Most Overpriced Designer?

[Crying Diamonds]

I understand that the powerdy-pastel effect on that LV croc coat was extremely costly to achieve.

 

[cologne_rocks]

I'd rather buy a Ferrari than this coat which looks quite dated, by the way.

 

[thejarc]

I think we already had that LV coat posted here and we also had that discussion. Sure, LVMH is always overpriced but Crocodile is extremely (!) expensive (and it takes four of them to make an Hermes bag so figure out how many crocodiles had to die for that coat since only the bellyskin is used)

 

[Selfportraitgrl]

Louis Vuitton Crocodile coat- $176k

I understand it's crocodile, but my thing is that they made a couture priced piece for something that's going to be out of style in August. I mean, for 176k you could go to Paris and buy a Couture gown that will never go out of style. And probably get a birkin too.



elle.com

I'd just like to know how many of those coats they actually sell.

 

[pavonine]

I totally agree that it's expensive, but I think LV is trying to prove a point. Hermes (which LVMH wants to own very dearly) has the market when it comes to expensive leather and exotic pieces. I believe that because Mr. Arnault is so frustrated that LVMH can't purchase Hermes, he wants Louis Vuitton to compete directly with Hermes.

Which is why in the past few seasons we've seen Marc Jacobs emphasize backstage at Louis Vuitton shows how luxurious the accessories are. He emphasizes the skins like ostrich and how many egg shells went into a clutch because there's a base camp that needs to compete with what the world sees as the ultimate luxury.

Only Hermes leather goods are timeless and beautiful. Marc Jacobs is an average designer at best and a hack at worst.

Personally, I do hope LVMH never gets to take over Hermes. Hermes is doing well as it is, and still retains the cachet of being an independent family owned business. Corporatisation will rob it off its cachet and turn it into another Guerlain.

 

[pavonine]

I'd just like to know how many of those coats they actually sell.

Obviously no conscientious person, however rich, will consider these covetous, but I fear there are enough tax dodging bankers' trophy wives and Russian oligarchs' overprivileged kids and nouveau rich Chinese and Indians to go around (at a time when record number of people in Europe and America are unemployed, living hand to mouth as the idealogical austerity hawks in Brussels and in Westminister and in the House of Representatives intransigently hold on to their neoliberal views like grim death. But that isn't a discussion to be had here).


My point is, if someone is willing to shell out $100K on a bottle of vodka to show off to Zac Effron, then they'd only be all too happy to shell out a couple of grand more for a croc jacket.

 

[Spike413]

Louis Vuitton Crocodile coat- $176k

I understand it's crocodile, but my thing is that they made a couture priced piece for something that's going to be out of style in August. I mean, for 176k you could go to Paris and buy a Couture gown that will never go out of style. And probably get a birkin too.



elle.com

Here's the thing with a piece like that, though. The woman who buys that (or would buy it, at least) wouldn't allow it to go out of style. The potential buyer probably wouldn't buy it because it's trendy (which truth be told, it's really not), but because it was "her" in some way.

And while I can see your logic in comparing it to a couture gown, ultimately the gown would probably be the more frivolous purchase. The hypothetical woman could wear the coat every day if she chose to and weather permitted, whereas the gown is strictly for some kind of event, and since people with that kind of money all attend many of the same events, the likelihood that that woman would wear the same statement-making gown to two of them within a given period of time is low. Hell, even women who don't spend 100k on clothing choose not to wear the same gown more than once.

 

[GivenchyHomme]

That coat is nothing compared to this:

Louis Vuitton Egg Shell Clutch - $100,000.00

Louis Vuitton collection piece Coquille dOeuf Minaudiere is being sold for $100K. This evening clutch exterior is hand glued with more than 12,000+ pieces of egg shells, which took the craftsmen more than 600 hours, that's 25 weeks or half a year to finish. The interior is made of lamb skin. Only 5 pieces made worldwide. The product actually looked like a marble finish, with smooth edges. Worthwhile? maybe…if you got more than enough money to spare.

It's so incredibly ridiculous that they would even spend that much time on a single piece when the look could be achieved using other means. It must be super fragile based on how Ginta is holding it very carefully with two hands. Could you imagine how much trouble she would have been in if she dropped it?

vogue.it,styleguncom

 

[Alexei]

That coat is nothing compared to this:

Louis Vuitton Egg Shell Clutch - $100,000.00

**Please do not quote images**

It's so incredibly ridiculous that they would even spend that much time on a single piece when the look could be achieved using other means. It must be super fragile based on how Ginta is holding it very carefully with two hands. Could you imagine how much trouble she would have been in if she dropped it?

vogue.it,styleguncom

They must have some kind of strengthening finish. Otherwise the product would not be salable really. I imagine it would be delicate regardless, but not to the extent that one would be unable to drop it. A more severe force would likely crack/break it however.

 

[jmrmartinho]

Ginta was a lucky girl that day

 

[Thefrenchy]

That's exquisite!

 

[FashionPower]

Oh god...so basically Ginta was wearing almost $300.000 in clothes?

 

[Squizree]

That's quite interesting. I guess it would be like a collector's item and it still looks fantastic.

 

[purplethistle]

I do find the clutch very pretty and I guess if you had the money to shell out for some broken shells glued together then why not. It'd probably be one of the few possessions where you could go into some detail on its back story and exclusivity to make up for the fact that it could have been made from something else. I do wonder how much of the 100K goes to LV and how much goes to the clutch maker that spent half a year working on it.

 

[fincher]

Dear god, this is sick!

 

[Chanelcouture09]

Balmain Spring Summer 2012

*Style.com

Embroidered Nappa Leather Biker Jacket - £13,600

 

[Littleathquakes]

I do wonder how much of the 100K goes to LV and how much goes to the clutch maker that spent half a year working on it.

I wouldn't be surprised if it was something like 0.5%

LV probably rationalizse that it's the "LV" signature pattern in the egg shell that will interest a buyer to pay 100K for it, otherwise it wouldn't fetch such a high price tag.

In fact, I'd go further and say they've already paid the artisans a paltry amount, and then slapped that ridiculous price tag on it to sell to a potential [strike]sucker[/strike] buyer.

 

[JustABoy]

Who cares if you could get the "same look" for less by using a different material? The whole point of that piece is that it's a marvel of craftsmanship -- aside from the fact that it's LV, obviously, because LV had to decide whether to spend its time making that or making a bag which required far less research prototyping but would also be covered with its monograms. If you're only producing five of something, and if it's made so unconventionally (and at the expense of other more profitable pursuits) the price doesn't sound so insane -- more so when you realize before the typical retail markup, it'd cost a lot less.

I doubt the workers who made are so up in arms about the value of their labor vs the value of the things they make -- if they were, do you really think they'd work at LV? I'm sure it's far more likely that whoever made this loved having the chance to work on something so unconventional on the company dime.

 

[Vega Magnus]

What I take from this is that somewhere in the world, there is a guy who can make stuff out of eggshells. That skill is only somewhat more useful than the guy who makes hammers out of glass or the guy who makes lion cages out of steak.

 

[GIVENCHYlover]

Any details about Kanye West's clothes?