In the 1990s, my grandmother bought a Louis Vuitton bag at their store in Las Vegas. She’s a retired librarian and was very excited about her purchase. Years later, the strap broke so she asked me to take it to their store in Atlanta to have it repaired. As soon as I walked in, a salesperson met me at the door and asked to see the bag before connecting me with the repairs department. He said the bag was counterfeit and I should take it to a cobbler, which was extremely embarrassing. When I told him that I knew it was authentic because I was with my grandmother when she purchased it, he asked to see the receipt. From 15 years ago. I called the store later to tell them what happened, and they apologized before saying there was no way to distinguish an authentic bag from a fake just by looking at it. My grandmother and I were so disappointed and insulted by the experience that she never carried the bag again and I refuse to shop there to this day.
Cos like LV get where they are by killing off skilled craftsmanship skills. Then their own products lose the craftsmanship too. Eventually people work out it is just a big hustle. A lot of expensive stuff is actually poor quality.
That is a sad story. They will never ever get my business as a result. My niece has a carry-on from one of their stores. She’s a surgeon, & I’ll have to tell about your grandmother. LV suks for that move.
Just so I have this right: an LV rep wanted to search your residence without a warrent, seize your property without a warrent, have you sign a legal form regarding YOUR legal property, have you call their fraud department without a phone number, and sent a cease and desist notice regarding your legal business. Did I get it all? OMG WTH?!?!
@@bryanjk yea, but the problem is they are trying to give an air of authority to do so, thats bordering on fraud at worst, and is morally suspect at least.
Warrants are only needed by police. What they wanted wasn't a demand, it was an offer in lieu of legal action. Perfectly legal, easy to say no to, but still kinda intimidation tactics.
This is how big companies bully little companies. They have hundreds of millions of dollars to bury you in legal fees for years. That alone can intimidate people to just stop the practice. I love this guy, he stood his ground and schooled LV.
He was more polite with them than I would have been, honestly. Legally they can't do much but if they want to sic the lawyers on people it can be a big hassle, even if you're in the right. And no reason not to be at least cordial.
@@troodon1096 Indeed. It's a very old truth "don't shoot the messenger". Being angry is just so draining. And distracting. But the counterfeit situation is difficult. I had some items of clothing that didn't fit anymore, and if I mentioned the brands FB Marketplace wouldn't publish the post. 10 seconds of looking at my profile, and that the items were worn would have shown that this wasn't a money-making gig. But no ad, no sale. And the stuff is still in my wardrobe being no use to anyone.
Ya thats how you end up having to explain it in court, with a lawyer you are now paying for. Idk what world you live in, but it sounds like you are 14.
@@Theiliteritesbian Yeah, that would be the part where he would be able to get damages and lawyers fees against LV and the added embarrassment of not being able to spot a real from a fake.
It isn't just LV. There are many "luxury" brands that would rather burn, shred, or otherwise distroy unsold or excess inventory than "devalueing" their image by selling the products at a discount or keeping them till they do eventually sell. Destruction of products isn't limited to luxury brands either. It's not uncommon for manufacturers to distroy or require the distraction of an item or product when doing a warranty exchange or a return. It isn't limited to textiles either. Obviously metals and electronics (to some degree) can be recycled but it's not uncommon to see pallets or dumpsters full of otherwise "good" new items that have had cords cut, holes drilled in them, or defaced or damaged in some way as to make them unusable.
@@TheKevinAdventures I know. It's a twisted system and I do my best not to feed it - I can't afford luxury brands but I don't buy fast fashion, I use my electronic devices until they fall apart and buy second hand when possible...
@eleanor.shadow I'm in a similar boat. It's a bummer that it's the way things have gone now a days. I do appreciate the design and construction from the luxury brands that aren't cutting every corner for buck, even if I can't afford it. I use some of it as inspiration for my own leathercraft hobby. I've grown to appreciate some "fashion" as a form of art in some cases too. I really appreciate brands and manufacturers that actually believe in repairs and don't just use buzz words as marketing.
@@TheKevinAdventures I love the creativity and craftsmanship shown in the more expensive items, I just can't fathom how we're still thinking it's normal to pay such huge sums for them - for the most part, we're paying for the brand and not the quality, which is why I'd much rather buy from a small business. I like how the brand Patagonia is doing their best to sell things consciously, and now they're even accepting wet suits from other brands to upcycle into other things. It's a nice thing to do, but still a mere drop in the ocean as far as fashion pollution and wastage goes...
Where it gets a bit murky is in the trademark aspect of it. This has their trademark on it, and I'm not sure what happens if it gets cut and reassembled into a new product, if the fact that they put the logo on the material is a defense in court or not. It's technically their material, and his labor, so it's not technically a LV, but it's comprised of something they licensed.
I received a call from my company’s lawyer one day, asking if I remembered signing a form saying I would inform them if I took a second job. I said yes. Then I was told I could be fired for not reporting my second job. I asked what job he thought I had. He said I worked in a doctor’s office. I told him, no, I was a volunteer at a doctor’s office. I was not paid. I was not hired. Everything I did was as a volunteer. I turned the tables on him and asked if he was threatening me for volunteering in my community? Did the company truly think they had the right to stop me from donating my time to anything? He quickly ended the call.
The real story here is not that you had a second 'job', it's about who snitched you out. And if it was yourself via insta, that they actually monitor employee's instas...
@@rob5customs Companies are known to look at potential employees socials to see if they have the "standards" they're looking for. Going as far as looking at people's credit history is even wild. The funny yet insane thing is most of the CEOs aren't exemplary people themselves
They don't have to. By calling everything "fake" without a store receipt the burden of proof to prove it's authentic is on you now. Luckily this guy had the original stuff.
That's because nowadays a lot of the materials for the fakes and real items come from the same factory. Some (especially electronics) are assembled in the same factories by the same workers.
