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Written by : Keely Harben |
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the leave we ton is debatably the most classic clothing brand in the world it's been a staple of celebrity fashion for more than a century with patrons ranging from Audrey Hepburn to the Empress of France the company was founded by its namesake Louie Vuitton in 1854 and has quickly grown to one of the biggest brands on earth the company operates in 50 countries with more than 460 stores worldwide however beyond the glitz and glamour are lesser-known stories of the company and its origins today we are counting down 10 things you didn't know about Louie Vuitton we all know that Louis Vuitton is a luxury brand their bags are consistently sold for thousands of dollars apiece but how many people can realistically afford such a ridiculous price it turns out they must have numerous customers because the company has a valuation of 33 billion dollars making it the 15th most valuable brand in the world this stems from its superior business model with profit margins north of 30 percent believe we Don launched its first perfume in 70 years during 2016 and LVMH built the state of the art fragrance Factory to develop the perfumes the company produced seven fragrances that retail for 240 dollars for the smallest bottle maysun Louie Vuitton launched a new Paris flagship store in 2017 and the brand will celebrate its 100 65th anniversary next year on top of this the truth is that their bags are not expensive to make they rely on the same low cost labor as any major clothing company in the world but when you mark up your bags 3,000 percent of their total cost of production you're going to have a pretty hefty profit keep in mind that this superlative is not exclusive to clothing brands for example Louis Vuitton is worth more than IBM Nike Verizon and BMW the Louis Vuitton label was founded by Bhutan in 1854 Unruh Noda Kapoor seen in Paris France Louis Vuitton had observed that trunks could be easily stacked in 1858 Vuitton introduced his flat bottom trunks with Tryon on canvas making them lightweight and airtight before the introduction of Wheaton's trunks rounded top trunks were used generally to promote water runoff and thus could not be stacked it was we'pons great ran on canvas flat trunk that allowed the ability to stack with ease for voyages in this way weight on completely revolutionized the world of hand luggage and fashion simultaneously many other luggage makers imitated LV style and design the company participated in the 1867 universal exhibition in Paris to protect against the duplication of his look Wheaton changed the try non designed to a beige and brown stripes designed in 1878 by 1885 the company opened its first store in London on Oxford Street soon thereafter due to the continuing imitation of his look in 1888 vuitton created the deme a canvas pattern which for a logo that reads mark L Vuitton depose a which translates into L Vuitton registered trademark in 1892 Louie Vuitton died and the company's management passed to his son beyond they're elitist mindset there's another major skeleton in Louie bruton's closet it was recently revealed that the family had links to the French Vichy government who collaborated with the Nazis during the occupation in World War two not only did the company benefit financially from their dealings with the Nazis and the Vichy government but also they fabricated images of the chief of state of a Vichy - positively promote his image the company has tried to distance themselves from this dark part of their past but the fact remains the entire blue ton family collaborated with Nazis for financial gain some even argued that the brand would never have reached its current status if not for its association with fascist governments while most other companies were economically depressed during World War two Wheaton was making big moves in the political world when researching this story reporters stated that they were given full cooperation by the firm but when they asked about his wartime activities they were told that the company documents for the years 1930 to 1945 had been destroyed in a fire this is a pretty convenient period of time for the company to lose contact with as would be even more incriminating many are still tempted to buy believe wheat on products but the question remains is it worth supporting a company that's still hiding from its Nazi past according to Louie futons press materials every one of their handbags is handmade with most taking a full week to complete however the brand had a serious scandal when it was revealed that the majority of their bags were constructed with sewing machines by laborers and compromised working conditions with just a small portion of the process completed by hand the LVMH group honour of Louie Vuitton ran advertisements showing workers using a needle and thread and other artisanal techniques wording emphasized the individual attention to detail lavished on each product but this backfired when a business watchdog revealed evidence that LVMH outsources their products almost identically to all the brand's the company responded but declined to give full details of its production techniques explaining that the images were an homage to the craftsmanship of its 200 artisans it said there were more than 100 stages of production for each bag and wallet and sewing machines were used for some aspects because they were more secure and necessary for strength accuracy and durability this claim has been disputed by numerous sources so far it seems like the jury is still out on the true quality of LVMH as products LVMH works tirelessly to give their products the mystique of exclusivity for one thing they never put their bags on discount even if they have overstock this creates the illusion that there are always a precious few bags available though it's not always the case this technique has been emulated by other luxury brands like Gucci and Lululemon who consciously keep their products from being discounted beyond this Louie Vuitton goes to wasteful extremes to ensure there will never be a glut of their products at the end of every fashion season LVMH collects its unsold products returns them to France and burns them things that cannot be burned such as watches are smashed and thrown in the trash it's hard to imagine a less ecologically sound business model but LVMH is determined to make their products appear rare regardless of the consequences and in this case the conspiracy goes even deeper by destroying unused products brands that import goods into the u.s. stand to benefit from the drawback or return of certain duties internal and Revenue taxes and certain fees collected upon the importation of product into the US for instance from France that is to say that by returning and destroying their goods LVMH actually receives a tax refund from countries like the u.s. and Italy of course it seems wrong to incentivize the destruction of merchandise but LVMH continues to exploit this loophole of all of LVMH s handbags the AMA is perhaps the most iconic but not many people know its true origins most people think that Louis Vuitton Alma was lunched in the 1930s but the bag was actually
Thanks for your comment Jamey Pihl, have a nice day.
