US President Donald Trump, inaugurated Luxury Brand, Louis Vuitton’s new production facility in the state of Texas. He was accompanied by senior adviser, Ivanka Trump and Jared Kushner at the inauguration ceremony. During the event, Donald Trump met with French businessman, Bernard Arnault, head of LVMH (Louis Vuitton Moët Hennessy), who he thanked for being a part of his vision of creating a revival of American manufacturing. Trump further told Arnault “You’ll be very happy” with reference to the luxury brand making such a big investment.
New Louis Vuitton Handbags to Boast ‘Made in the USA’ Tags
The event presented a rare chance for a meeting between Trump and a foreign business leader, as Bernard Arnault, head of the LVMH conglomerate that owns the leathergoods brand, also attended the event at the “Rochambeau Ranch” near Dallas.
A $50 billion investment: The group was taken on a tour and were shown as to how the luxury handbags were stitched and crafted in a proper manner. They also met with the people who would be working at the new production facility.
Later on, Trump fancied a bag that was covered in the classic Louis Vuitton print with an appealing red-coloured design. He further lauded the conglomerate’s $50 million investment in the facility.
“We proudly celebrate the opening of the brand new Louis Vuitton — a name I know very well. Cost me a lot of money over the years,” the US president said, applauding their $50 million investment.
“This investment in job creation reflects the strengths of our US business, which continues to grow,” said Arnault, whom Forbes magazine has ranked as the third-richest person in the world.
“I always believed in the fact that America is a land of opportunity,” he said.
“You will be very happy”: He further thanked the company for trusting America and making such a big investment in the state of Texas that it will, in turn, provide employability options for a lot of people. Trump added that LVMH will not at all be disappointed with their decision.
In addition to this, Bernard Arnault stated that this investment will lead to the employment of approximately 1,000 people within a period of 5 years. Arnault said that he always thought of America as a land of opportunities and this deal was a direct reflection of the company’s business ties with the United States of America.
The American market generates a quarter of LVMH’s sales overall, and it already has two US production sites in California for Louis Vuitton, whose handbags can cost thousands of dollars.
The company has said half the Louis Vuitton workers it hires have no previous experience in leathercraft, and receive intensive in-house training before being allowed to cut or sew.
The brand first opened in 1859 in Asnieres, France. Overall, the LVMH group and its 70 brands saw a record-breaking 2018, with 46 billion euros ($51 billion) in profits.
The leather-goods workshop in Keene, a small town near Dallas, will create about 1,000 jobs over the next five years, the brand said in a statement — a drop in the bucket for the civilian U.S. labor force of 164 million people, but possibly enough to strengthen ties with Trump, who ran on a platform of reversing America’s industrial decline.
“This is consistent with Louis Vuitton’s recent signing of the Pledge to America’s Workers, which aims to expand programs that educate, train and support American workers,” Louis Vuitton said in a statement.
Much of the U.S. handbag manufacturing industry moved abroad with the production of garments and footwear over the past several decades, to countries like China, Vietnam and India. Several of the biggest bag sellers, including Coach and Kate Spade owner Tapestry Inc., have worked to diversify their supply chains and make fewer items in China as trade tensions persist.