Here is the thing about LV and many "logo" brands: At one time it meant something. My Grandmother had some LV trunks and suitcases from when she travel by ocean liner in the 1920's up to WW2. The trunk was kept in the laundry room of her home to hold things and for the house keeper to put things on and whatnot. Now, in this day and age, only fools who blow money to advertise for a massive "luxury" corporation who sells logo crap to stupid people. What a lot of the customers seem to miss is that wealth whispers. If one is going to have LV product it will be small, discreet and not loud. Let the rappers, and others make LV wealthy.
In the United States, legally purchased items can be modified, at will, by the legal owner of said item(s). The modified items can be legally resold as long as it is disclosed that modifications have been made. There have been many court cases about this subject.
Just remember that this is only for physical, non-licensed goods. Anything that's digital or physical items "licensed" to you, do not have this kind of protection. Large corporations have come up with this "wonderful" loophole...
@@Kingyoshi999 Yeah it's why old ROM's of games are legal, but not newer games. It's all bs in my opinion and the courts at some point need to protect the public from these predatory practices where you never "own" anything that's digital anymore.
@@DemonaeTV Yeah man the stuff going on with Internet Archive and Nintendos ongoing War on Roms are just giant signal posts to consumers that these companies want you to own nothing, and be able to take away and control how you do use what you buy. Catch me pirating 99% of digital media these days.
That’s not the point. The point is to bankrupt the individual. Endlessly money with lawyers that know every nook and cranny to drag it out and make it expensive as possible until the person caves and gets them what they want.
The corporate drama kind of makes me chuckle. When I worked for U.S. Customs over a decade, we were endlessly examining designer imports for knockoffs. As time progressed the counterfeits got better in craftmanship and the originals grew worse. Brand name profiteering delivers enormous margin to design houses that they leverage. All the while they began utilizing substandard bonded leathers and poly fabric liners. I don't recall EVER seeing a handstitched designer product in that time. Never happened. With every suspicious import discovery, we called them only to discover 'Why yes, this plastic piece of junk was original.' After a while we simply stopped calling. Now here we are years later with hand crafters UPGRADING pre-owned designer products into rebranded items,..and designers are complaining. That LV upscaled and reimagined product has likely never performed better. Their issue isn't that they're embarrassed to be producing substandard crap, it's their name that can't stand the hits. Which is very ironic when one considers building quality items is how a brand grows. *Shrugs
Oh man, I can't imagine working for custoims and watching fake stuff come through! Closest I've come is making product for different brands I've worked with in factories that also make luxury designer bags -- people who claim luxury brands are higher quality don't realize a lot of their products are made by the same hands that make outlet brands lol. Short of the atelier-level houses you won't usually find any hand stitching or it'll be like $30,000 which...I like to get paid for my work but it's a bit ridiculous.
@@Corter Yeah, it's a wild circumstance. The gulf between quality and brand grew so wide, I left customs to do my own leathercrafting. 🤣🤣 I had been a repair hobbyist since the early 90's, but it wasn't until I experienced how horrible the market became that I saw the opportunity. I think these days our struggle is largely against ignorance, which is pretty vast and an uphill battle. Cheers Eric.🥃👍
@@pepleatherlab3872 Indeed, very difficult to teach people about brand doesn't necessarily mean quality and pure handcraft. Sure is an uphill battle to educate the public about it. Good luck and courage !
As I’m reading this I’m thinking about Emma Stone’s dress’ zipper that broke this year. Lots of sewists were saying that zipper should be better to hold the weight, cinching and load of the dress. The real problem is that zipper shouldn’t be holding any tension. You can see that the dress was made properly with the built in corsetry and support. That zipper simply closes the decorative yoke. You can see the support underneath the decorative yolk’s opening in the back. There’s only two reasons why that zipper broke. Shoddy zipper. Or someone zipped it up incorrectly, broke some of the teeth and compromised it then zipped it together again.
That's funny. Wife's friend was entering France and their customs tried to seize her boots as counterfeit. They were absolutely sure of jt until she pulled out the receipt she had on the LV website.
Would you have stepped in and defended him or counter-sued if his standing up for himself went badly? Would you have done the case pro bono or on a contingency fee arrangement with no money up front?
@@BryanTorok Does that matter? That aside there are many factors including their speciality and position within their firm - you cannot just go taking on cases like this willy nilly without senior approval and involvement.
LV is notorious for not being able to recognize and authenticate their own products. Thousands of people had issues with this when they needed repairs that are provided by the company for free. It's like you have to keep your receipts for years to make sure they don't refuse the service. Horrible company all in all not only regarding this but their whole business. Plus their bags look cheap.
They look cheap because they ARE cheap, look up the news LVMH just got put under court administration in Italy and how much their product is actually worth is now known
@@rickross6368 LV isn't selling leather with their trademarked and copyrighted logo to others to be made into products, so the only thing LV has to look at is if the sold product is something they themself sell.
Kind of ironic that them sending a PI to your house allowed you to release this video and allow you to show up in my (and many other people's) algorithm. You have a lovely voice and you make neat things, keep at it!
There's something funny about LV using a fake instagram account with a fake family that has a full fake online history and accusing you of selling fakes, when you're not. In this interaction, all the faking was on their side.
@@CASyHD. I'm sure the PIs have their fake accounts too, but I thought the account in question belonged to the LV fraud team? They purchased the item to inspect the fabric. It's quite common for fraud teams of major companies to use fake accounts for various purposes. A large retailer in the UK would use them to catch people out all the time on social media. I was married to a fraud investigator for nearly a decade, it was really interesting to learn how it works behind the scenes.
This is the best video I’ve watched all day. And reaffirms why I’d never ever give LV any of my money. I never have and never will. Luxury brands have lots of unethical practices, yet market themselves completely differently.
