JUST HOW MUCH DOES COUNTRY OF ORIGIN MATTER?

Do consumers care about where a product comes from?

Does the label “Made In Italy” still carry as much weight as it once did, in this age of global outsourcing? China’s and India’s economies are on fire as more manufacturers source overseas factories.

FASHION INC. sites a study by Barclays Wealth about what rich people desire when buying luxury goods. Surprisingly country of origin is quite low on the list, the bottom actually.

According to Lauren Goldstein Crowe on FASHION INC., “Luxury consumers want things that are made well, of fine fabrics and careful construction. And if manufacturers can find workshops in China or India where that kind of work is still being done, so be it.

Luxury consumers don’t really care where it is made so long as it is made as it should be, and that (before people start shouting sweatshop) includes taking worker conditions into account.”

Other factors such as quality and value of a product carry more weight than country of origin. As it should. Do you want a piece of crap, but, oh it was Made in Italy? Or do you want a high quality article of clothing from China.

Now this is obviously not to say Made in Italy is crap. Most decidedly not. But it is to say that just because Made In USA or Made In Italy is stamped on the tag doesn’t necessarily absolutely translate to higher quality.

With the rise of outsourcing more and more consumers have become accustomed to clothing being manufactured off-shore. This comes despite the fact of the recent recalls plaguing China.

Countries such as China and India are developing and progressing each day. Their economies are on fire and they are building their infrastructure everyday. As time goes on they are building better and better modern facilities and factories to handle the production of high quality clothing.

As far as we’re concerned, we’re more worried about quality the country of origin.

How to Buy Luxury 3: What Rich People Want [FASHION INC.]