Does "Made in Italy" matter anymore? - Page 4

I totally meant to say you!!! Whoops! Sorry - don't know why I said LK...

There maybe some perceived cachet in those three words to some, but that's about it.

I think this reference is appropriate here and pertinent to what is apparently the prevailing group think.

really? Made in China RLPL? Are you sure you weren't buying on the women's side? Much more of the women's RLBL and RLPL is made in China.

"Made in Italy" only matters when talking about RLPL shoes.

To me it seems that the country of manufacture matters more to US folks than anyone else. Over here most fashion goods are imports anyway so I don't see much sense in paying attention to the country of origin as long as the garment is well made, quality materials and the right price.

I have a cheap leather belt from H&M that has "Made in Italy" stamped on it. The belt cost 15 bucks. So clearly something like "Made in Italy" by itself doesn't mean much; like many others have said it's much more important to look at the quality and construction of the garment rather than the label.

Don't know. It would be cool to have a tailor who looks like a Bond villain, though.

Jeffery, would you happen to know the quality of clothing made in Hong Kong or Taiwan back when those places made a lot of the cheap clothing sold in North America? Just wondering how the quality stacks up against today's clothing from China. I know for some items, things that used to be made in HK or TW were better.

And in response to someone else's post, at least 20 years ago, "Made in USA" had a certain cachet in places like HK or Taiwan. USA-made stuff used to mean first-rate quality to some people in other countries. Now "Made in USA" is just plain hard to find.

nvm

Understood and agreed. That RLPL sweater was the only RL item in my wardrobe. It's likely to be the only RL piece ever to have been in my wardrobe. I can't imagine buying more after this experience. I don't care if the label indicates Made in China, Italy, England, or Hell.

I don't think I ever saw any production-line tailored clothing out of Hong Kong or Taiwan. Saw other types of clothing about which I know less so can't really comment. China is not so cheap anymore- prices have been going up fast so the cheap guys are running away to Vietnam, Indonesia and Bangladesh.

A sweater should not be trashed or look trashed after only a few washes. Did you follow wash instructions?

I have not owned many RLP[L/RLBL sweaters, and the ones I did own were adequate enough but obviously really poor value considering the price. Interestingly, the Ralph Lauren Polo sweaters at near a tenth of the price of RLPL hold up quite well and I really struggle to tell the difference between them.

I have gone off Ralph Lauren Black or Purple Label though, I only like their suits and occasional shirts (the fit more so than the aesthetics). Rest I can live without.

Courtesy of European & American corporations, China has access to the same technology, more or less, that the West has. China makes what the bosses order: garbage. If you tell Mr. Xue to produce a hand-brogued goodyear welted shoe in full-grain leather under the close supervision of and final inspection of an experienced cobbler, they will. If you tell Mr. Xue to produce a shoe used the cheapest corrected leather and discount shoe cement, he will. It's all business. Of course, if you get a corrupt little bastard...that's when "substitutions" are made.

I would guess that the RLPL cashmere sweaters are a failure to use properly spun two-ply cashmere. It's my favorite fabric, and I own many, many pounds of the stuff in the form of overcoats, sport coats, sweaters, and scarves. Even under the brutalizing I force upon my clothing, my cashmere still is relatively pristine. The Chinese factory COULD have used a lesser yarn. I know for a fact that SF members wouldn't run their sweaters through the washing machine and dryer under "permanent press." In theory, a $1,000 MSRP cashmere sweater SHOULD be of the highest quality available. I have bought sweaters in Scotland with a $300 MSRP (but did I pay that? ) that are still as good as new.

The ugly truth for the west? The developing world has essentially acquired the technology and means to manufacture the best. We've given it to them! I've noticed that my India/Mexico/China/etc garments & shoes are approaching or have reached developed world standards (of solidly made stuff). My India-made Cole Haan shoes haven't fallen apart in 3 weeks (in spite of fearmongering) and are stitched, not cemented. With care, I see no reason that they wouldn't live as long as a similar Allen-Edmonds. The leather does not match my Barkers in quality, but it's fine. So, I suppose, judge each item on its own merit, not what the "Made in" label says.

And never spend $900 on a designer purse for your woman, as it probably cost $0.90 to make.

My issue with an item made in a developing/pioneer country as opposed to a developed/first world country is not one of quality. Obviously a person from any country can be trained to make an outstanding garment. My issue is more cultural/political/economic. China, maybe not so much now as they have been "developing" the last 10 years, was always the place that you went as a manufacturer to get rock bottom costs of labor and materials. That meant turning a blind eye to child labor/slavery, paltry wages and awful work conditions. That is who they were/wanted to be. They were not setting up industries to compete with the best of the developed countries, they were setting up industries to produce the lowest possible cost item, regardless of how it got made. Is that still the case across the board? No but keep in mind that something like 10% of China's GDP goes to WalMart. China's business model is the three C's, cheap, cheaper, cheapest. Many times that requires a lot of corners to be cut. As Jeffery mentioned, things are changing though and now you go to Micronesia, Vietnam etc to squeeze some more profits from your products.

The Chinese maker of Apple products (among other stuff), while making a very solid product, has to have it's employees sign a pledge that they won't kill themselves. You can make the case that the capitalist pig First World wants cheap products/high profits and Americans in particular want supersize everything at the lowest possible cost, but I'd rather buy from a country where the pride in manufacture is not the cheap cost, but the care it took to make. I know that Made in Italy products are hardly made by Italians and many moons ago we decided that we were no longer going to work with our hands, rather use our brains and let the peons in those countries manufacture for us, but all things being equal,I prefer to pay it bit more for made in England/US/Italy. There is a history and culture in those countries of pride of manufacture. I'm not so naive to think that everything made here is made in the best possible working conditions with 100% red blooded American workers making the best product in the world, but at least our government/culture doesn't condone horrific working conditions and slave wages.

At the end of the day, everyone has their beliefs/priority and will buy whatever they want from wherever.

That has nothing to do with working conditions and everything to do with the compensation the suicide's family receives. See this article. Chinese factory workers aren't paid that badly by local standards, and I think a job at Foxconn's factories is considered very good.