STOP Creating Luxury Until You Understand THIS! Leathercraft Masterclass VODCAST

[@pepleatherlab3872]

I think an aspect of luxury that I find a bit cringe is when a brand sells on prestige and legacy, meanwhile allows product quality diminishment to attain greater margin. Although not a luxury product, sport footwear has made this transition. If one follows the 'Rose Anvil' channel, who constantly disassembles footwear, people quickly discover the nature of this situation. In luxury, there are more than a few brand boutiques I no longer visit because of this condition. Investigate and discover how many are now substituting leather for bonded synthetics and canvas, then actually 'increased' their prices. It's so incredibly disappointing. Even more so when the designs themselves are quite interesting. Thanks for the content Phil ~Cheers! 🍺

[@teogabrielsson4717]

Agreed! Lots of luxury companies thrive due to their heritage.. not due to the quality of the items they produce at the moment. I am no stranger to purchase a luxury item if it's well made and durable for what it's meant for. Be it a Hi-fi monitor, a watch or a pair of nice leather shoes.

[@LeathercraftMasterclass]

Yeah, there are a handful of brands that really follow that path. Such a shame

[@louisgianfrancesco]

Great last anecdote, had a good chuckle at that.

[@LeathercraftMasterclass]

😁

[@tiagopardete545]

I might be wrong but I think that some brands are hurt by making lower end goods... I've repaired many LV and Guess bags and they're really bad, everything is made with synthetic materials (in LV case, the handles). These are bags sold in shops as authentic bags. But of course they either are not authentic or they are just entry level bags that fall very short of their standards...

[@LeathercraftMasterclass]

That's interesting. I've not seen synthetic leather LV handles before. Let's hope it wasn't authentic! Especially at those prices.

[@tiagopardete545]

@@LeathercraftMasterclass The latest one was a MK bag, that the client over €500 for it... The panels were made with Nappa Leather and after a few months it started to come unglued at the top because they decided that sewing near the edge of the bag was a bad esthetic decision... I know it's not at the price range of other brands but it still stings...

[@teogabrielsson4717]

An interesting thing about luxury manufacturers is that they are more often than not very old brands. Brands that were created a long time prior to the mass-production (fast fashion) hysteria. We have gotten used to paying lower prices due to "necessity" of being able to purchase new items more often. Instead of purchasing a handmade coffee table out of solid wood and good construction that would last generations to come. We are more likely to shop around at Ikea for a cheap machine made one without any craftsmanship and with less real wood than the toilet paper you use. Instead of purchasing shoes from Loake.. most people are used to the price of mass production H&M shoes. When you purchase luxury items you purchase history, tradition & quality. The only thing I truly dislike is when a luxury company steps away from their traditions and quality.. just to capitalize on the history of the brand itself.

[@LeathercraftMasterclass]

Some very true and important points there Teo. Thank you for sharing.

[@Darynifiction]

I worked for one of the biggest belt factory in europe. I designed belts and small accessories for most of the biggests brands you can think of. 100% of the production was in china or romania, the price range of most belts was from 4,5 euro to 12 euro. Only diesel was buying belts at 18 o 20 euro, definetly the best quality brand and they even designed some of their own stuff. Everybody else just bought prototypes we created. The common mark up was between 700 and 2000%. So yes you pay for the name, if you want quality it's way better to find an artisian. There isn't much luxury or quality at all in most of the brands.

[@LeathercraftMasterclass]

Wow, good to know!

[@troylee3700]

Thanks Philip 😁

[@LeathercraftMasterclass]

You're welcome Troy!

[@ffzanchetta]

Hahah I did laugh here, quite unexpected. On a more serious note, my problem with many luxury items, particularly in the leather world, is that I find many bags to be of bad taste. Now, I know taste is very personal, but it's difficult for me to like many of them.. Sober ones, like Kelly/Birkin are nice, but in general, I see so many of them that I'm just left thinking "what the hell? who likes this??" Perhaps knowing more of the brand background and understanding where the concept is coming from could help..

