Most of us don’t associate “Made in China” with luxury or designer brands, but more and more of those fancy Italian shoes you love are made in China. You may not find a tag inside the shoe that says so.
Especially in today’s economic market, luxury goods sales have declined significantly and some designer brands are suffering. One of the most effective ways to cut costs is to move the base of operations abroad, and China offers one of the most attractive markets to set up a store.
Whether “American” or “European” shoes are made in China is no secret. Nike has long been associated with “Made in China” shoes; in fact, about one in three of Nike’s athletic shoes come with a “Made in China” label. This compromise is more complicated for designer brands like Chanel, Prada and Armani who have built their brand success on “European craftsmanship” from start to finish. One of the reasons someone might spend an extra $ 300 on a Prada shoe is that they want a piece of handcrafted Europe. They want to believe that what they are buying is the real deal: an Italian leather shoe built by someone who knows and loves the art of shoemaking, not by a factory worker in China.
So which companies have skipped continents? Armani, Dolce & Gabbana, Bally and Prada, to name a few brands. But not all of these companies are willing to publicize this new base of operations. In fact, on some of these shoes you will find a “Made in Italy” label where perhaps there should be a “Made in China” label. This is made possible by some very flexible labeling laws that base a product’s label on the end point of production. So shoes made in China will have a leather sole attached in Italy and Voila! The shoes are legally “Made in Italy”.
That is not to say that these shoes are of worse quality now than when they were made in Europe. The claim is that workers in China are fast and accurate. That is, they are able to manufacture shoes of the same quality in less time and for less money.
According to Giorgio Bonacarso, a chemical supplier who sells products to Chinese factories that make Italian shoes, nine out of 10 of Italian high-end shoe companies now make at least part of their shoes in China. You, the consumer, may not realize it, and that’s because designer brands are afraid of backlash and losing the image that made them stand out from the crowd in the first place.
