At the start of this year, we featured a prediction by Monocle Magazine’s Tyler Brule that we’ll see brands consider whether to use local materials, production and craftsmanship as a competitive positioning against other brands that get their stuff made in factories in Asia. Brule said:
In 2008, provenance is going to become more important at luxury goods companies as CEOs decide whether to downgrade their brands (they wouldn’t call it this, but we would) by shutting workshops and moving the work to Asia to improve margins, or take a long-term view and keep investing in craftsmanship, education and maintaining manufacturing facilities above the shop.
The decision should be a simple one. The fake handbag might be made in China, but if 90 per cent of the real thing is made there as well, where’s the point of difference other than price? Against this backdrop, a growing movement for authenticity, craftsmanship and heritage is creating greater opportunities for artisanal companies.
We got reminded by this prediction when we saw news on Influx Insights that Swiss container brand SIGG is trying to retain it’s Swissness by splitting its brand in two - SIGG will remain the swiss-made brand and Steelworks will be a new brand that uses Chinese expertise and materials.