[@pepleatherlab3872]

It's the handles I first look at. I'm like "That handle doesn't look comfortable AT ALL. Who would want to hold that all day?" Especially the thin bladed ones. *cringe.

[@LeathercraftMasterclass]

Yes, Balenciaga have come out with some really odd designs in recent times. Really has you scratching your head!

[@ytcommenting3101]

It took me a while to get the fart lady picture out of my head, as you painted it in such exquisite detail. Thanks for the great content and pearls of wisdom, I ended up buying three books; The Luxury Strategy: Break the Rules of Marketing to Build Luxury Brands | Kapferer on Luxury: How Luxury Brands Can Grow Yet Remain Rare | Rethinking Prestige Branding: Secrets of the Ueber-Brands by Wolfgang Schaefer. Sadly, I couldn't get them in the audio version.

[@LeathercraftMasterclass]

Wonderful to hear! Happy reading, you'll learn a lot from those books.

[@suzanx]

Stumbled on your channel because I'm beginning to learn the mastery of handbag making and omg, you could read stories for a living! How absolutely mesmerizing. And those are eyes as well! You could literally do a channel reading books for both adults and children and it would be absolutely engaging.

[@LeathercraftMasterclass]

Oh Susan, you make me blush! :D Thank you

[@SP-nx8qx]

To be honest Philip until I signed up to your courses I'd never heard anyone use the world "luxury" to classify leather goods. I did hear it for cars and watches but not bags. Maybe the word is more commonly used in your market, I don't know, but in my world these were (and probably still are) "Designer brands". If you google it like that you'll get the same brands as the ones you're talking about. In practice they're kind of interchangeable words maybe, other people say "fashion brands" etc. But the word "design" makes more sense to me and for sure I understand and appreciate it when I see it and I'd be happy to put it to words and even try to sell it. Why? Because given enough time and money, many small brands and independent leatherworkers can produce high quality goods with top-notch materials and excellent craftsmanship. But an iconic original design? That will stand out, and stand the test of time? Man, that takes a lot. By a lot I mean quite literally a lot of people, time, prototyping, money, experience, talent, inspiration. It's hard, and most of us just can't do it, if we're honest with ourselves it is extremely rare that we produce an original, successful design that we created from scratch. And the opposite, which is probably even harder: who can make a cheaply made bag from cheap materials that is still interesting enough for a girl to want to use and show off, just because of colour and design? It's those brands. In my mind that's what sets those brands apart, not necessarily the luxury. And I definitely appreciate it when I see it and I try to train myself to create something like that. Maybe one day :) Until then I stick to making custom designs, that maybe are not is as iconic as a Birkin, but they are exactly the bag the customer needs. I do see value and honesty in getting paid for that. And I do explain the quality of the materials and the importance of solid craftsmanship but I never use the world luxury.

[@LeathercraftMasterclass]

Yes, luxury can be very subjective and quite a complex subject. Thank you for sharing your thoughts.

[@tommygamba170]

Thise craftsmen get taught the process which is very different. I understand luxury and thats my goal.

[@realmaureenoyakhilome]

You are very sympathetic. I appreciate your views cos I never thought about it this way. 😊

[@LeathercraftMasterclass]

I appreciate you, thank you for the kind words! 😊

[@joannewittenbrook8051]

I don’t think you can really make luxury if you do not appreciate the beauty of it.

[@LeathercraftMasterclass]

Amen. An unnerving amount of people don't get this!

[@menorahleathersmith]

Whoever smelt it dealt it 😂

[@mrrustygray]

LMAO . Great dad joke. Well played sir, well played.

[@LeathercraftMasterclass]

Hehe! 😁

[@Alagachak]

My little nogging got something rolling around in it that will take abit of thinking about - good talk.

[@LeathercraftMasterclass]

Great to hear Ceril. My goal with Podcast episodes like this is to get people to think and ask questions. 👍

[@user-a33kixd2wq44]

I am not a native english speaker. I listened to the last secentence several times and finally got the joke😂🤣

[@LeathercraftMasterclass]

Haha! I'm glad you liked it!

[@user-a33kixd2wq44]

@@LeathercraftMasterclass yeah, absolutely!

