Louis Vuitton will manufacture its made in USA accessories with European materials in the new factory in Keene, Texas. On Thursday, October 17, the inauguration took place in the presence of LVMH owner Bernard Arnault and President Donald Trump.
150, 500, 1,000
Vuitton began manufacturing leather accessories in Texas in 2017, using “temporary facilities”. Then they bought a piece of land (value: 3 million dollars). Finally, they built a factory that today employs 150 people. But that sets rather ambitious goals: to get to 500 employees soon, bringing them to 1,000 within the next five years thanks to the construction of a second plant. The company is recruiting local staff who are trained through an internal training module. Candidates who pass tests have a base salary of $13 per hour.
Materials
As for now, raw materials, including leathers, will come from European suppliers. But Michael Burke, CEO of Louis Vuitton, stated to the Wall Street Journal that the brand would like to start buying leather directly in the United States. The challenge, says Burke, will be to convince Texas breeders to stop using barbed wire fences that scar cattle. “This, in general, makes it impossible for us to use leathers”. A purpose that conceals a clear goal: to introduce exclusively collated items in Texas. A zero-kilometre production plant.
Image from wfaa.com