I have a similar experience with LV. Many years ago I had a 99' Honda Accord that was a legitimate magazine cover car. With some digging I managed to purchase a full roll of MultiColore Monogram leather from a dealer in Spain. It was advertised as authentic but I really couldn't say for certain. The car had just been completed and was featured at a Hot Import Nights show in Seattle when I get a call from the owner of the upholstery shop and he says some lady is here, she's from Louis Vuitton and wants to see a piece of the material we used in your car. Not a week later she shows up at my shop, so I showed her the car. Almost immediately she passed it off as not authentic based on feel and I tried to explain that the leather is steamed and stretched into place but she wasn't convinced and at the same time really wanted to know where I got it from which I thought was strange. She got frustrated when I refused to tell her, walked out and that was it. Never heard from them again.
she wanted to know who sold you the fabric without giving them their cut. It was probably coming from a leather dealer that they forgot to force to sign an exclusivity and rights of inspection contract, lol Big brands like that really love to bully their suppliers, asking for the base price, but demanding high price privileges, like exclusivity and oversight on potential clients. They are cheap mofos for people claiming to cater to the "crème de la crème"
Do you have a link to any pictures or anything I can search to find pictures? Would love to see this. Always love it when people make cars into something unique that they love. Miss the late 90's and early 2000's car scene.
She was looking for a supply source for herself so she could make knock-offs. She wasnt from LV just like I dont think the people in the black sedan were. That’s what I assume.
@@mookiepookie444 Nah, designer companies like that are heavily known for this. They don't want anyone tarnishing their brand name. They even throw out any leftover stock from the season prior in order to produce artifical scarcity of their products and to not keep old styles from still being relevant and stealing sales of new products.
I love how corporations think they still own things that have their logo on them after you have purchased them. The concept of personal ownership is definitely not being eroded in the name of corporate profits.
look at software. over the last decade or longer the software industry has moved from sales to subscription model where you never stop paying for access to a product, or the console gaming indusrty that has moved from physical media to online game streaming where you dont own the game you bought and they can end your access to the game you bought at any time when they tire of allowing you access.
@@LordWaterBottle I mean, I can kinda see it with the LV fabric because to anyone not in the know any upcycled product would at first glance look like an LV product. Obviously companies would want to prevent such misunderstandings to happen, especially if they could lead to lesser craftsmen than Corter Leather throwing stuff on the market that - if mistaken for LV - could actually give people a wrong impression about quality and design of the genuine article. On the other hand, if you bought something you should be able to do with it as you please.
Try to tell that to microsoft, they are something else. I may own it, but they control it and can make it obsolete when they want. I mean like they did, you're only one update away.
I love the "hey, we determined, through our extensive research and analysis, that our own fabric is indistinguishable from a fake." Like, big thumbs up guys, you sure know how to make quality products that only highly paid LV craftsmen can create 🤦
That’s one of the things I don’t understand about big companies like LV. In my opinion it would be very beneficial to have a small department that seeks out small creators like this and try to get a small collaboration out of it. Produce every design in a very limited production run, use it for marketing, sell it for a crazy high price and maybe even donate some percentage for a good course to satisfy the “look at us, we do good things” demand.
These corporations are rarely ever headed by capable, intelligent people. What keeps them upright is momentum and the few capable people sprinkled throughout the vast ocean of corporate mediocrity.
Actually they do have a second life program for bags they repair and get as close to original and sell at a discounted price. Was at the exchange at Nellis AFB and they had a few there next to the new bags.
Unfortunately if people are not going to get political about this and legislate against this we're heading for a world where it's no longer the case.. software ownership is getting harder by the month, and they want to peek in on what you are doing with their stuff, Isn't there a Louis Vuitton subscription yet? couple grand a year and you get sent a bag each season upon returning the old one.
Right to repair and to recycle isn't a right to make a profit off someone else's trademarked brand, which is effectively breaking the law. Maybe you all should stop claiming rights without being educated on the full legal context, because this can mislead a lot of people into doing things that will get them in trouble.
So LV gets angry that their plastic coated cotton that they pass off as leather, that is copied and counterfeited by the millions world wide, but goes after a person drawing attention to LV. Seems ridiculous to me.
I guess their marketing department wants full control over, how attention is drawn to their brand. (Ridiculous in the times of social media.) For the investigation department he is only a low hanging fruit. More easy to investigate than the Chinese mafia.
Lmao, it says a lot when Louis Vuitton themselves buys something made with one of their own bags and determines the material is of inferior quality. You really are just paying for the smoke and mirrors magic show with a cheaply made bag to keep as a souvenir.
Its the luxury goods factor. its less about the bag being worth $5k for example, and more about the fact that you have the wealth to go and spend $5k on something as mundane as a purse...
I mean, it wasn't that it was "inferior" they probably have a checklist for identifying non authentic fabric and the lack of a rubber backing is probably the first thing they look for.
Is anyone under the illusion that luxury goods aren't wildly overpriced? I thought the whole point was getting to say "look how rich I am I flushed thousands of dollars down the toilet for a bag and I don't care because I have so much money."
@@bigidiot123 THAT sir is exactly the reason why LV don't like these "upycled" items showing AND using THEIR name and logo EVEN if they have been rebranded. This guy has got a lot of free advertisement simply by using their name in his title and hardly anybody would have opened it if he didn't show their logo ... If he'd called it "CORTER LEATHER" he would have gotten 0 views. It's exactly why the person who buys this item will also show it off right side up and people all around will think: "That person has money to flush down the toilet" because HIS logo is on the back. He's walking on thin ice and should know better but I agree that LV products exist only to help the rich show that they are rich.
I read the story about your case from Louis Rossmann a few days ago and your video finally pop up. There was a similar condition case happened in Hong Kong too. A barbershop made a couple of furniture by recreation from LV suitcases and put them in the shop for deco. LV sued the barbershop with the same reasons, fake products, and finally made themselves a fool. I hate companies point their ulgy fingers on the things I own, never respect companies like these at all. Disgusting.
Spooking someone who doesn’t know has worked for them in the past. Has if they manage to drag you to court you now have to go up against their massive legal department while they push with the charge of counterfeiting their product. That’s what they were hoping for but a lady from new York rolling up to a cottage in the woods…didn’t really sell the intimidation tone they wanted.
