Quote:
Originally Posted by
mugatu 
what is annoying is that people in this thread keep referring to chinese sweatshops in prato, and as sad as that situation is, it has nothing to do with staff, mmm or the luxe market...
getting back to the real issue, mii vs mir, well there is a reason why companies are delocalizing towards there and that is because romania has the cheapest labour in europe, and with cheap labour comes various issues notably quality control. if you add to this the fact romania is also the last country to enter the EU in 2007 amidst great controversy, well you start to understand it is becoming the south-asia of europe, but without the stigma of that region, as most people outside EU think it's european therefore it equates prestige (as i read earlier in this thread). there is simply no way romania has the same know-how as italy, especially with premium fabrics or complex fabrication techniques, it is for that reason that you will notice only the most basic pieces from collections are made there. this doesn't necessarily mean mir = garbage, although i wouldn't buy a leather jack or even a suit made there.. it just plain bothers me to pay premium prices for what clearly are cost saving measures.. this being said, to each his own..
I have 2 pieces MiR. Black dress pants which fit me great and 100% wool, feels very well made. The other is a S/S shirt from this year....a white one. Now this one I don't care about because its a white BD.
Both have been great.
I did email MMM for the hell of it, but they gave me the auto reply it seems:
Dear Regis,
Thank you for contacting Maison Martin Margiela E-boutique.
All the products we sell are provided directly by Maison Martin Margiela. We can therefore guarantee the authenticity of every piece.
Maison Martin Margiela has various production locations, which are not necessarily in Italy or in Europe. We guarantee that this does not affect the quality of the merchandise, as all of our products are authentic and exactly as sold in retail stores.
We remain at your service should you require further assistance.
Thank you, ....