[@Stuart-sn5pt]

Shower?, Thought you were going to say sauna 😆

[@gussiegus4943]

True. It really was a terrible joke.

[@gussiegus4943]

The second was much better. 😆

[@lindamellingen5977]

Lol!

[@LeathercraftMasterclass]

:D

[@richardbenson4750]

I've been making high end furniture and decor for years and have sold tables that cost $30k but my personal furniture and household items are incredibly basic and somewhat crude. I make a lot of things and the last thing I want to do on my time off is make more, and honestly I'd rather buy more tools or such than spend hundreds of dollars on materials to decorate my own space. I mean it's beautiful but as a maker I don't want to be scared of spilling dye or paint or making a hole in it or such.

[@LeathercraftMasterclass]

Yeah, I get it! Thank you for sharing your thoughts Richard

[@ronin5273]

And if we produce same thing same quality people wont pay one tens to us🧐

[@LeathercraftMasterclass]

I would say that comes down your your marketing and sales experience more than anything else. You often can't charge the same as a famous brand for a similar product, but you also don't have the overheads of a luxury brand.

[@ronin5273]

Lol😂😂😂😂

[@LeathercraftMasterclass]

😁

[@user-jg3qg7oq2l]

Good joke😂

[@sedulousdabbler5468]

Wow Phillip; controversial. Do you really believe that an expensive item displays or represents a person's value as stated here? What value is placed on the maker?, according to a documentary I recently watched about the jewellery makers at Aspreys, very little. The highly experienced and skilled makers said that they earned very little money and were kept well clear of the shop front and never meet the clients. In England, wealth, privilege and money are, in my opinion, more often linked with hubris, entitlement and snobbery, character traits which encompass everything that is wrong with modern society. You said that a maker should learn to appreciate the finer things in life, what are they? Baubles and beads, bags and Bentleys, or the true beauty in the world. Every morning a blackbird comes to my patio door and taps on the glass. I fetch her some raisins, and she eats them from my hand. That moment to me representers the finer things in life. In my former employ, I have dined at the Dorchester with the UN Secretary General and spent time around heads of state and royalty, nothing in their lives ever made me aspire to own what they own, or live as they live and I truly believe that they spare little thought for the immense skill and craftsmanship which surrounds their daily lives. I'm afraid, we'll have to agree to differ on this one.

[@LeathercraftMasterclass]

I think you may have misunderstood my message here. People have been signalling using recourses and expensive items for thousands of years in order to boost their (perceived) value, this is nothing new. It definitely doesn't accurately portray a persons true value in the world. But then again, we haven't defined value here, or agreed upon a definition. Even if we did, would it be right? For example, you name dropped the Dorchester, US Secretary General, heads of state and even royalty in one sentence. It added nothing to your point and you could have made it eloquently without it. However, you chose to include a rare, expensive, exclusive experience enjoyed by few, whilst signalling you have access to scarce recourses and high value individuals of wealth, power and status. Signalling, as we can see, is quite normal. 'You said that a maker should learn to appreciate the finer things in life, what are they? Baubles and beads, bags and Bentleys'. My message was about seeking to understand and immersing yourself in the history, heritage, tradition, and of course appreciating the hard work that goes into the fine craftsmanship seen in many luxury brands. Not quite baubles and beads. Thank you for sharing your perspective on this. A healthy debate is always appreciated here.

[@sedulousdabbler5468]

Perhaps my perception of your vlog was coloured by its title, which appears to me at worst dictatorial and at the very least didactic. You presented it as a 'pushback', a word with which I was unfamiliar, but I have since learned is defined as a negative or unfavourable reaction or response. Therefore, it is likely that my reaction was in a way, a pushback and in parts not well argued. My mentioning of the people and places you refer to as 'name dropping', was purely to illustrate that I have seen many sides of life as I stride onward toward my dotage. I in no way think that it adds anything to real or perceived value or place in the world. 'Signalling, as we can see, is quite normal'. I can't help but feel patronised. The semantics of 'value', could be discussed and debated ad infinitum, and perhaps therein lies the rub. Thank you for taking the time to respond.