Coach Moved Production to China?

[TheFoo]

Originally Posted by LeatherSOUL

Haha, nevermind. Just browsed the Coach website and there is no leather briefcase over $500! I guess Coach totally did a 180 on me. I guess they are totally no longer a luxury or semi-luxury brand.

The leather quality of its small goods is absolutely abysmal. It's all spongy. But nothing is more atrocious than the 'C' monogram they plaster over everything.

 

[Unit 91]

Originally Posted by mafoofan

The leather quality of its small goods is absolutely abysmal. It's all spongy. But nothing is more atrocious than the 'C' monogram they plaster over everything.

Not sure about anything new as I'd never considered owning anything made by them before I stumbled upon my briefcase but it's excellent quality. No 'C' monogram to be found, either. In fact that only way you'd know it was Coach would be if you looked inside or I told you. I'm not a fan of heavily branded items (like LV). I can't stand wearing a logo on every available surface of my garment. :shiver:

 

[gordon gartrell]

Originally Posted by LeatherSOUL

Haha, nevermind. Just browsed the Coach website and there is no leather briefcase over $500! I guess Coach totally did a 180 on me. I guess they are totally no longer a luxury or semi-luxury brand.

hmmm....this posters' sense of luxury is questionable...price doesnt determine luxury...but this seems to be a prevailing thought in this forum

 

[danyllau]

Originally Posted by Unit 91

Not sure about anything new as I'd never considered owning anything made by them before I stumbled upon my briefcase but it's excellent quality. No 'C' monogram to be found, either. In fact that only way you'd know it was Coach would be if you looked inside or I told you. I'm not a fan of heavily branded items (like LV). I can't stand wearing a logo on every available surface of my garment. :shiver:

most of the real item from any of these big designer (LV, coach, gucci, etc) have minimal and much more subtle, if any, branding. It also cost about 3 times more, if not more.

hmmm....this posters' sense of luxury is questionable...price doesnt determine luxury...but this seems to be a prevailing thought in this forum

haha yeah, anything on this forum is a luxury item.

 

[Steven Aver]

True Story. Coach started production in China back in the 80's. There was a Chinese producer making fakes that were actually better quality than the originals and coach ended up moving production there.

 

[antirabbit]

Originally Posted by NorCal_1

in contrast, I got an email from Myron Glaser of Glaser Designs at 9 pm last night (from his office!) saying that he personally spent hours hand dyeing the hyde he's using to make me an antiqued version of this briefcase

when you factor in the time Myron has spent plus the cost of the high quality leather he uses (thick saddle leather) and the quality of the workmanship (quality that travel writer Peter Greenberg says is the only bag that will last his lifetime), it's an incredible deal

I can't wait to write up a full review on Glaser Designs as this process continues - factory tour and all

I am for sure buying some of these products, thank you for posting on them!

 

[rach2jlc]

I haven't owned much Coach, but most of what I've seen was made in China or India, except for the older items which were made in the USA. I wasn't really all that thrilled with any of them...

Nevertheless, it doesn't bother me TOO much where the items are made, so long as there isn't noticeable loss of quality or that they don't continue to charge the same prices as they would for made in Italy or USA.

Lambertson Truex's men's leathergoods sort of changed my perception of "Made in China" for the better. Most of their menswear items are made there, but are of excellent quality... not Hermes or Valextra, of course, but certainly better (IMO) than Coach and in many cases better than some of the major labels, while often being half the price. As well, they seem to pass on the relative production savings to customers, in that their men's bags range $375-700 at retail, considerably less than you'd expect given the high quality.

 

[jsherman02]

Originally Posted by gordon gartrell

hmmm....this posters' sense of luxury is questionable...price doesnt determine luxury...but this seems to be a prevailing thought in this forum

You are 100% wrong. This poster knows ALL about quality. Check out his store.

 

[Syl]

At the end of the day, most first-world countries have excellent laws to protect workers. These include health & safety and minimum legal working ages so there's a certain level of comfort on can get knowing that people cannot be entirely abused manufacturing these high-end goods.

When last I checked, China doesn't have these types of protections for its citizens. You regularly hear stories of the working conditions, the treatment etc. Sure, people are free but indentured servitude isn't something I feel anyone should support.

If a manufacturing plant moves from A to B because B is cheaper, one has to ask why is B cheaper? The response is almost always because of cheaper personnel costs i.e. the workers on the line are paid less. I personally would rather pay more and know the people making my product are paid fairly and treated well. Unfortunately that's near impossible to find out, so better to avoid buying products from China altogether.

Basically I'm voting with my wallet.

 

[jsherman02]

I think the majority of companies use overseas parts or labor. Terms like hand-made, or made in Italy mean little to me anymore.

 

[Epaulet]

I also don't get too wrapped up in country of origin when it comes to product quality. Labor standards and cultural issues notwithstanding, globalization has evened the playing field.

China is perfectly capable of producing great items. I know from some clothing designers that it's difficult for them to find factories outside of China capable of really complex sewing techniques. Either it's not available in the West, or it's insanely expensive. As long as great materials are used, I'm sure that a Chinese factory can produce a bag on par with an Italian, English, or American company. Maybe not the finest bag in the world, but something decent and luxurious, sure.

On the other hand, many "made in USA" products are produced in Downtown LA sweatshops. Many "made in Italy" items are made by low-paid Chinese immigrants living in Italy. And many "made in Switzerland" items are (largely) made anywhere but Switzerland.

But all that aside, I'd say that much of Coach's stuff is overpriced crap.