theory about brands like louis vuitton

[benzak]

how big are the odds that brands like LV own a big part of fake industries? i mean, you can't stop the production of fake bags etc, so why not keeping that marketshare to themselves and make more money? its just theory...

[knewnan]

Most huge companies like LV are Publicly traded/owned. They have to disclose their financials 4 times a year. The production of the knock offs would show up on their balance sheet. So your theory is unlikely to be correct.

[benzak]

I am aware of that. But what I'm thinking is that they somehow control the replica market and gain extra money through this illegal method.

Edited by benzak on May 19, 2005 at 09:21 AM

[skecr8r]

I think knewnan answered the question perfectly. No need for too much conspiracy.

Denim Fanatismé.

The Arc - Hitting the selvage from August 1st 2005.

frogeyes: "dontcare, who cares."

[Marcus]

I agree. Would be good business though....

[stickykrylon]

yeah, and totally unethical.

the knock off market has become a major problem for luxury brands in general and is more or less, illegal. Because it has a profound effect on brand perceptions, luxury brands in general have taken action on the attempt of cracking down on the factories that churn out these worthless goods.

there's no valid conspiracy here.. just tourists and jersey girls rockin fake Louis.

dig.

[Geowu]

I see lots of girls everyday with LV bags, watches, other items, and wearing like the cheapest clothes.

It's a big fake market

[benzak]

you know what the weird thing is... a lot of brands are fighting the fakes by lawsuits etc... but i've never read anything about LV doing that...

[stickykrylon]

read WWD

dig.

[darknworn]

Quote:

you know what the weird thing is... a lot of brands are fighting the fakes by lawsuits etc... but i've never read anything about LV doing that...

--- Original message by benzak on May 19, 2005 01:15 PM

now you're really stretching it. LV has been fighting fake producers all over the world, in most cases they're ineffective because the producers are in countries where international trade and IP laws are unenforceable. as a brand, they can move "down market" with lesser priced products to combat the fake market. this will often time cheapen the brand, and so not many luxury brands dare to do it. if they were to step further and produce the fakes themselves, this has the obvious effect of cannibalizing the high end items as well as turning away would be legitimate high price buyers. any ceo/executive/mid management caught doing this will be immediately fired on the spot by the board/shareholder. as someone else has mentioned, LV is part of the LVMH group, a public company. they have to publish quarterly reports with information on their income sources. obviously, income from selling fakes would be pretty hard to hide or fudge. try explaining that to investors!

conspiracy theories are just that...theories...

"God is Dead" - Neitzsche

"Neitzsche is Dead" - God

[mouko]

LV goes after everyone...look at this

Louis Vuitton Tells San Francisco Hotel: ‘Cease and Desist’

San Francisco, Calif. (PRWE May 17, 2005 -- The Hotel des Arts is a small San Francisco hotel that showcases the original fine art work of emerging artists from around the world. The San Francisco hotel's “Painted Rooms†exhibitions have received international acclaim as one-by-one, the 51 rooms of the hotel are transformed into works of fine art.

To date, nearly 30 of the rooms in the San Francisco hotel have been transformed, painted floor to ceiling by some of the premier emerging and underground artists in the world. The artists have been given free reign to create magic, and the project has been widely lauded as an amazing showcase of new artistic talent and fine art within this small San Francisco hotel.

One of the “Painted Rooms†in the art hotel features a series of hand painted floor-to-ceiling murals by San Francisco pop artist Tim Gaskin. Gaskin, whose artwork frequently juxtaposes celebrity icons with the iconography of contemporary advertising, included images of pop sensation Madonna on the walls of his room, superimposed on patterns and logos from luxury product manufacturer Louis Vuitton. The resultant work of original fine art is at once an homage, a commentary, and a critique of consumer culture and celebrity, and has received a great deal of press coverage and attention. Most people liked it.

http://www.emediawire.com/releases/2005/5/emw241325.htm

Edited by mouko on May 19, 2005 at 03:43 PM

[Geowu]

well, Louis Vuitton has all the rights to remove that painting. It's their idea, their trademark. Awful such a lack of originality be everywhere.

[mouko]

I have to disagree as an artist. It's a commentary on pop culture (even though I think its still a bit boring) and artist should have the right to creatively express whatever they want. I don't think this damages the LV brand image (in my opinion its already been beaten to death) but for LV to go after something like this I find it a bit ridiculous. I have to agree with the hotels decision to stand ground.

[Geowu]

it's hard to define what is art and what isn't. Artists can sell their art. So art can be a product. If you use someone else's trademark on your product to sell it, regardless if you call it art, you're using something you're not allowed to. (but then I don't know the laws that well to say)

[mouko]

There are laws that protect the artist in regards to what you're talking about and what the artist has done in that hotel room. But it's a very very thin line. I think my opinions on this matter are a bit bias though I will admit. But in most cases they will side with the artist in the same way things like movies and comedy shows can claim parody.

[darknworn]

it's a desperate losing battle when LV is going after artists. i agree that there is a fine line between patent/copyright infringements and freedom of expression, a company has to enforce its branding, otherwise over time it becomes unenforceable. in this case, the hotel is the real culprit. if the hotel owner wants to pursue art for the sake of art, s/he would open an art gallery. this reeks of commercial exploit to me. regardless, the LV brand is losing the battle internationally. when a company puts its brand reputation on a brand symbol rather than the more holistic quality/design approach, it deserves what it gets. capitalism is never fair.

"God is Dead" - Neitzsche

"Neitzsche is Dead" - God

[mouko]

It was a huge art project spondered by Start SOMA, as a bit of an "installation" art gallery, where artists were asked to paint an entire room. I don't know if you are familiar with it, but artists such as David Choe, Kelly Tunstall, MARS, DALEK, sam flores and a bunch of other artst did their own room. So in my opinion the hotel, artist or those that started this gallery aren't doing anything wrong. I just think LVMH is overreacting on this one.

I'm all for protecting your image, but I don't see this as any different as say Andy Warhol using the cambells soup image, or monroe's likeness.

Edited by mouko on May 19, 2005 at 05:21 PM

Edited by mouko on May 19, 2005 at 05:21 PM

[darknworn]

the main revenue for this hotel from their rooms, and one of the room potentially infringes on another company's trademark. they can hide behind the art facade for all they want, but at the end of the day it's still a commercial business. the more interesting question is if they were to buy a real LV bag, rip it in half, and glue it back on the wall where the LV symbol lies. the same message gets across, the legal fine line disappears.

"God is Dead" - Neitzsche

"Neitzsche is Dead" - God

Edited by darknworn on May 19, 2005 at 05:30 PM

[mouko]

Yeah I know what you mean. It's really sketchy. Speaking of which, something similar happened to crownfarmer (the clothing company). Urban bought a bunch of their shirts and cut the printed image out and sewed them on vintage jackets. They pulled them off the shelves after crownfarmer found out, but they were given no compensation.

[djrajio]

Funny thing about LV fakes now, is that the bootleggers are great really sophisticated. I remember reading an article in The Economist of how fakes would be brought in to official LV stores and the authenticators couldn't tell the difference between the fake and the real thing. With the technology gap narrowing, its becoming increasingly harder for luxury brands to justify their high prices if fakers can maintain the same level of quality and undercut them in price.

[darknworn]

just maybe the LV doesn't make products now like it used to. the fake producers have gotten more sophisticated while LV has progressively made crappier products. it takes 2 to tango.

"God is Dead" - Neitzsche

"Neitzsche is Dead" - God