How are Designer Products Made?

SOURCE: NSS Magazine

The economic principle I’m exploring is “Because of scarcity people choose. All choices have an opportunity cost.”

My research question to help me study the economic principle is “How Does Scarcity in the Fashion Industry Affect People’s Choices”

The video published on Youtube titled “Louis Vuitton Men’s Shoemaking Fiesso d’Artico” demonstrates this economic principle by showing how designer shoes are made and why people would choose them over other shoes by other brands.

First, The shoe parts are measured and cut by hand. The parts used are leather and higher quality materials. It takes a long time to measure and cut the parts by hand compared to machines cutting parts in factories from places such as China.

Second, The shoe is then put together through a series of long steps. First it is stitched with a sewing machine. It is then hammered, nailed, and cut. Finally it is stitched by hand and glued. These also take a much longer time compared to being put together in factories from places such as China.

Third, It is polished, laced, and put together into a thicker, higher quality box along with extra laces and a manual explaining how to take care of the shoes in order for it to last long.  Louis Vuitton also offers services such as repairs in order to fix problems that may happen with their products due to age and other things.

Ultimately, people pay for designer brands because of the higher quality materials, services such as repairs, and because of the long history of artisans that produce their goods which cause them to last long.

In my next blog post I will synthesize all of my research.