Style vs. Substance: David Weinberger on Fake Louis Vuitton Bags

[brian]

i found this interesting, quite true, and funny... and thought i'd share this with all of you

February 02, 2005

Seven Hundred Dollars

What's the ugliest bag you've ever seen? Close your eyes, I’ll remind you. Start with an unfashionable color, add a poorly executed two-letter-combination logo and top if off with some flowers that look like clip art. Can you picture it? Need another hint? It's also the bag on the top of your wish list.

If you live in New York, you see it everywhere. Everywhere. The subway, the elevator, and chances are, your apartment. Thousands of them line the walls and ceilings of shops down on Canal Street where you can buy movies on DVD two weeks before they hit theaters. You can buy baby turtles, Rolex watches and silk kimonos in all sizes. You can buy a $5 CD clearly labeled Jay-Z, “The Black Album” although chances are when you hit play, it’ll be “ABBA’s Greatest Hits”. You can buy a massage, on the street, or pose for a live portrait. And, you can buy 100% authentic Louis Vuitton replica handbags.

OK, maybe the Louis Vuitton "Alma" isn't the ugliest bag you’ve ever seen, but it does cost over seven hundred dollars. Seven Hundred F***ing Dollars! Do people buy bags for seven hundred dollars? Why? You can buy 25 of these Isaac Mizrahi bags from Target for the same price and have gifts for all of your friends. They probably even hold the same amount of stuff.

“So I have this business plan. I’m going to sell leather purses at a 6,000 percent markup to rich people.”
“Cool, I’m going to do the same with coffee”
“Cool”
“Cool”

That conversation can never happen without branding. I know, you’re sick of branding. For the last few years, brands are all you've heard about. Everything's a brand. Some experts say the brand phenomenon is fading. Some people even make fun of the word. It happened to me the other day. That’s just fine. “The New York Times”, that’s a brand. “Oprah” is a brand. I’m pretty sure “Sex and the City” is a brand. Get over it. They’re all brands and they all use branding. Louis Vuitton is a great BRAND.

Louis Vuitton started in 1854 as a manufacturer of trunks in Paris and is currently owned by LVMH, an ultra-luxury holding company, which includes companies and brands such as Dom Pérignon, Veuve Clicquot, TAG Heuer, Marc Jacobs, Fendi, and Kenzo, among countless others. Pretty impressive, huh?

Louis Vuitton bags are very well made. Extremely well made. I'm not dismissing the value of craftsmen, but luxury brands are about association more than craft. If you can instill thoughts of hipness or royalty or whatever happens to be a desirable association for your product, into your product, then everything else, including craft, can take a back seat. Don't believe me? How about the craftsmen (factory workers) that make $400 Dolce & Gabanna jeans? Or the bartender that hands me a $12 Heineken with attitude in an Ian Schrager hotel? Or the line cooks who make the food at a Wolfgang Puck Express? Yep, brands are about association.

The point, and I find it remarkable, is that this is a highly sought after product which sells for a lot of money, but is essentially ugly. That's amazing to me especially because this is a fashion product. So, what are you buying for seven hundred f***ing dollars? It certainly isn’t the leather. It is the lifestyle, the envy, the feeling of success and accomplishment. Being established. The name, the identity, the image of sitting in the middle of Ducasse sipping tea. Lounging by the pool with Mommy and Philippe. Walking Muffy on Park Avenue. It is a Harry Winston necklace, Mikimoto pearls and having the driver pull the car around. It is a presidential fundraising luncheon. It is everything, all rolled into a seven hundred dollar bag.

http://www.thebudgetfashionista.com/archives/000550.php

 

[Diorling]

Yes, the LV monogram prints are unfashionable but that's because they are classic. And I am stunned that he was refering to the Cherry Blossom bag, possibly the loveliest LV to ever be made! And I think the LV monogram is rather well done, rather creative.

 

[PrincessImp.]

I really like this article.

The author has clearly defined the brand phenomenon -too many things we have seen people buy things not because they love/want it but because of what is associated with it.

I am guilty of that sometimes, but I am trying to change.

I will bookmark this article, so I can read it whenever I feel like splurging on another branded buy.

By the way, the LV cherry blossom series wasn't that bad, but the LV Cheries this year, oh man --->

 

[Plastic'sWife]

Marketing 101. Took it as an undergrad Business major....
yup. I get it.
But I ADORE my Louis, and I adore them because they are classic and timeless and will not go out of style ever.

 

[POTC_ROXS]

I love Louis Vuitton, no matter what people say about them though i probably wont be adding a new one to my collection until this "replica" and "brand" stage blows over...which may take a long time

 

[brian]

But I ADORE my Louis, and I adore them because they are classic and timeless and will not go out of style ever.

i agree, and i never said i didn't like louis vuitton... i do... the monogram is classic and blah blah it's been said a million times over and i do agree... HOWEVER, the prices are completely ludicrous. and just last week were raised by 5% ... ... which is why i am on somewhat of a vuitton boycott as of late... i refuse to buy it. completely refuse. these outrageous prices absolutely can NOT be justified in any way... a stupid canvas handbag with a leather handle?!?!?! certainly NOT worth an asking price of anywhere from $700-1000.... ... you're paying for an image, plain and simple.

