Kate Spade Gold Coast

Thistle

A co-worker of mine recently returned from our China plant and was carrying the Kate Spade Gold Coast bag. I was surprised as she was not usually carrying such bags, and she told me it was forgery she had gotten in China.

It was a good forgery. She claimed the same factory that made the regular bags made the forgeries on an unofficial shift.

I was sad she had bought a forgery, but I was actually More sad to learn a $500 bag was not made in Italy or somewhere like that. But in China. I get the need to compete globally. But a $500 bag made in China?

For some reason, it makes it feel less special to me. More mass produced and less made by a craftsman. Anyone else feel that way, or I am just being irrational?

Perhaps when I start carrying bags again I will look on Etsy and see what is there.

13 years ago

General

3 replies

Latest reply was from deb

LadyBirdK

(website)

Active Member

I don't know Thistle, I am kind of with you on this one, but I feel sort of bad about it. When I think of goods produced in China, I think of cheap junk. I think of exploited workers and cut corners and low quality materials assembled en masse in poorly lit, crowded factories with ill-regulated thermostats. Of course, this could all be a completely inaccurate ethnocentric and ignorant fantasy. But the humanitarian aspect of it does concern me. When I am fortunate enough to purchase a designer item, it is my hope - even my expectation - that it has been thoughtfully designed with excellent materials and made by craftspeople earning a living wage in full appreciation of their skill and work. I am happy to pay a premium for THAT, you know? I am not into spending my money purely for the sake of cache. Do yeah, a $500 bag made in China would kind of make me feel taken advantage of!

13 years ago

Echo

Veteran

It is common for sellers of fakes to claim that they were manufactured in the same plant or are made with the same materials, but these things are rarely true. They are usually told to people to encourage them to buy and to try to convince them that there really is no difference between a knock-off and the original.

As for the Kate Spade bag, you would need to check the label to find out where it was manufactured and not trust the word of a counterfeiter. However, a lot of bags ARE manufactured in China, including Coach, some Burberry, some Givenchy, etc.. Even LV now has some bags made in India. Additionally, many companies have the bulk of the bag made in a 3rd world country and then have it finished in either Italy or the US or another European country, and then they put a "Made in the USA (or whatever the "more desirable" country might be)" label on it. You would really need to look into each brand to find out specifics, but manufacturers who make bags in the US and Europe are few and far between now because everyone is engaging in cost-saving measures, regardless of the price tag on the bags.

Production in China doesn't necessarily mean reduced quality, but I can certainly understand the desire to buy products made domestically or the reasons people seek out products not made in China. Good luck in your quest. Etsy might be your best bet, as most of even the top designers (though not Hermes, of course) have full or partial production in countries where labour is cheaper.

13 years ago

deb

Veteran

My sister-in-law is from China and when she first came here she was amazed at all of the beutiful stuff made in China and sold here. None of it is sold in China so she buys all of her gifts here and takes them back. I found that very interesting.

13 years ago

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