原文标题：LVMH finds making Louis Vuitton bags messy in Texas
原文连结：https://tinyurl.com/377s9pfu
发布时间：Thu, April 10, 2025 at 1:04 PM GMT+8
记者署名：By Tassilo Hummel and Waylon Cunningham
原文内容：
ALVARADO, Texas / PARIS (Reuters) -Six years ago, LVMH's billionaire CEO
Bernard Arnault and President Donald Trump cut the blue ribbon on a factory in
rural Texas that would make designer handbags for Louis Vuitton, one of the
world’s best-known luxury brands.
But since the high-profile opening, the factory has faced a host of problems
limiting production, 11 former Louis Vuitton employees told Reuters. The site
has consistently ranked among the worst-performing for Louis Vuitton globally,
“significantly” underperforming other facilities, according to three former
Louis Vuitton workers and a senior industry source, who cited internal
rankings shared with staff.
The plant’s problems – which haven’t previously been reported – highlight
the challenges for LVMH as it attempts to build its production footprint in
the U.S. to avoid Trump’s threatened tariffs on European-made goods.
“The ramp-up was harder than we thought it would be, that’s true,” Ludovic
Pauchard, Louis Vuitton’s industrial director, said in an interview on Friday
in response to detailed questions about Reuters findings.
The Texas site, situated on a 250-acre ranch, has struggled due to a lack of
skilled leather workers able to produce at the brand’s quality standards, the
three former workers told Reuters. “It took them years to start making the
simple pockets of the Neverfull handbag,” one source familiar with operations
at the plant said, referring to the classic Louis Vuitton shoulder tote bag.
Errors made during the cutting, preparation and assembly process led to the
waste of as many as 40% of the leather hides, said one former employee with
detailed knowledge of the factory’s performance. Industry-wide, typical waste
rates for leather goods are generally 20%, a senior industry source said.
Several former employees who spoke to Reuters described a high pressure
environment. To boost production numbers, supervisors routinely turned a blind
eye toward methods to conceal defects, and in some cases encouraged them,
four former employees told Reuters.
Pauchard acknowledged there had been such cases in the past, but said the
issue had been resolved. “This dates back to 2018 and one particular manager
who isn’t part of the company anymore,” he said.
Poorly-crafted handbags deemed unfit for sale are shredded on-site and carted
away in trucks for incineration, two of the sources with knowledge of the firm
’s supply chain said.
A former production supervisor who often travelled to the site, said Louis
Vuitton mostly used the Texas plant for less sophisticated handbag models,
producing its most expensive products elsewhere.
Pauchard, Louis Vuitton's industrial director, said the company was being “
patient” with “a young factory.”
“Any bag that goes out of it must be a Louis Vuitton bag, we make sure it
meets exactly the same quality,” he said. “I am not aware of any kinds of
issues suggesting the quality coming from Texas is any different from that
coming from Europe.”
MADE IN USA
Perched behind a hill, the handbag maker's two production facilities were
built on grounds near grazing cattle and a gas well. Louis Vuitton named the
site Rochambeau in tribute to a French general who fought in the Revolutionary
War.
Workers at the site make components and entire models of Louis Vuitton
handbags like Felice pochettes and Metis bags – with "Made in USA" tags
inside. The items sell for around $1,500 and $3,000 at high-end boutiques.
LVMH declined to comment when asked which handbag models are fully or
partially made in Texas but former workers interviewed by Reuters mentioned
the Carryall, Keepall, Metis, Felice and Neverfull handbag lines among the
plant's products.
In its marketing material, Louis Vuitton says its handbags - typically made at
French, Spanish or Italian leather ateliers by artisans known as "petites
mains” - are assembled using a process that it has perfected since the mid
19th century. After cutting canvas and leather using hand tools and laser-
cutting machines, they stitch pieces together using industrial sewing machines
.
Workers at the Texas facility, which includes dedicated floors for cutting and
for assembly as well as a warehouse, were initially paid $13 per hour. As of
2024, base pay for a leather worker position at the plant was $17 per hour,
according to two people who recently applied for positions. The minimum wage
in Texas is $7.25 an hour.
A former leather worker who arrived as a migrant in the U.S. some years before
, said she felt proud when she was hired by the prestigious French brand, but
said some workers struggled to meet the brand’s quality standards and
production targets.
"We were under a lot of pressure to make the daily goals," said the former
worker, who left the factory at the end of 2019.
Another person who worked at the facility until 2023 said she cut corners,
like using a hot pin to “melt” canvas and leather to conceal imperfections
in a particularly difficult piece called the Vendome Opera Bag.
Another former leather worker said they’d seen people melt material to hide
holes or other imperfections in stitching.
Damien Verbrigghe, Louis Vuitton’s international manufacturing director,
conceded some at the Texas plant had chosen to change jobs or leave because of
its stringent quality requirements.
“There are artisans that we hire, who we train and who, after several weeks,
or months, realize in light of the expectations, the level of detail that is
required, they would rather work in other fields like logistics,” he said. “
Some people chose to leave us, because it’s true that it’s a job that
requires a lot of savoir faire.”
Three former workers at the plant said they received between two and five
weeks of training. A current Louis Vuitton employee in France said receiving
just a few weeks of training wasn't unusual as most learning happens on the
production line supervised by more experienced craftspeople.
"Knowledge of sewing on leather/canvas is a plus, but not required. We offer
comprehensive training,” the company said in a job posting for artisan
positions in Alvarado published on its website in January.
