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Originally Posted by Caffeine
There are two questions here:
1. Do consumers care where the luxury goods are produced?
2. Should the luxury companies reduce their price?
The answer to the first question is personal. I don't care, but I believe most of the people do look at the tags.
the second question is more like an economics question though. I'll think it through before I make my conclusion  |
To me 1 is inevitably tied to 2, so yes, in a way I care. If it costs Bertelli $50 instead of $100 to make shoes in China, I want those savings passed on to me.
Ann Demeulemeester and Dries van Noten seems to be doing that. This season's Polish-made Ann Demeulemeester shirts with fairly complex cuts and details retail for $220 - that's a pretty damn good price.
Same goes for Dries - where else can you see a complicatingly hand-embroidered shirt for $325 with today's prices?
From a psychological point of view I care much less, but I still have a certain feeling about European traditional artisanship. Not to say that there is no such tradition in China - a culture so ancient and rich most definitely has one. Shanghai Tang goods for example are very well made from what I've seen.