- Keely Harben, Staff Member
Louie Vuitton has held the title for the world's most valuable luxury brand for more than a decade its limited-edition handbags can cost upwards of $55,000 that's 175 times the average cost of a new handbag in the United States so how does this French fashion house get away with charging so much Louie Vuitton beginnings can be traced all the way to 1837 France was in the midst of an economic expansion and that growth was attracting hundreds of thousands of people to the city of Paris a 16 year old Louis Vuitton was one of them he travelled 292 miles by foot to the French capital to work as a trunk make his apprentice at the same time steam power trains and ships were making travel more accessible and the industry was booming vuitton capitalized in this when he opened his first store in 1858 he debuted his new trunk design it was rectangular unlike its dome-shaped predecessors making it easy to stack the cotton canvas fabric was lightweight durable and waterproof ideal for travel many call this design the birth of the modern suitcase in 1896 his son Jacques Vuitton created the iconic Louie Vuitton monogrammed a floral pattern with an interlocking L&V in honor of his late father who passed away in 1892 from French royalty in the 1800's to celebrities in modern times owning Louie Vuitton has a long history of being seen as a status symbol I do really enjoy the Louboutin supreme collaboration I'm so grateful to you know be able to wear Louie Vuitton and work so closely with the brand now you can find the famous monogram on everything handbags clothing shoes jewelry even a toilet the brand is worth a whopping forty seven billion dollars one reason Louis Vuitton products are so expensive is the high manufacturing cost for example the luxury brand produces its handbags here in France and shied away from outsourcing manufacturing to cheaper locations its collections are handmade by experienced craftspeople in Europe and the United States using expensive materials despite advances in technology the company says the most advanced machinery touching its products is the humble sewing machine but even the highest quality goods can lose value if you to many of them on the market that's why Louboutin suspends production of a product once it hits its sales target often when brands produce too much of her products they offload the extras by holding sales or selling them at discount shopping outlets by controlling its supply Louis Vuitton has managed to avoid both of those things in fact it claims to be the only brand in the world that never holds sales and wildest helps a fashion house maintain its value it also makes it a prime target for counterfeits Louie Vuitton is the most counterfeited luxury brand in the world in 2018 its products made up over half of the fake luxury products found in the market experts are saying there are many counterfeits on the market because the brands plastic style has virtually been the same for the last 150 years given those in the black market time to create near-perfect imitations the counterfeiting of goods from luxury brands has become so widespread that ecommerce giants like Amazon and Alibaba have started cracking down for example Alibaba seized almost half a billion dollars in counterfeit goods in 2018 although Louis Vuitton had its humble beginnings here in France as develop marketing strategies to attract a large following in other countries these strategies have been especially effective in China one of Louis Vuitton's most crucial markets the brand had its eye on this market as far back as 1992 when it became the first foreign luxury brand to open a physical store in the country China was still seen as an emerging economy at the time Bernard Arnault the man of the helm of Louis Vuitton's parent company LVMH even said there were more bicycles and cars at the time of the launch with China's ascension as an economic superpower it's growing middle class and high net-worth individuals have grown that's made the country a lucrative market for luxury brands Chinese consumers at home and abroad spent 115 billion dollars on luxury items in 2018 that's one third of the global spend with each luxury consuming household spending an average of almost $4,000 per year by 2025 Chinese consumers will account for 40% of total global spending all of this demand is driving a price in China goods from luxury brands such as Louboutin are 21 percent more expensive than the global average that means the average Chinese consumer is paying an extra four hundred and twenty dollars for a two thousand dollar handbag that adds up so much so that some wealthy buyers have started hiring agents to purchase luxury brands for them overseas luxury goods go for 22% less than the global average and France and Italy the same two thousand dollar handbag would end up costing a Chinese buyer 860 dollars and less in France than if they'd bought it at home despite being more than 150 years old the brand is now focused on finding ways to appeal to younger after luhan's audiences it's brought onboard influences like sophie Turner Chloe grace Moretz and Chris Roos and while the actors appear and traditional Louie Vuitton adds they also post photos of themselves wearing the designer on your Instagram only chat accounts Chris Wu has been the face of another shitty dick move its street where a collection the street where culture popularized by designers such as Virgil hablo and Kanye West was seeping into the luxury industry and appealing to younger people around the world Louie Vuitton wanted to capitalize on this and in 2018 it's announced perhaps the most influential street wear designer virtual hablA3 as its creative director for menswear the company bought a distribution and pricing strategy from Street work culture the drop model meaning it releases a limited number of items over a short time period for example this pop-up space in London launched a blos debut collection as artistic director the collection was only available for a week because there were so few items in a time limit consumers flocked to the shops wear hoodies were selling for as high as two thousand three hundred and ninety five dollars these strategies and of course the hefty prices have helped Louis Vuitton to hold on to its title as the world's most valuable luxury brand but as younger consumers began to make more purchases it's going to need to keep evolving to hold on to his seat at the top thank you so much for watching my video on Louis Vuitton how much would you spend on the handbag let me know in the comments below
Thanks BolcatoY your participation is very much appreciated
- Keely Harben
About the author
I've studied political economy at Massachusetts Institute of Technology in Cambridge and I am an expert in financial economics. I usually feel silly. My previous job was professor I held this position for 25 years, I love talking about photography and horse riding. Huge fan of Pablo Neruda I practice pommel horse and collect cracker jack prizes.
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