I said I am not willing to pay more solely to support politics with which I don’t agree. I will, however, pay for quality. I won’t buy Italian shoes because of how they do things; I buy them despite their politics.

And I share your China dilemma. I don’t want to buy their products because I don’t like how they run their country. I’m not a fan of political prisoners, slave labor, or forced abortions.

Wasn’t Chiang Kai-shek the guy who went on to run Taiwan? I’d rather live in Taiwan than anywhere in China.

And agreed — I’ve been to Italy (but not to China), but I’d still rather live in Italy, even though I found it absolutely maddening to try to get anything done. If I did, however, I would spend a lot of time evading the tax man, which I believe is a national sport, and being ticked off at generous maternity leaves, as I once worked in an office in Chile where two of the five people who worked there were on long maternity leaves at the same time. They were paid full salary, so we couldn’t afford to hire temps in their place. Instead, the rest of us had to pick up the slack for over three months. (This was after the one could never answer the door — which required going downstairs — or the phone — which did not — because she “was pregnant.”)

PS I, too, am very pleased at the civil tone of this discussion, and mean no offense with any of my comments.

Let’s talk diamonds. Back when I worked in the industry (5 years ago), I heard in a meeting that diamond rough came out of the ground for

wait for it

$5-$8 a carat. Rough.

The industry flogs 1ct. diamonds for 100 times that price, doesn’t it?

And we pay, don’t we?

Emotion = Value?

The threshold of what we think something is worth is directly tied to what emotional value the “thing” has for us. We pay accordingly. End of.

I agree with Raincoaster and wannabe- if you don’t like them, boycott them.

And no class factotum, Communism, or rather, Maoism wasn’t all forced at gunpoint. Given the choice between Chiang Kai Shek and Mao Ze Dong, they really didn’t have great options to begin with.

This discussion is fascinating, to say the least. It stands as the very best example of a civilized discussion I’ve ever seen online.

But: shoeboots are a fad? Hardly…if they’re good enough for Robin (of Batman And…) they’re good enough for me.

You are right it is difficult to do business there and many of the work rules are insane. But having travelled to Italy and talking about China with friends who lived there, there’s no question which society I’d rather live in. Health care, day care, maternity leave and fast, comfortable, beautiful trains I’m happy to subsidize. Viva l’Italia!

Manufacturing in Italy costs a lot, for a number of reasons, one being the socialist infrastructure (universal health care, state-sponsored day care, and it’s really, really difficult to fire people in Italy, not to mention the cost of craziness all through public systems that we take for granted in North America).

I am willing to pay more for superior quality and craftsmanship. I am not willing to pay solely to support outrageous tax policies that punish the producers, stifle entrepreneurship and good business and pass money to those who do not work.

At least the Chinese didn’t vote themselves into communism — it was imposed on them at gunpoint.

Manufacturing in Italy costs a lot, for a number of reasons, one being the socialist infrastructure (universal health care, state-sponsored day care, and it’s really, really difficult to fire people in Italy, not to mention the cost of craziness all through public systems that we take for granted in North America).

I am willing to pay more for superior quality and craftsmanship. I am not willing to pay solely to support outrageous tax policies that punish the producers, stifle entrepreneurship and good business practices and pass money to those who do not work.

At least the Chinese didn’t vote themselves into communism — it was imposed on them at gunpoint.

http://64.233.169.104/search?q=cache:Pe1GW7wHQ6EJ:www.stevemadden.com/BECKS-BLACK-PATENT+steve+madden+becks&hl=en&ct=clnk&cd=1&gl=us&client=firefox-a

As for value added to designer shoes, i think it is wrong to asume that all production in the far east is done with little effort and little regard for the workers’ wellbeing. We produce both in Europe (Italy, Spain, Portugal etc) and the Far East, and our code of conduct applies to all our suppliers, no exceptions. In recent years China has become far more comitted to this issue, and conditions for workers are improving and should keep getting better. Just like Italy, China is dependent on this production and the government is slowly getting wize to what it really takes to sustain a big business like this.

Also, production in the far east is no less labourious than in Europe, the same basic elements of production apply here … design, paper pattern, cutting dice, outsole mould, lasts etc etc, is all time consuming, and whether inspired by another shoe or it being an original design, the production is just as extensive. The main reason why shoes from the far east are cheaper are, of course, labour and other overhead costs, materials (most of these shoes are made with synthetic materials, as the leather quality in the far east does not compare with that of European leather) and transport costs (more boats and cargo planes leave from big industrial areas, so the prices go down).
Therefore I think Far East production and to some extent being inspired by other brands is justifiable, after all it is covering a demand in the market.

As for european production, this has been dwindling over the years, due to the high costs. However, as Miss Shoo pointed out, there is a craftsmanship and an incredible knowledge of shoes in the traditional shoe-making countries that we cannot afford to lose. Both high-quality designer shoes as well as no-brand shoes are produced in these countries, and i don’t think the shoe industry could do without the expertise and quality you can find here. Therefore, it is important for my company to support both. I think designer shoes to some extent justify the price tag because without this kind of production making good quality leather shoes would be dificult, and it would take the far east a while to gain the kind of shoe-making culture you find in europe. Designer shoes, like all other shoes have a mark-up of at least 2,5-3,5 times the production and transportation costs, so if you add the extra money these brands will have to pay to open a new last and outsole for maybe only 5000 pairs (in most cases you have to guarantee 20 000 pairs) as well as the little extra the consumers want to pay for a brand name, the prices aren’t so unrealistic.

At the end of the day i’m sure the Louboutin design team aren’t so upset about the actual shoe (but probably the photo!). After all, imitation is the sincerest form of flattery!