COMMODIFICATION OF BAGS

Louis Vuitton

Media and Pop Culture

To be submitted as a final exam paper

Anisa Sukmadewi Herman 00000014811

Kevin Igianto 00000015972
Margaretha Regine Anjanette 00000011016
Michelle Hana P. Hutauruk 00000017904
Pricilla Marcia Vidinya Lin 00000015913
Stefanny 00000013307

APPLIED COMMUNICATION SCIENCE

FACULTY OF SOCIAL AND POLITICAL SCIENCE
UNIVERSITAS PELITA HARAPAN
BANTEN
2017

I. INTRODUCTION
DESIGNER
Louis Vuitton Malletier was a luggage-maker and luggage-designer in Paris in the
mid-late 1800s. After more than a century later, Vuittons handbags and luggage are now a
status symbol around the world and are often looked to in the world of fashion. The Louis
Vuitton Monogram design can be considered the very first designer label on a product, as it
was created in 1896 with the prevention of being copied.
Louis recognized a need for flat trunks which could go in the cargo hold of ocean-
going ships or on luggage racks of trains without getting damaged. From the very beginning,
Louis insisted on extraordinary quality and craftsmanship, catering to the rich people who
appreciated the beauty of his products. He found himself luggage maker to kings, stars and
noble people almost immediately including Eugnie the wife of Napoleon III, this provided a
gateway for Vuitton to a class of elite and royal clientele who would seek his services for the
duration of his life and far beyond.
After Louis Vuitton died, His company was carried on by His son, Georges Vuitton.
In addition to their store in London, but Georges saw opportunities in the United States and
set up a shop in New York. In 1936 in the golden age of Louis Vuitton ends as Georges
Vuitton passes away. Estimates attribute Georges Vuitton with over 700 new Vuitton designs.
Gaston-Louis Vuitton assumes control of the company. The secretary trunk is introduced for
Leopold Stokowski, a conductor. Up until the 1990's Louis Vuitton completed a century of
making bags and luggage out of exotic leathers such as alligator, lizard and ostrich as well as
ordinary animal skins with always the pristine quality. And in 1997, LVMH (Mot Hennessy
Louis Vuitton) adds Marc Jacobs, who designs the Monogram Vernis line.

IDEOLOGY
Ideology by definition is the association of products with the aspirations, beliefs, and
lifestyle of its target market. We probably now see Louis Vuitton as a luxury brand,
represents prestigiousness in fashion and lifestyle. Yet, looking back to the history Louis
Vuitton itself, particularly in bags, experienced major transformations from the year it is
made in 1854 to 2017.
Back to the 1854 in Paris, Louis Vuitton was a brand that produces flat-bottom trunks.
Looking back to the history, Paris (France) 1854 was
the time where they were at war. So many voyages
have to be done, thus made the people need to
always carry their stuffs wherever they go. We have to remember that the transportations in
that year was not as advanced as it is now. To carry so many stuffs with very limited space,
they needed to strategize how would they carry it. Thus, Louis Vuitton produced that flat-
bottom trunks to make it easier to be stacked as a solution to the then popular rounded-top
trunks. Louis Vuitton also use the trianon canvas as the material, making it lightweight and
airtight. Louis Vuitton trunks then became famous not just as the products but as the label
itself.
With the popularity that Louis Vuitton already has, he tried to adjust to the markets
need. As the war ended, Louis Vuitton continued developing and producing his bags. Of
course, because he was already well known to create good quality bags, whatever products he
created, it became famous. Until now (2017), Louis Vuitton is a label of lifestyle and fashion
prestige. People want to have Louis Vuitton not because of its function, but because it is
Louis Vuitton. Moreover, with the celebrities using Louis Vuitton, people even wanted more
to own it as a symbol that they keep up with the trend.

COMPANY IDENTITY
The Louis Vuitton logo, often referred as LV monogram, is well known as one of the
most iconic and memorable fashion logos ever created. It was designed by Louis son,
Georges Vuitton, who came up with the idea of printing his fathers initials on the canvas.
Georges design was adapted as the corporate identity for the company in 1896 up until now.
The label's LV monogram appears on most of its products, ranging from luxury trunks and
leather goods to ready-to-wear, shoes, watches, jewelry, accessories, sunglasses and books.
The timeless LV emblem has now become synonymous with luxury, prestigious and
indulgence. It has been worn by some celebrities as a fashion statement.

II. Commodification
The term capitalism was commonly used before and
is referred as a social system where trade industry are largely owned and managed by private
owners, and they operate it for a profit. Due to the change in the industry, in the last decades
a new concept has started to emerge and thrive in the business environment, that is
commodification. Commodification is a Marxist idea that refers to the way the market values
can replace other social values, or the way a market can replace a communal system.
Commodity emphasized as a key cell in a capitalist driven society. From the economic point
of view, the concept describes the assignment of economic value to a good which previously
has not been assessed in economic terms. Business nowadays are mostly run by capitalist,
and thus commodification is important for them because they can take advantage from
commodifying any product and get profit from it. Anything can be commodified from
product to ideas. This paper will talk about how bags have been commodified through the
social and economic aspects of the brand Louis Vuitton.