This is a very cheap exercise though. No need to put a lot of effort into building an airtight case when you know you don't have a leg to stand on and your only hope is to negotiate (or scare) people into doing what you want. So you write a letter and you send over someone in a fancy suit asking you to give them all your stuff and to sign documents. Printing those papers cost nearly nothing, and since you're not filing anything official, they don't even have to be exactly right either.
And the funny part is that Coach totally embraces upcycling their stuff. They even have their own designers who do it and they sell some on their site.
It is a bit different and if LV would go to court with this, they would very likely win. It's not about upcycling, it's about their trademark, that is shown quite prominently on the upcycled stuff, which makes it look like an official product (that Corter Leather also sells/uses commercially, as far as I understand). From a trademark owner's perspective, they actually have to fight this, because if they knowingly don't, it weakens their trademark, because it can be seen as implied permission in other cases. Their legal department just acted very, very stupid. The normal procedure would have been a cease and desist letter with the request to send proof of destruction of the products, and if this cease and desist letter wouldn't have been returned signed, they would have gone to court (which, in trademark cases, can be VERY expensive, because the ammount in dispute used to calculate fees and attorney payments is generally the estimated value of the trademark). It's comparable to somebody getting a thorn pair of Levi's Jeans for a few bucks, then cutting off the label, sewing it onto a pair of dollar store Jeans and selling them on ebay, with the label prominently visible. And I'm sorry if I didn't use the correct legal language, English isn't my first language and it's been about 12 years since I last worked as a patent paralegal (but trademarks were actually the part of the job I liked, patents are boring as heck).
@@MyRegardsToTheDodo They would very likely not win; as chelle said above, if they HAD a legal leg to stand on (which they did not), they probably would have sued. They were just harassing someone and trying to intimidate them into complying. Many companies both large and small will try this tactic, and individuals too. It's important to stand up to it and not just sign something because it sounds scary.
So basically they don't know what borderline hilarious quality they actually sell, didn't do their research, tried to bully some small maker into signing something really unethical, threatened to steal you materials, used fake Instagram accounts and ultimately achieved nothing but make the brand look even more silly than selling cheap merchandise for insane prices does in the first place. That's next level stupidity.
Yeah, "Instagram" is part of Facebook now, isn't it ? And one condition of Facebook use is NOT to use "fake accounts". They must be in one's real name, or a name you're genuinely using (eg "Dallas Lawn Services" for someone in Dallas engaged in lawnmowing etc). I wonder if LV's Instagram account was titled "Over-paid twits harassing innocent people" ?
All these brands have long crossed the line of reason; they charge crazy money for materials that are made in third countries. and any product that is not made in the best way will last much longer.
@@BigFatSeal10 Incorrect.. You can legally take any product and rebuild it into something else and call it yours. The original maker has NO rights in that case. Remember he wasn't selling this as a Louis Vuitton product. He was selling a disassembled product that he turned into something else. He could also turn LV into Instagram for the fake account as this is against their terms of service AND also against California law. LV could actually be in a ton of legal trouble for this.
@@rodshoaf You cannot, the material itself is copyrighted and legally protected- the patterns are aswell. A hiphop mogul guy tried selling gucci bags cut up into jackets and got sued into oblivion. It was a long drawn out expensive lawsuit, make your own stuff get better at the craft instead of stealing.
this is the equivalent to buying the ingredients to make pizza and then putting pineapples on it, and having the CEO of the ingredients company turn up at your door to seize your kitchen. The absolute entitlement of these companies is hilarious.
Many years ago Apple did something similar to me. I was contacted by an attorney after basically taking working pieces of OLD (like WAY too old to get support from so it wasn't anything like support or warranty fraud) used computers out of old broken ones, reassembling the working parts into working machines, and selling those on eBay. An attorney from Apple contacted me and basically said there was nothing he could do, but requested I stop selling them in a public space because his "bosses" didn't like seeing these (I used the term Frankenmacs) sold. It was pretty amusing to me that even he admitted they really couldn't do anything about it.
Awesome work. My husband bought a leather wallet kit from Tandy Leather and made me a wallet and did an engraved rose and my first name initial on it, that was in 1985, and I have used it ever since. The lacings are perfect, but the coin purse has a small tear because I had too many coins in it much of the time, now I only keep a small amount so it won't tear anymore. My husband had learned how to make wallets in the Boy Scouts. Once some of his relatives saw my wallet, they asked him if he would do one for them, so he did. I don't foresee ever needing to buy a new wallet.
It’s not law enforcement. They are allowed to send lawyers to investigate if their material is being used and someone is selling it. If he sells these with the intention that they are authentic LV bags he is waiting for a huge lawsuit. I’ve watched grandma’s get sued over using copyrighted material for dresses and etc by Disney.
@@sammieg8641 you don't understand your rights and laws in the USA huh? A company can send whoever they want . You don't gotta show anyone anything or explain anything. They're not law enforcement.
By far a superior product with your brand name on it. I am surprised they did not offer you a job designing a product which clearly warrants the LV prices.
@@RockerfellerRothchild1776The company can send who they want, you can refuse to answer. He said the first, you add the second. Why so condescending? Do you maybe not grasp what 'investigate' means?
Thank you LV private investigator: you just gave this creator a new subscriber AND that new subscriber is going to buy up all LV material they find secondhand for upcycling purposes. Nice work👍
The legal principal is called the first-sale doctrine. From Wikipedia "The rationale of the doctrine is to prevent the copyright owner from restraining the free alienability of goods. Without the doctrine, a possessor of a copy of a copyrighted work would have to negotiate with the copyright owner every time they wished to dispose of their copy. After the initial transfer of ownership of a legal copy of a copyrighted work, the first-sale doctrine eliminates the copyright holder's right to control ownership of that specific copy."
Not really. First sale doctrine, as you have quoted, is about preventing seller from controlling you further selling or using the copy in some manner the seller doesn't like. This situation is at most an inspired work (vs derivative work) in terms of copyright. Copyright of the inspired work is entirely free from the copyright of the original. But like i said - at most - since reusing such a fraction of the original work as the material can hardly be called even that.
