. For that I checked against home costs in Keene, TX.

$13/hr equates to 27,040/year‬ or 23,795.2/year after taxes (I used the 12% tax rate for that income bracket)

Google said the median home cost there is $161,900
A 30 year mortgage with 20% down, 3.650% interest rate, 0.8% yearly property tax, and $680 home insurance results in a monthly mortgage of $757 (used Zillow's calculator for this)

The above salary after tax is about 1982.93/month which is enough to cover the mortgage and probably enough to cover food/gas/bills as well (depending on how well someone budgets)

I did not take into account money that's taken for health insurance premiums, social security, car payments, retirement etc so the monthly amount is probably lower. Overall it seems like $13/hr is probably not that bad to be honest. It might not be quite enough for a single person but if a married couple in a household made this much each, then their combine income would probably provide for a comfortable living.

Disclaimer: The above %'s and info I just got from a quick Google search around Keene, TX so obviously it may not be accurate. I admit it's a very rough calculation and does not take into account everyone's situation in life or everyone's lifestyle habits. I'm only providing it because whether or not a salary is "good" is very relative to where someone lives.

 

[MooMooVT]

I just did some calculations to see how good $13/hr is there. For that I checked against home costs in Keene, TX.

$13/hr equates to 27,040/year‬ or 23,795.2/year after taxes (I used the 12% tax rate for that income bracket)

Google said the median home cost there is $161,900
A 30 year mortgage with 20% down, 3.650% interest rate, 0.8% yearly property tax, and $680 home insurance results in a monthly mortgage of $757 (used Zillow's calculator for this)

The above salary after tax is about 1982.93/month which is enough to cover the mortgage and probably enough to cover food/gas/bills as well (depending on how well someone budgets)

I did not take into account money that's taken for health insurance premiums, social security, car payments, retirement etc so the monthly amount is probably lower. Overall it seems like $13/hr is probably not that bad to be honest. It might not be quite enough for a single person but if a married couple in a household made this much each, then their combine income would probably provide for a comfortable living.

Disclaimer: The above %'s and info I just got from a quick Google search around Keene, TX so obviously it may not be accurate. I admit it's a very rough calculation and does not take into account everyone's situation in life or everyone's lifestyle habits. I'm only providing it because whether or not a salary is "good" is very relative to where someone lives.

Not sure if this was covered in your calculations, but Texas doesn't have a state income tax - so only federal taxes (and FICA) apply making the wages very reasonable for an entry level job. ****, I have a college degree and over 30 years of work experience and I'm currently making $16/hr at a job that requires skills - though I'm only working part time so that artificially depreciates my pay (I could earn much more if I was willing to work full time - and did when I worked FT)