China admitting many of the Luxury brands are made in China - the dupes and fakes are from the same factories

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote: I remember in the 1980s reading that the manufacturing cost of an imported Liz Claiborne garment was 1/7th of the retail price.

I also watched the migration of Coach purses to straight out made in China status.

There's no news here. Except the extreme amount of dependency we have on China.

Haha, I don’t think that people buying “luxury” brands equates to “dependency.” These are not items that are necessary to life and most Americans fully understand that. “Nice to have is one thing,” but very little is “need to have.”

[Anonymous]

I will say that I like Coach bags regardless of where they are made. They feel nice and last. Those weird Dior canvas bags are another story.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Are there any American brands that are trying to hide where their products are manufactured? Coach purses clearly say Made in [not USA], they haven’t made their goods here for at least 20 years.

I think the more gullible assume that designer brands are "special" somehow and cost more to make in China. There may be slightly more cost, but not much. You are all paying for the logo.

[Anonymous]

It's normal for high end brands to produce 80 percent of the item in China and then send on to Italy for final stitching and the Made in Italy tag. But the reason it hasn't been much talked about is that the work done in China is exceptionally good and no one notices.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:This seems like a non-story.

Like yeah, obviously there is a huge markup on a Michael Kors bag between the factory in China and the shelf in Nordstrom Rack. It’s the cost of getting it here, building and marketing the brand, and all the retail costs. It’s clearly a lot cheaper if you order the same bag directly from a seller in China.

To be clear, I don’t want to pay for all that crap and I’m happy to buy the nameless brand online. When an online store or brand can reliably do that, I’m sold. But it’s not because I don’t understand or didn’t know what the markup on the branded bag was for.

That is better than "Michael Kors" anyway.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Obviously, I knew fakes were coming out of China. However, I only recently learned how blatant and extensive the intellectual property theft has become. It's not just fashion items, but everything from electronics to household items.
American designers send production plans to Chinese factories to construct the products and ship them to the USA. The factories then continue to use the same assembly line to create identical products that are sold under the "letter salad" names on Amazon and elsewhere. For example, when I go to Amazon to find a rechargeable flashlight (true story), I see a half dozen identical products with brand names made of random letter combinations (letter salad) and similar prices. It has gotten to the point where Amazon might not even be selling the original brand name item and they are only selling the Chinese knockoffs that are literally identical products coming from the same production line. Similar complaints are coming out of many other countries as well.

Really, lol? China and "blatant and extensive intellectual property theft" are synonymous.

[Anonymous]

Hermes let 60 minutes into their workshop a few months ago, and it was in France. Footage here. https://youtu.be/ah2eAynWzEg?si=-8D6cdLIHZT5loK8

[Anonymous]

A small percentage of factories in China produce quality products. The fakes made in the same factory to the same standards as designer bags are scarce and heavily gatekept.

Most of the fakes have inferior stitching or other features that give them away. The manufacturer knows consumers buying fakes can’t examine or return them.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:A small percentage of factories in China produce quality products. The fakes made in the same factory to the same standards as designer bags are scarce and heavily gatekept.

Most of the fakes have inferior stitching or other features that give them away. The manufacturer knows consumers buying fakes can’t examine or return them.

I always lol when someone mentions the superior stitching. Girl, the inferior stitching is fine! It’s just holding leather together. God can’t tell if your stitching is slightly crooked. The cheaper bag is not going to break on you. You can chillax about the stitching.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Obviously, I knew fakes were coming out of China. However, I only recently learned how blatant and extensive the intellectual property theft has become. It's not just fashion items, but everything from electronics to household items.
American designers send production plans to Chinese factories to construct the products and ship them to the USA. The factories then continue to use the same assembly line to create identical products that are sold under the "letter salad" names on Amazon and elsewhere. For example, when I go to Amazon to find a rechargeable flashlight (true story), I see a half dozen identical products with brand names made of random letter combinations (letter salad) and similar prices. It has gotten to the point where Amazon might not even be selling the original brand name item and they are only selling the Chinese knockoffs that are literally identical products coming from the same production line. Similar complaints are coming out of many other countries as well.

Really, lol? China and "blatant and extensive intellectual property theft" are synonymous.

But we can't interfere with their sovereignty! We only respect other countries and won't interfere so they can write whatever they want to on the labels.

[Anonymous]

Sounds about right.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Obviously, I knew fakes were coming out of China. However, I only recently learned how blatant and extensive the intellectual property theft has become. It's not just fashion items, but everything from electronics to household items.
American designers send production plans to Chinese factories to construct the products and ship them to the USA. The factories then continue to use the same assembly line to create identical products that are sold under the "letter salad" names on Amazon and elsewhere. For example, when I go to Amazon to find a rechargeable flashlight (true story), I see a half dozen identical products with brand names made of random letter combinations (letter salad) and similar prices. It has gotten to the point where Amazon might not even be selling the original brand name item and they are only selling the Chinese knockoffs that are literally identical products coming from the same production line. Similar complaints are coming out of many other countries as well.

When I see this I just go buy the product off TEMU. Why pay more for a brand name when you can get the exact same item for next to nothing? It’s the SAME.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote: I remember in the 1980s reading that the manufacturing cost of an imported Liz Claiborne garment was 1/7th of the retail price.

I also watched the migration of Coach purses to straight out made in China status.

There's no news here. Except the extreme amount of dependency we have on China.

Haha, I don’t think that people buying “luxury” brands equates to “dependency.” These are not items that are necessary to life and most Americans fully understand that. “Nice to have is one thing,” but very little is “need to have.”

PP. I just meant in general. Like across whole categories like shoes and on to non-clothing items. There are lots of merchandise categories that are dominated by China. By dependency, I meant more "good luck if you want to buy X not from China" than "you can't live without".

I was thinking about lightbulbs the other day. What would we do if we were cut off from China trade?

[Anonymous]

I think the real question here is even when buying "Luxury" items, can we stomach what the actual cost would be if we brought the production back to the US?

If you could get the Coach bag for $299 (and knew it was from China) vs the "American Made" Coach bag for $499, which would you honestly buy? I think the sad truth is we're so used to the lower price, even if we understand it wasn't made here.

[Anonymous]

Links to TikTok videos outing Gucci and Dior among others
https://www.opindia.com/2025/04/trump-china-trade-war-tiktok-exposes-gucci-dior/

https://www.moroccoworldnews.com/2025/04/190191/chinese-manufacturers-are-peeling-off-the-veneer-of-western-luxury/