Years ago, I used to occasionally see a car painted all over with the LV logo, driving on I95 between Baltimore and the Capital Beltway. A shame LV didn't try to seize that as being made of 'counterfeit' material.
Previous 6 Corter Leather videos: 70k views across two months This video: 150k views in less than a week Seems like LV have Streisand effected themselves
@@TimoRutanen thousands of views from people that might be interested or involved with the topic and now may spread the word. LV maybe will try to bury this quickly
“Protecting the integrity of the brand” is 100% a classist concept when it’s their reason for keeping their products out of thrift stores. They don’t want their brand being associated with poor people.
@@LM-fn6qbI wasn’t actually talking about this guy when I wrote that comment, though it still applies. He also didn’t steal their logo, or sell counterfeits. He repurposes the material & sells the finished product under his own brand. Which is perfectly ethical & legal. But regardless, I was reacting to Louis Vuitton’s practice of keeping their bags out of thrift stores. That’s classist AF
It is mostly poor people who buy LV and many other luxury brands. That is their market. Poor people buy this crap to make themselves feel better but it keeps them poor. When will people realize that.
That is a misconception. The integrity of a brand is protected by law so that consumers can trust what they are buying is actually made by the brand that is on it. In this particular case LV might not want their brand being associated with "poor people", but that is beside the point: it's still about brand integrity.
They know exactly what you are doing and they don’t like it, so they sent someone to intimidate you. I love your method of side hustle, I think you are genius. Keep it up man.
I am glad you pointed out that it was 100% legal to take a product you buy apart and repurpose it's parts. I will also point out that sewing patterns used to have some insane 'restrictions' they wanted buyers to honor. (Restrictions you only saw after you bought the pattern.) Not only did they claim you were only permitted to use the pattern for one item, some even said you were not allowed to wear the garment in *public*. These name brands will puff out their chest to try and control what you do with products you buy. Sadly, digital mediums are only encouraging the behavior. (Look at the number of things you 'buy' online but do not actually 'own'...)
Yea it is 100% legal to take a product you buy apart and repurpose it's parts but i did not know you was allowed to make another product out of it and put your name/brand on it and re sell it as the LV logos are still trade marked am surprised that was not what LV was trying to go for in the vid but no something different in the vid. Am guessing you can do it as bet the person making the vid knows more then i do on laws for it.
@@giggity4670 They would likely have a better case for trademark infringement, though it would likely still fall over, since the holder of that trademark is the one who placed it on that material in the first place. But since money buys justice, they can probably tie it up enough to make it extremely expensive to successfully defend that position and eventually wrangle out a settlement. I suspect they just want to avoid a media circus and took a gamble expecting he'd just back down quickly and quietly like most people do.
@@venoltar They have no case whatsoever for trademark infringement and probably would see a prima facie dismissal of the case in court. It's obvious based on the facts alone that there's nothing there to justify a trial. When you buy a product, you own ALL rights to alter, manipulate, resell, or destroy that individual product, in perpetuity. You own all rights to break down and sell the constituent parts of that product. It's yours, forever, and there's nothing they can do about that. After all, you can resell an original bag with the logos on it, right? As long as he isn't trying to pass off altered merchandise as authentic, they can't do anything. The suits in corporate can cry all the way back to their corner offices.
@@Mwstmrlnd Well, I'll freely admit to being quite cynical in regards to the "justice" system. But, I'm also quite surprised at your faith in it considering how it works. There have been many merit-less cases that have been successfully pursued into a settlement by a sufficiently wealthy litigant. I suppose it will all depend on the jurisdiction in the end. In some countries the defendant will have a high likelihood of having their defence costs covered should they win the case. Unlike America where in nearly all courts the defendant has to bear all the costs regardless of outcome except in special edge cases.
haha same here.. well.. I mean it was at least interesting video. however I have never had any product from their brand and it is not even represented in my country..
One of the best videos I have seen. First, your craftsmanship is sublime. And your strength in not being able to be pushed around...so few can do that with such calmness. Well done you!! Enjoy the Cape.. Lawrie from Philadelphia.
Their fraud department should really be doing something about the billion dollar counterfeit market rather than going after individuals. Kind of embarrassing that they had the time to do this at all. Keep doing what you do, man.
They were.... it is not until you check the operation you would know if it is a one-man-band crafting or one of many small fronts for a big counterfire group. I think LV was quite reasonable, as after the discussions they let him get on with it and haven't tried to prosecute. Initially they thought, because there was no rubber backing, it was counterfeit. I suspect LV may have thought that some material was being taken out of their factory illegally before the backing added, or that he was using a counterfeit supplier. The law is there to protect the creators, how would Corter Leather feel if their logo started appearing on other makers stuff?
@@JAmediaUK I agree. The people were just doing their jobs... And if LV can afford to send some lady out of state to check up on your small operation then you'd better believe they are balls deep in the counterfeit scene.
@@brandon659366 they knew he wasn't selling his products as real LV, only as products he made using LV fabric. so even if the fabric was counterfeit, it would be perfectly legal for him to sell his products, because he would not be _selling counterfeits_ at all. the most reasonable thing they could have done is literally just call him and say "hey, we think that fabric is counterfeit, do you happen to know where you got it?" he's not selling _counterfeit products_ and they could have figured that out trivially. the reason they 'investigated' him isn't that they thought he was doing something illegal; their problem with the possible use of counterfeit fabric was, as he says in the video, that it would 'hurt their brand.' if they were just protecting their rights, they wouldn't have wasted money hiring an investigator to go talk to him in person.
@@MyRegardsToTheDodo Most of these leather luxury goods are made by Chinese workers in Italy these days. Still high quality, but cheaper labour and are handmade items.
Lmao, his product's value is just as subjective as LV for one. And two, LV is handmade. Doesn't mean I support LV, but your comment is completely baseless lmao
@@MyRegardsToTheDodo These are made in France or Italy by local workers, probably with a decent pay. Why ? Because these are already atrociously over-priced as it is, I doubt they'd play that game.