A bag used to be a common tool to collect loose materials and to transport them to be readily
carried in the hands. It was originally used in ancient egypt in the form of pouches, something
that people would use to carry their things. Now from pouches, bags have become much
more than just to carry and transport things around, it has become a medium to show a brand
off, and not just about the mobility to carry things inside a bag. Nowadays there are a lot of
branded bags in different sizes and different core materials.
III. Commodified Society
We are now living in a market society, where markets and its industry of thought have
dominate more areas of our lives, starting from different range of products to ideas, anything
can be commodified. People nowadays are too focused in getting the product for its brand
rather than its original function. Buyers have become the new cash crops for business
owners to gain profit, because people are willing to wait in line for hours to go into a branded
store for a product that they don't really need. Some people even don't care about the
nominals that the tags have, they just want to join the hype and the pride of having the
branded bags. Commodification is becoming like a religion to them, they have worship the
bag with a premium brand to elevate their status. This can be seen by many people buying
fake branded stuff to look good and to be recognized as someone in the same status as the
people that buys the authentic ones. And with that being said, people are considered to be a
commodified society, because they are somehow becoming the slaves of branded things and
money.

There has been some critics with regards to commodified society where they dont see
branded things are as important as the function of that product. The pictures in the appendix
(appendices 3.0) shown how things can be so much cheaper yet still has the same function as
the branded ones. And how they can get the same thing as the branded things using the non-
branded thing.
IV. Commodification of the brand
Original
The original Louis Vuitton bags is a mixture of hand-crafted and machineries such as
sewing machine. The attention to detail of every components of their bags is second to none,
in creating one bag, it takes more than 400 steps to manufacture, making authentic LV bags a
rare commodity.
The bag itself is made up of the best quality monogrammed canvas, leather and exotic
animal prints. The stitches of each part of the bag is impeccable and precise, even the handles
of every bag is hand picked very carefully. As it has been stated in the introduction, Louis
Vuitton originally produced trunks, high quality, innovative zinc-covered leather trunks that
was used by high class society people. In 2015 Louis Vuitton came out with a product that is
a mixture of the classic and the modern and came out with the Petites Malles which
translates to little trunks. One of these bags alone took hundreds of operations and made with
the finest quality parts and is made of either lamb or crocodile skin (making of video:
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/luxury/womens-style/the-making-of-a-louis-vuitton-petite-malle-
handbag/) This is just one of the examples of how special and how much craftmanship and
creativity it takes to produce these bags.
It is important to note that Louis Vuitton company has zero tolerance when it comes
to counterfeit of their products, authentic Louis Vuitton products are sold only in their official
stores and in the official website, even the most trusted online stores might sell fake Louis
Vuitton bags, Louis Vuitton never reduces their price unless it is a secondhand bag.

Counterfeit
With the average price of $4,000 (four thousand dollars) per bag, not all people can
afford the finest of Louis Vuitton goods. But with all the attention people get from having a
Louis Vuitton bag, it has become a must-have item, and middle to lower class people also
want to get into the luxury world.
This phenomenon has caught the attention of manufacturers owner, and resulting in
the making of counterfeit Louis Vuitton bags. The price of the counterfeit bags range from
$10 (ten dollars) to $200 (two hundred dollars) per
bags according to the quality of the leather.
China has become the largest shipment
centres for fake goods sold around the world
with 86% of global counterfeiting. As quoted from intouch.com With luxury brands
skyrocketing in popularity in China, vendors are finding more ways to profit from this
consumer demand. As a result, 15 to 20 percent of Chinas goods are counterfeits. The large
scale profits and demand for these goods make policing vendors relatively ineffective,
allowing counterfeit markets to continue expanding throughout China.. Its no wonder China
has the 5 largest market that sells fake goods, mostly located in Shanghai.
Bibliography

https://www.biography.com/people/louis-vuitton-17112264#!
https://www.famouslogos.net/louis-vuitton-logo/
http://us.louisvuitton.com/eng-us/authentic-louis-vuitton
http://www.spottedfashion.com/louis-vuitton-bag-price-list-reference-guide/
http://kwtas.com/sale/louis-vuitton/

https://www.hongkongfp.com/2017/06/23/hong-kong-china-account-86-fake-goods-
globally-says-europol/

This Is How a Louis Vuitton Speedy Bag Is Made. Designer-Vintage,

www.designer-vintage.com/en/masterclass/gallery/this-is-how-a-louis-vuitton-speedy-
bag-is-made. Accessed 13 July 2017.
Milner, Glen. The Making of a Louis Vuitton Petite Malle Handbag. The
Telegraph, Telegraph Media Group, 5 May 2016, www.telegraph.co.uk/luxury/womens-
style/the-making-of-a-louis-vuitton-petite-malle-handbag/. Accessed 13 July 2017.
 Appendices

1. Stamp of the Monogram

2. Parts of LV Handbag
3. Commodification
original pouches in Ancient Egypt

people waiting in line to buy LV bags

differences between the authentic LV bag with the fake one that can be found

often.
People are going crazy to select and buy the bag that they want.

Critics to the commodified society

4.Counterfeit Products