 

[scratchie]

k i'm going to sound like some obsessive nut here but once in a while i take out all my lv stuff and admire the softness of the inside and every single delicate perfect stitch. the bags are exceptionally well-made. for that satisfaction, i think the price is worth it. i don't get the same contentment from even most of the other monogram based high end brands.

 

[fashionpop]

this is probably a late reply to this thread, but i can understand how people find it outrageous that people, such as myself, would pay that much money on a bag.. but then its about whatever makes a person happy.. you cant a monetary value on happiness.. a person may not spend thousands on a bag, but he does spend the same amount on video games/computers..

 

[jun3machina]

hahah/\ or pimping out his car......

 

[Birdlady]

ha... Go Dave!

 

[Diorling]

i agree, and i never said i didn't like louis vuitton... i do... the monogram is classic and blah blah it's been said a million times over and i do agree... HOWEVER, the prices are completely ludicrous. and just last week were raised by 5% ... ... which is why i am on somewhat of a vuitton boycott as of late... i refuse to buy it. completely refuse. these outrageous prices absolutely can NOT be justified in any way... a stupid canvas handbag with a leather handle?!?!?! certainly NOT worth an asking price of anywhere from $700-1000.... ... you're paying for an image, plain and simple.

Not a very good image at that. Paris Hilton, Mary J Blige, Eve certainly no Catherine Denueve.

I saw someone who had thier car upholstered in the white Multicolore...it was a white Mercedes, I was like...Wow...no taste...

 

[two months off]

I saw someone who had thier car upholstered in the white Multicolore...it was a white Mercedes, I was like...Wow...no taste...

 

[fashionpop]

hahah/\ or pimping out his car......

exactly! my bf's brother spends THOUSANDS on his car.. extra wings, better wheels etc etc.. and $150 for EACH centre caps for the wheels! seriously! B)

 

[Birdlady]

exactly! my bf's brother spends THOUSANDS on his car.. extra wings, better wheels etc etc.. and $150 for EACH centre caps for the wheels! seriously! B)

I do think the issue raised is NOT about amount of $$$ spent on one addiction or another, but about overpaying for name/Brand even if brand design is absolutely horrible. Basicaly, LV rides on status. period.

And I do agree with author on that - being designer myself. JMO...

(I do know author is a huge branding expert, btw)

 

[fashionpop]

I do think the issue raised is NOT about amount of $$$ spent on one addiction or another, but about overpaying for name/Brand even if brand design is absolutely horrible. Basicaly, LV rides on status. period.

And I do agree with author on that - being designer myself. JMO...

(I do know author is a huge branding expert, btw)

i suppose.. but then, why would you buy a porshce if you can just buy a hyundai for the same purpose? B)

 

[Birdlady]

i suppose.. but then, why would you buy a porshce if you can just buy a hyundai for the same purpose? B)

See, here is the issue: porsche is much better designer and engeneered, and hyundais are not standing even close. Personally I would not buy Porche but good engeneered german car - yes, if it designed right. (I do not like japanese design, sorry). I would go for BMW or Audi over porsche, yes, if money an issue, but it is still about quality not name. it does not cost x1000 over BMW for instance.

Let say you can buy same brown bag with same quality but in same script it say "Friis" or "Aldo" or "Home goods" on it instead of LV... For same price, or even half price - would you do it? Just a thought...

 

[circoit]

See, here is the issue: porsche is much better designer and engeneered, and hyundais are not standing even close. Personally I would not buy Porche but good engeneered german car - yes, if it designed right. (I do not like japanese design, sorry). I would go for BMW or Audi over porsche, yes, if money an issue, but it is still about quality not name. it does not cost x1000 over BMW for instance.

Let say you can buy same brown bag with same quality but in same script it say "Friis" or "Aldo" or "Home goods" on it instead of LV... For same price, or even half price - would you do it? Just a thought...

I would in a heartbeat. But - that just ain't going to happen. I've found that with purses you do tend to get what you are paying for. High end purses have better construction and seaming, higher quality leather, etc.

However, the LV monogram does seem overpriced for a canvas bag - yet LV is not alone in overpricing canvas. I think Marni is worse.

One more thing, just because one person thinks the bag is ugly doesn't make it a fact - so saying that because someone is paying $700 on an ugly bag means they have to be buying it just for the image isn't a valid argument. I happen to like the Monogram design - but I hate most of the LV shapes.

 

[fashionpop]

i guess its a matter of preference, the same with everything else in life (getting phylosophical here ) I love LV, not sure about the newer designs though.. but i do find them a little bit impractical for everyday use..

 

[Birdlady]

i guess its a matter of preference, the same with everything else in life (getting phylosophical here ) I love LV, not sure about the newer designs though.. but i do find them a little bit impractical for everyday use..

Well said - good phylosophy
If there is a consumer for it, there is a product - right?
We all can have our opinions - let's leave it at that ...

 

[fashionpop]

hee hee... anyways.. this is the website i was talking about previously... www.basicreplica.com

they come with receipts!!!