@@polluxcastor8429 Look at her acceptance speech for her role in Poor Things. The exact quote is "don't look at the back of my dress", then she turns to show that the zip is broken and is gaping at the back of the garment.
That was an interesting little event, the way she handled it was very cool, but if they had used a decent zip, like a YKK one or something of similar quality, it almost certainly would not have broken.
@ThatsWhat-She. here you can witness an absolutely seething bootlicker in its natural habitat I guess you think that repainting and restoring antiques is also thievery to you You buy a bunch of shabby tableware on a flee market for pennies, that nobody wants, with paint fallen off, tabula rasa almost, you use your imagination to bring life to otherwise useless pieces of porcelain, so that you can sell it to people who appreciate what you do and find it pretty and useful, yup, sounds like total thievery Nobody cares that it could've been Gzhel or Ming porcelain, no sane human with a heart in his chest is going to care that somebody repainted it, the only thing a person cares, is if it looks good to him and if he has a use for it Get a reality check brother, you're lackin', otherwise you sound terminally online
Companies across innumerable industries want to still own what you buy, and maintain control of what you do with your own property. Good to see you standing up for your rights to do what you want with your property.
Yes, I've went to sell my used perfume and have gotten copyright claimed. Like is was making or selling fakes. I sent them the receipt it made no difference.
Yup. The obvious end point is that we will own nothing, and citizens will become renters of EVERYTHING. Even the digital stuff you do buy, they can modify and/or easily make disappear at will. No ebooks for me. 😆
@jacobishii6121 Counterfeit would mean he’s trying to pass it off as an LV product. He never did that. He’s just upcycling reclaimed materials and selling them as his own product. That’s not what counterfeit means legally or otherwise.
You know a company isn't worth your money when they send thugs to fans houses to intimidate them for interacting with their products wrong, talk about entitlement
It's like Dr Oetker sending a PI after seeing a video of you putting a birger between 2 pizzas. If LV is pretending to still have any rights after purchase, they'll have to maintain every item they "lent" to pristine conditions to any customer demanding it.
As an IP paralegal with 35 years in the profession, I’ve been really curious how these high end brands would respond to creative folks repurposing their bags. (BTW - I LOVE your work!)
@@GT-yw6dg Honestly, I'm still curious about that bit. Seems to be legal, as it probably would've resulted in a more conventional cease-and-desist at a minimum if it wasn't. Or maybe LV doesn't really want to risk any precedence if it goes to court.
In all fairness, I can see why LV is upset. This guy is making better stuff than the original. Look at the quality and thickness. This guy is a unicorn.
What a petty move. Makes me never want to give them money and frankly cheapens my perception of their brand, including things I already own from them. You are very kind, patient, and gracious in describing your experiences with them.
I agree. Its a huge turnoff. Its not like this guy is selling hundreds of these bags. But this is a company that burns unsold stock instead of putting them on sale. So they would rather people throw away old outdated bags than be creative and give it new life.
@@MK_ULTRA420 No it doesn’t. Even Loro Piana and Brunello Cucinelli have outlet stores - and they make much higher quality garments than LV at similar/or even higher prices.
Whoa so crazy, I happen to stumble upon this video and didn’t realize it was Corter leather until halfway through the video. I’ve been buying my wallets and belts from this guy since 2010.
They should be happy that someone repurposing their material is taking the time, effort and care to hand make beautiful pieces that still show off their logo in a respectful way.
I'm not a leather worker, but I know some people who can help me with it and I have the necessary tools. I think a whole bunch of artists should all make art with upcycled Louis Vuitton fabric and flood the market with it to make a point. Artists did this to Disney back in the 2000s when they tried to bully a family who put some of their characters on their child's tombstone, iirc. It was a PR nightmare for Disney.
It's so good to see a good person like you standing up and not letting yourself being intimidated, and explaining how you are fully supported by the law. Thank you for sharing this video!
Bought one of your belts years ago and it’s one of the best, most resilient articles of clothing I own. Stoked to have the algo show me you’re still at it, and glad to see you’re getting the recognition your craftsmanship warrants!
A friend of mine manufactures LV and sometimes works in their repair center. She said they use the cheapest materials and their products are mostly junk. They don’t even compare to Chanel or obviously Hermes
I’m of the opinion that brands like LV, Gucci, Michael Kors, etc. are all brands who’s only worth is in the logo/label. People want them to look bougie/rich, not because they are quality, long lasting pieces.
LV has been terrible for years. Everybody knows that. Even in the LVMH portfolio it’s treated as a cash cow and not a high quality brand like LOEWE or Celine.
@@draeannx You can’t compare Gucci and LV. LV is a completely different ball game financially. Further, Gucci is made in house, in Italy; LV is made by subcontractors in Italy. Huge difference. Apart from that, there’s a major difference in fabrics, if you choose the right pieces from high end designers. SUPIMA cotton used in high end clothing is not just cotton - and the price per yard is much higher. The wool used is very different, merino, alpaca and cashmere are all more expensive than cheaper kinds of wool; same holds for say silk; and the yarn might differ too. Even within the different categories price of fabrics may vary depending on country of origin and grades. Further, it’s more rare to see blends, although they do get more common.
@@Seb2900-uq8wqnothing you’ve said makes these things any better quality. Especially since this process has been thinned for generations to garautee low margins and high profits globally. There’s no “major brand” that uses all the same products they did when they first started. So much of it is the exact opposite of hand made and they trick many people into not understanding what true quality is. Quality is cross generational talent and NO TOP DOLLAR BRAND has that anymore. They all run sweat shops in Asia and Latin America and you’re paying for the same quality products as Walmart sells. You want real hand made quality goods you go to the country that grows the cotton that’s uses in Gucci and you buy unprocessed goods from them. You buy unprocessed leather from a tannery in Africa or South America. You take it to a bag maker in Mexico and you get it made yourself and you’ll see exactly how good real quality is. I have hand made clothes from Africa and India. Doesn’t matter how many times I machine wash or hand wash my kufia or my saris, the QUALITY is there and they will never fall apart
LV is for p[eople who want the unitiated to think they are rich. God knows how the family made so much money. Even acknowledging for the fact LVMH includes more than LV stuff.