Verbrigghe said training in Texas is “exactly the same program that we have
in all our workshops,” that is, six weeks on the training line, where new
artisans do nothing but learn basic operations and skills before going on to
train on the assembly line. There, he said, they are “accompanied and
continuously mentored by trainers.”
TAX BREAKS
LVMH got a host of tax breaks and incentives from Johnson County, including a
10-year, 75% property tax cut, promising the company an estimated $29 million
in savings. ”We look forward to serving this exceptional company,” wrote the
county’s top executive, Roger Harmon, in 2017 correspondence seen by Reuters
.
In its 2017 application letter for the tax abatement, obtained by Reuters
through records request, LVMH said it was aiming to hire 500 people within the
first five years of the plan. At the ribbon-cutting ceremony in 2019, Arnault
said, “We will create approximately 1,000 high-skilled jobs here at
Rochambeau over the next five years.”
Three former staffers, however, said headcount stood at just under 300 workers
in February 2025, a figure Verbrigghe confirmed.
The White House did not respond to a Reuters request for comment.
Pauchard said initial recruitment difficulties were largely due to the COVID-
19 pandemic and the lockdown that followed, adding that a decline in local
demand also played a role.
Despite the problems, LVMH is planning to move even more jobs to Texas. LVMH
said in its 2017 filing that its first Texas production facility would cost
around $30 million. A second filing from 2022 to local authorities put the
cost of its second workshop, completed last year, at $23.5 million.
At a town hall last fall, workers at one of two California production sites
were told that it would close 2028 and they could move to Texas or quit,
according to a former employee who was present.
Pauchard confirmed the town hall and said Louis Vuitton intended to streamline
its California operations and transfer more skilled artisans to Texas - with
so far limited success. Its executives, he said, “underestimated the fact
that Texas is far away from California.”
心得/评论：
LVMH 在德州制造 LV 包包困难重重
六年前，LVMH 的亿万富豪执行长伯纳·阿尔诺（Bernard Arnault）与时任总统唐纳·川
普一同在德州乡间为 Louis Vuitton 的工厂剪彩，该厂预定要为这个全球知名的奢侈品
牌制造手提包。
然而，自从这场高调开幕以来，该工厂生产遇到种种问题。11 名前 Louis Vuitton 员工
向《路透社》透露，这座工厂在全球 LV 工厂中一直排名垫底，表现“明显”落后其他厂
区。据三名前员工与一位高阶业内人士指出，这些数据来自内部绩效排名。
此问题突显 LVMH 在美国建立制造据点时所面临的挑战，这原本是为了应对川普对欧洲制
商品威胁征收关税的政策。
Louis Vuitton 工业总监 Pauchard 承认：“生产提升比预期困难，这是真的。”
这座位于 250 英亩牧场上的德州工厂缺乏熟练的皮革工人，导致产品无法符合 LV 的品
质标准。有知情人士说：“他们花了几年才学会制作 Neverfull 包内的简单口袋。”
切割与组装过程中的失误，导致多达 40% 的皮料被浪费（业界平均为 20%）。
有些主管甚至纵容员工掩盖瑕疵。四名前员工说，工人使用熨烫针烫平缺陷，或是“融化
”皮革来掩饰瑕疵。品质不佳的包包会当场被粉碎后焚毁。
Pauchard 表示这种情况发生在 2018 年，当时的一位主管已离职。
工厂主要生产较简单的款式，较高价产品则由其他地区制作。Pauchard 表示他们会“耐
心等待”这座“年轻的工厂”进步，并强调每个出厂的包包都符合 LV 的品质。
这座位于小丘后方的厂区，名为“Rochambeau”，纪念法国独立战争中的将军。工人制作
如 Felice、Metis、Neverfull 等包款，内部标示为“美国制”。这些包在精品店售价约
在 1500 至 3000 美元之间。
工厂工人起薪最初为每小时 13 美元，2024 年升至 17 美元，而德州法定最低工资为 7.
25 美元。
一名前皮革工人表示，当初被这家法国品牌聘用时很骄傲，但不少同事无法达到生产与品
质标准。另一人透露，她曾使用热针融化布料来掩盖缺陷。
LV 制造总监 Verbrigghe 承认，不少工人因为品质要求太高而选择转行。他说：“我们
训练后，有些人发现这份工作需要过高的技术与细节，选择改行。”
三名前员工说他们仅接受 2 至 5 周的训练。LV 表示德州的训练跟其他厂区相同，皆为
6 周入门训练加上师徒制。
LV 还获得 Johnson 郡为期 10 年、75% 的房产税减免，估计省下 2900 万美元。
LV 承诺五年内雇用 500 人，2019 年剪彩时承诺创造 1000 个工作机会，但截至 2025
年 2 月仅有不到 300 名员工。
虽然工厂问题不少，但 LVMH 仍打算扩大德州产能。原本预算 3000 万美元兴建第一座工
厂，第二座则于 2023 年完工，耗资 2350 万美元。
根据一名前员工，LV 计划于 2028 年关闭加州某厂，让工人搬至德州或自行离职。
Pauchard 证实此计画，并坦言“低估了德州与加州的距离”。
****
川普在前一任的任期就在玩
制造业回流美国Bring Manufacturing Back / Made in USA这事
理论上这政策对于振兴美国的蓝领就业、降低对中国等地供应链的依赖确实有帮助
But
人生中最厉害就是这个But
理想常常很美好，现实总是很骨感
这一任利用关税又玩一次这事
您各位觉得玩不玩得起来？