Johnson County, Texas, a sparse stretch of grassland just south of Fort Worth, is not the place you imagine France’s Louis Vuitton producing luxury handbags. But since June, a workshop on a ranch there has been busy making six styles of bags and backpacks for the world’s biggest luxury brand.
Louis Vuitton is the largest brand of LVMH, the luxury conglomerate, and the US one of its most lucrative markets. Despite an overall decline in US spending on handbags, LVMH’s US sales have continued to grow. In a statement, the company said the new facility is opening to “meet the ever-growing demand for Louis Vuitton products in the American market.”
In 2018, LVMH did about $12.5 billion in sales (pdf) in the US. Technically Asia brought in more, but that was across all of Asia, excluding Japan. “The US market is number one for LVMH in the world,” Bernard Arnault, CEO and chairman of LVMH, Louis Vuitton’s parent company, said at a ribbon-cutting ceremony yesterday (Oct. 17), according to a local NBC affiliate. Joining him was US president Donald Trump. They spoke and took pictures with the workshop’s employees against a backdrop that included the flags of France, the US, and Texas.
Local manufacturing has long been a key part of its business. The company already runs two manufacturing workshops in California. Over the past 30 years, the New York Times notes, about half the bags Louis Vuitton has sold in the US were made in the US.
Trump inspects the goods with Michael Burke, CEO of Louis Vuitton, and Arnault.
Being able to produce more bags within US borders offers some important advantages. One, Louis Vuitton can avoid import duties on its products, including any new tariffs Trump may impose as his trade spats escalate. (So far those haven’t been a major issue for Louis Vuitton.)
Perhaps more importantly, it allows the company to respond quickly to demand. Louis Vuitton has been bolstering its supply chain, improving its speed and data-crunching ability as it works to keep up with rising sales globally. The faster it gets, the fewer products it has to produce in advance, cutting down waste and costs. “We used to forecast—now we react,” Louis Vuitton CEO Michael Burke told Bloomberg last month.
Rather than ship products from Europe to stores in US cities, it can do it much more quickly and cheaply from Texas and California. The company told the New York Times it chose Texas for its central location, giving it easy access to the coasts, as well as its history as a leatherworking center. Johnson County gave it a 10-year, 75% tax abatement worth about $91,900 a year, though it said that wasn’t central to its decision to open the new facility.
Louis Vuitton says the workshop will ultimately create about 1,000 jobs for the area. At the ribbon-cutting, Trump praised the company for its $50-million investment in Texas. “Today, we continue the extraordinary revival of American manufacturing, and we proudly celebrate the opening of the brand-new Louis Vuitton—a name I know very well,” he said. “It cost me a lot of money over the years.”
Louis Vuitton chose to channel that long-standing friendship and cooperation between France and the United States as it opened the brand's first Texas manufacturing outpost. Two other plants are in California. Once inside the ranch, you are greeted by Louis Vuitton employees.
It began selling Texas-made bags from temporary facilities there in 2017. The Texas factory gives Louis Vuitton a hedge against the risk of trade disputes between the U.S. and European Union.
Louis Vuitton has a ranch in North Texas. It's free and open to the public for three days each year. By Amber Elliott, Staff writerUpdated Oct 21, 2022 5:41 p.m.
Louis Vuitton is more than a name; we are a world class manufacturer. LVUSM operates ateliers in CA and TX where our focus is people, quality and safety while producing, sewing and assembling our luxury handbags and other small leather goods.
The Louis Vuitton leather goods collections are exclusively produced in our workshops located in France, Spain, Italy and the United States. Manufacturing our footwear and ready-to-wear collections takes place in France and Italy.
If you find marked-down Louis Vuitton merchandise online, chances are that it's fake. According to the brand's official site, "Louis Vuitton never marks down its prices, so unless they are secondhand, discounted Louis Vuitton items found online are highly suspicious of being counterfeit."
Coated with a layer of polyvinylchloride, a Louis Vuitton canvas bag is durable and resistant to heat, water, and most chemicals. Generally tougher than all-leather bags, Louis Vuitton's canvas bags can last up to many years with proper care and delicate treatment.
If purchasing in a Louis Vuitton store, they'll fill out the VAT refund paperwork and have you sign it in the correct spots right there in-store at the time of purchase. This is incredibly helpful and why you must have your passport with you.
The Louis Vuitton leather goods collections are exclusively produced in our workshops located in France, Spain, Italy and the United States. Manufacturing our footwear and Ready-to-Wear collections takes place in France and Italy. Our watches are exclusively made in timepiece workshops in Switzerland.
This stamp is usually found on the leather tab where the date code is located, and it should read "Louis Vuitton Paris made in France" (or Spain, Italy, USA, or Switzerland, depending on where the bag was made).
Newer Louis Vuitton bags may not have an exterior Made In USA stamp, but will have a leather or cloth tag inside that reads “Made in USA of imported materials.”
The T's should be almost touching and positioned extremely close together. The stamp will read Louis Vuitton Paris but the “made in” may vary, the countries I mainly see are France, USA and Spain although occasionally some bags are stamped as being made in Italy and Germany.
The Louis Vuitton leather goods collections are exclusively produced in our workshops located in France, Spain, Italy and the United States. Manufacturing our footwear and ready-to-wear collections takes place in France and Italy. Our watches are exclusively made in timepiece workshops in Switzerland.
Located in the heart of a region renowned for its expertise, Louis Vuitton's shoemaking atelier in Fiesso d'Artico, Italy manifests the dynamism of both the region and the Maison.
Contrary to some doubts and speculation, it is true that Louis Vuitton destroys its unsold merchandise. This practice is not a mere cliche or a fake rumor but a deliberate decision made by the brand.
Vuitton also redesigned its distribution system in hubs and spokes to meet customers demand faster: with a global distribution center near Paris, they are now able to ship products to six regional distribution centers in the world.
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