"Deluxe: How Luxury Lost Its Lustre" by Dana Thomas, 2008

1. "...the profit margin is astounding: for most luxury brands the profit is between ten and twelve times the cost to make the item. At Vuitton, it's as much as thirteen times." According to Miuccia Prada, "The handbag is the miracle of the company." 2. "Yes, luxury handbags are made in China. Top brands. Brands that you carry. Brands that deny outright that their bags are made in China make their bags in China, not in Italy, not in France, not in the United Kingdom. ...Each brand made the manufacture sign a cofidentiality agreement stipulating that he could not reveal the fact that he produced their products in China. Furthermore, the manufacturer doesn't let the competition know who else he is producing...The change came in the mid-1990s when Coach decided to move a small portion of its production from the United States to China. Coach's stock value increased a whopping 1,270 percent in the first five years ...other luxury brands quietly began to look into producing leather goods in China. 3. "The brands have little tricks to get around the China label. One brand's "Made in China" label is actually a sticker affixed to the outer package. The luxury brand rips it off when the goods arrive in Italy and replaces it with a "Made in Italy" label. Another has the entire bag made in China except the for the handle. The bag is shipped to Italy, where the Italian-made handle is attached." 4. The following lists are not complete: Louis Vuitton Moet Hennesy (LVMH) —It has more than 50 brands. Some are Louis Vuitton, Givenchy, Dior, Bliss, Michael Kors, Marc Jacobs, Celine, e-Luxury.com, Duty Free Shoppers (DFS-majority owned) Gucci Group--YSL, Sergio Rossi, Stella McCartney, Alexander McQueen, Balenciaga, Bottega Veneta Independently owned--Armani, Versace, Dolce & Gabbana, Hermes, Chanel..."