The fact that Louis is not even as niche and quality as used to be yet they want to pretend like they are is also comical. I had a better experience inside the Chanel store than at Louis. Even Chanel provides a nicer packaging when you’re purchasing and it’s like getting a present when you get home
It's like Supreme. Just an empty joke of a brand. At least some big brands like Yeti, while hilariously overpriced, still seem to focus on at least delivering a quality end product. (Last I checked anyway)
You know, you’d think they would actually appreciate him putting their brand out there for people to see. That’s advertising 101, people see the brand and are more likely to want to buy that brand. Now, if they’re upset that he’s taking business from them because he sells products that they don’t, maybe they should think about expanding their product lines. It’s not as if he’s unfairly competing with them.
And if Chanel thinks you're copying them or even doing something that they consider inspired by it they'll try to intimidate you too. I've seen it happen.
Chanel is overpriced too. Their bags look like old lady bags to me. Very old fashioned and not modern at all. What modern woman is wearing pearls, tweed suits and quilted chain bags? I really don’t get their aesthetic
I love how your bags are waaaay nicer looking than their original bags. Like LV is not worth the pricetag but your bags definetly look worth the price if not more.
His workmanship is obviously undisciplined compared to a LV standard. It doesn't matter in his case if the material was authentic it looks of poor quality to the eye.
I would never have known this channel existed if it wasn't for LV trying to bully you, thankyou LV for introducing myself and many others to this mans wonderful channel and ideas!
Beautiful craftsmanship. I worked for LV for approximately 10 minutes. Ran for my life, the work culture is… how do you say abusive without saying abusive. I used to be mesmerized by their legacy, not anymore. So weird they would invest resources to hunt down an sbo for fraud. I can’t with that company
This is exactly why I wouldn't buy or wear any of their stuff. They've be like this forever, and always will be. Their a bad company that sells people overpriced junk.
I think it's great to reuse/recycle fabrics/leather. As a quilter I do this with clothing fabrics. Good for you for making something new out of that material and for standing up to the attempted intimidation. Thanks for sharing. Love the item you made in this video.
Now we have to search second hand stores and estate sales to buy all of LV leather material before the fraud monsters can do it. Then send it to Corter Leather. That could be some sweet video.
I remember in 2011 when a shipment was stopped in LA. It was filled with "knockoffs” from Vietnam. They were using scraps from the sweat shop to make purses and wallets after hours. It was repurposed material.
Beautiful work! Your craftsmanship is top notch! Most people are unaware that these bags are no longer constructed in France. They are owned by a massive conglomerate that produces all the top brands and after they’re constructed in China they are sent back to France and by sewing the made in France tag into it after the fact buyers assume the entire bag was constructed in France. Same with Chanel, Fendi and so many other over price “luxury” brands.
meanwhile, at my local farmers market there seems to be no end to the fake designer wear being openly sold, LV included ... i'm a big proponent of up-cycling ever since my dad and i would build guitars from old dressers and tables. the pickings not a good as it once was, but i hope you continue your journey of making something new and useful from something old and thrown away! thanks for the video.
Its not an “upcycle project” its “using someones well known intellectual proprety, doing things they never would with it, then selling it based on that brands recognition” its illegal
I was entranced by watching your craftsmanship. That is a beautiful work of art, that doesn’t need the LV fabric to be desirable . I would love to be in position to purchase something like this, but I am a retired person who loves seeing a true craftsman at work. People like you are needed in this throw away society🫶.
I had a friend that was into brands but wasn't rich. What he did was buy the cheapest item from the brand, that was socks, rip off the logo and then sew it on cheap polo shirts. Now imagine doing that at a larger scale. The excuse that clients know it's not original is a bit flimsy. There are many people buying fakes knowing they are fake and it is still illegal. I guess the main factor is the small size of the operation.
I mean it's funny, but the guy has spent his entire career looking for things that don't comply with the original. The fact that someone had the original, then changed it to look less like the original was mind blowing. 😂😂😂😂
Has anyone else noticed he has stopped doing this? :) LV has every right to sue this guy out of business for violating trademark. Any lawyer in this space would agree with me.
Gabanelli accordions did the same thing to several accordion repair shops. Consumers wanted their accordions modified, when the repair shop posted updates to Facebook, Gabanelli lawyers sent letters to stop modifying the accordions or be sued. They have no control over what a consumer does once it’s been purchased. Just like modifying a car, GMC does not tell me what I can do with my car. These companies are on crack
But they may have the right, based on a distribution agreement/contract, to tell their distributor not to modify their product. But that seems not to have been the case you describe.
I'm so glad RUclips recommended this to me. I just found out my dad passed on a 300 USD vintage Louis Vuitton key holder to me... 7 years after he passed away. Wouldn't have thought all that much about it had I not noticed the same monogram pattern. Thanks for sharing this information and hopefully others find little treasures they didn't know they had from it too.
@@TomasGradin It IS scare tactics to accuse someone of running a counterfeiting operation when they're extremely transparent about what their product is made from and even disclose the process while making it very clear that they are not affiliated. Stop bootlicking
I've never been into brand name stuff, but if I was, I wouldn't want some ugly brown fabric with beige designs on it. I just don't see the attraction. They wanted to enter your home, and look over your property, and have you sign an unenforceable contract(a valid contract needs reciprocity). They assumed you'd just kowtow to them and be shaking in your boots over their 'fraud department'. They also don't want their 'brand' getting into the hands of a 'poor' person? Seriously? They are a pretentious company aren't they? They can sit and spin, as this 'poor' person says! Your work, is top notch!
