Ralph Lauren made in China!?

[ACACRefugee]

Originally Posted by Nicola

If you outsource any product it's up to you to make sure it's up to your standards. Doesn't matter the location of the factory. Anybody that doesn't do this is gambling with thier own reputation.

It's nice to blame China but most of the real crap is being made at the request of western companies. They are asking for goods to hit a price point. Not caring how the price point is hit.

+1 Exactly

My employer has a factory in China that I visit, and essentially we get what we specify, no more, no less. We also maintain full time expat personnel on site to insure quality, and the locals are gladly willing to work meticulously to achieve that quality. There isn't anything intrinsically cultural or industrial that impairs quality. Quite the opposite.

On the other hand, if you don't care about quality, you can similarly spec and outsource garbage, and they will work their collective rears off to produce junk with similar dedication.

In the end, to paraphrase Nicola, it's RL's reputation that is at stake. Spec and produce bottom line Lauren clothing in China, fine, as there's a market for it. Do similarly for their higher end lines with identical made-in labels, you're risking your reputation by association. Do one or the other (e.g. iPhone), but not both.

 

[thizzface]

have you guys been to a factory before? they are all inherently dingy f'ed up places. a workman is a workman, it all comes down to QC. when western products produced in china fail, it is usually the fault of the western company not specifying requirements or being too lazy to come down to QC the product themselves.

i know this because my old company produces ALL of the high end stainless steel and chromed furniture in europe. we ship the the legs in one container and the seats in another (for example). some schmuck in germany, finland, etc puts it together and you pay 50x the price of production for your office chair.

i mean, what do you think? there's an old tailor making your polo shirts out of a quaint log cabin in europe? get real...the parts of europe that are producing RTW are all in essence third world countries...and yes i mean italy.

the bottom line is this...how good of quality does a polo shirt really need to be? we all know the little horsey is crass and for "small timers". why not just buy a uniqlo one for a fifth of the price. the fabric even wicks sweat.

 

[hankwx]

Originally Posted by furo

I haven't come across any Purple Label or Black Label men's items (particularly shirts) made in China

All say made in Italy

But I did buy two Black Label cashmere sweaters for my wife that say Made in China

Does anyone have a definitive answer on the quality of the women's RLBL from China?

RLBL for women isnt too bad. the silk and cashmere are generally solid quality. the price is a big ouch though!

RLBL women tees and basic wears are not too good.

 

[stylesmurf]

Originally Posted by instep

I'll give you that one, but one down, two to go. And even then that should damned well be illegal. Say what you want, but it's hard for anyone who has had prolonged contact with the Mainland Chinese to not arrive at the conclusion that more often than not they would sell their friends out for a quick buck. Or less.
How is this different from other third world countries? Heck. how is this different from FIRST world countries, only that friends are not the most profitable thing to sell usually so then you sell out whatever else you can. And they need more than a buck because the standard of living is higher (see: Madoff, most politicians, Enron, most high level execs, wall street, banks.. do I need to go on?) So why we just admit that most human beings are greedy and shady, regardless of country or race?

 

[Chim12]

Originally Posted by emakris

Apologies for saying this but I feel I must; some of the comments in this thread are vomit inducing.

Onto the subject, Frankie, it is true that most designers of that ilk make some of their products or even entire lines in the Far East. My opinion regarding said products is that they are of poor quality and exasperatingly expensive. Personally, I prefer buying European whenever/wherever I can, for quality as well as political reasons.

In my experience (from personal purchases), whereas the Chinese are capable of producing top quality products (i.e. my MacBook Pro, iPhone, iPod, etc, are truly top notch), I can not say the same thing about the clothes of designers such as Ralph Lauren, Dior, etc.

+1 all around.... tough group this evening, last night's Healthcare Speech must have fired everyone up!

 

[thizzface]

Originally Posted by stylesmurf

How is this different from other third world countries?
Heck. how is this different from FIRST world countries, only that friends are not the most profitable thing to sell usually so then you sell out whatever else you can. And they need more than a buck because the standard of living is higher (see: Madoff, most politicians, Enron, most high level execs, wall street, banks.. do I need to go on?) So why we just admit that most human beings are greedy and shady, regardless of country or race?
+1

 

[zippyh]

Originally Posted by furo

I haven't come across any Purple Label or Black Label men's items (particularly shirts) made in China

All say made in Italy

But I did buy two Black Label cashmere sweaters for my wife that say Made in China

Does anyone have a definitive answer on the quality of the women's RLBL from China?

Lots of men's RLBL stuff is made in China. I was just looking at some today. It's mostly that shady semi active wear type stuff and some outerwear though.

There was a thread a while ago about some Purple Label knitwear type stuff made in India or someplace like that.

 

[vitaminc]

How about Made in USA (by imported illegal Mexican/Chinese workers, American Apparel style)?

 

[instep]

Originally Posted by stylesmurf

How is this different from other third world countries? Heck. how is this different from FIRST world countries, only that friends are not the most profitable thing to sell usually so then you sell out whatever else you can. And they need more than a buck because the standard of living is higher (see: Madoff, most politicians, Enron, most high level execs, wall street, banks.. do I need to go on?) So why we just admit that most human beings are greedy and shady, regardless of country or race?
You... should travel more. Your provincialism is pretty evident.

 

[stylesmurf]

Originally Posted by instep

You... should travel more. Your provincialism is pretty evident.
You should probably learn to hear other viewpoints from people who have also traveled to China extensively, without making knee-jerk uninformed assumptions about other people's opinions.

 

[instep]

Originally Posted by stylesmurf

You should probably learn to hear other viewpoints from people who have also traveled to China extensively, without making knee-jerk uninformed assumptions about other people's opinions.
I'm not interested in your opinion. Or viewpoint.

But thanks for playing anyway. Better luck next time.

 

[stylesmurf]

Originally Posted by instep

I'm not interested in your opinion. Or viewpoint.

But thanks for playing anyway. Better luck next time.

With that dickish attitude, it's no wonder why you probably got treated like shat over there.

 

[instep]

Originally Posted by stylesmurf

With that dickish attitude, it's no wonder why you probably got treated like shat over there.
Better to be a dick, than a ***** - you are my QED. Once again, thank you for playing.

 

[RSS]

Originally Posted by Frankie

I know [Ralph Lauren] is very popular here and seems to be considered the best...

Good yes, the "best"? I suppose it depends on how you define best.

Made in China isn't an issue for me ... unless it's represented as being made elsewhere.

While a Chinese sweater could indeed be better made (or equal or less well made) than one from Italy ... I don't like being told that someing is Italian only to find a "Made in China" tag. Just tell me the truth.

 

[jet]

^Exactly, I buy disposable goods that are made in china.

Bottom line, there is a motive for the switch and it is generally not in the customer's favor. I like how this thread developed.