In the 1990s, my grandmother bought a Louis Vuitton bag at their store in Las Vegas. She’s a retired librarian and was very excited about her purchase. Years later, the strap broke so she asked me to take it to their store in Atlanta to have it repaired. As soon as I walked in, a salesperson met me at the door and asked to see the bag before connecting me with the repairs department. He said the bag was counterfeit and I should take it to a cobbler, which was extremely embarrassing. When I told him that I knew it was authentic because I was with my grandmother when she purchased it, he asked to see the receipt. From 15 years ago. I called the store later to tell them what happened, and they apologized before saying there was no way to distinguish an authentic bag from a fake just by looking at it. My grandmother and I were so disappointed and insulted by the experience that she never carried the bag again and I refuse to shop there to this day.
I wouldn't doubt if counterfeits are actually better quality
maybe they should print the receipt in leather and sew it on the bag
Cos like LV get where they are by killing off skilled craftsmanship skills.
Then their own products lose the craftsmanship too. Eventually people work out it is just a big hustle.
A lot of expensive stuff is actually poor quality.
Your loss
That is a sad story. They will never ever get my business as a result. My niece has a carry-on from one of their stores. She’s a surgeon, & I’ll have to tell about your grandmother. LV suks for that move.
Just so I have this right: an LV rep wanted to search your residence without a warrent, seize your property without a warrent, have you sign a legal form regarding YOUR legal property, have you call their fraud department without a phone number, and sent a cease and desist notice regarding your legal business. Did I get it all? OMG WTH?!?!
Honestly the warrant aspect is irrelevant as they’re not police lol
They’re basically asking for permission
@@bryanjk yea, but the problem is they are trying to give an air of authority to do so, thats bordering on fraud at worst, and is morally suspect at least.
Warrants are only needed by police. What they wanted wasn't a demand, it was an offer in lieu of legal action. Perfectly legal, easy to say no to, but still kinda intimidation tactics.
This is how big companies bully little companies. They have hundreds of millions of dollars to bury you in legal fees for years. That alone can intimidate people to just stop the practice. I love this guy, he stood his ground and schooled LV.
@@jeng8401 yep
The fact they couldn't tell the real material from the counterfeit shows that there's nothing particularly special about their product.
Or also, "ex-CIA / military security dude" doesn't know a thing about leathers.
@@peekay4 he's not ex-military/CIA. They lie more than they breathe
And never was. Google the initial 15 years of the company. It has always been a branding racket.
They said it was their material ….
@@MyGUNZ123 after they claim it wasn't, and the guy whipped out the receipt and inner labels as proof.
Work on your listening skills, pal
The best part about it is you have no obligation to do or give them any explanation at all.
He was more polite with them than I would have been, honestly. Legally they can't do much but if they want to sic the lawyers on people it can be a big hassle, even if you're in the right. And no reason not to be at least cordial.
@@troodon1096 Indeed. It's a very old truth "don't shoot the messenger". Being angry is just so draining. And distracting.
But the counterfeit situation is difficult.
I had some items of clothing that didn't fit anymore, and if I mentioned the brands FB Marketplace wouldn't publish the post.
10 seconds of looking at my profile, and that the items were worn would have shown that this wasn't a money-making gig.
But no ad, no sale. And the stuff is still in my wardrobe being no use to anyone.
Ya thats how you end up having to explain it in court, with a lawyer you are now paying for. Idk what world you live in, but it sounds like you are 14.
@@Theiliteritesbian They can't take you to court. That's the point.
@@Theiliteritesbian Yeah, that would be the part where he would be able to get damages and lawyers fees against LV and the added embarrassment of not being able to spot a real from a fake.
So LV is against the eco-friendly practice of upcycling. Good to know!
It isn't just LV. There are many "luxury" brands that would rather burn, shred, or otherwise distroy unsold or excess inventory than "devalueing" their image by selling the products at a discount or keeping them till they do eventually sell.
Destruction of products isn't limited to luxury brands either. It's not uncommon for manufacturers to distroy or require the distraction of an item or product when doing a warranty exchange or a return.
It isn't limited to textiles either. Obviously metals and electronics (to some degree) can be recycled but it's not uncommon to see pallets or dumpsters full of otherwise "good" new items that have had cords cut, holes drilled in them, or defaced or damaged in some way as to make them unusable.
@@TheKevinAdventures I know. It's a twisted system and I do my best not to feed it - I can't afford luxury brands but I don't buy fast fashion, I use my electronic devices until they fall apart and buy second hand when possible...
@eleanor.shadow I'm in a similar boat. It's a bummer that it's the way things have gone now a days. I do appreciate the design and construction from the luxury brands that aren't cutting every corner for buck, even if I can't afford it. I use some of it as inspiration for my own leathercraft hobby. I've grown to appreciate some "fashion" as a form of art in some cases too.
I really appreciate brands and manufacturers that actually believe in repairs and don't just use buzz words as marketing.
@@TheKevinAdventures I love the creativity and craftsmanship shown in the more expensive items, I just can't fathom how we're still thinking it's normal to pay such huge sums for them - for the most part, we're paying for the brand and not the quality, which is why I'd much rather buy from a small business.
I like how the brand Patagonia is doing their best to sell things consciously, and now they're even accepting wet suits from other brands to upcycle into other things. It's a nice thing to do, but still a mere drop in the ocean as far as fashion pollution and wastage goes...
Where it gets a bit murky is in the trademark aspect of it. This has their trademark on it, and I'm not sure what happens if it gets cut and reassembled into a new product, if the fact that they put the logo on the material is a defense in court or not. It's technically their material, and his labor, so it's not technically a LV, but it's comprised of something they licensed.
I received a call from my company’s lawyer one day, asking if I remembered signing a form saying I would inform them if I took a second job. I said yes. Then I was told I could be fired for not reporting my second job.
I asked what job he thought I had. He said I worked in a doctor’s office. I told him, no, I was a volunteer at a doctor’s office. I was not paid. I was not hired. Everything I did was as a volunteer.
I turned the tables on him and asked if he was threatening me for volunteering in my community? Did the company truly think they had the right to stop me from donating my time to anything? He quickly ended the call.
The real story here is not that you had a second 'job', it's about who snitched you out. And if it was yourself via insta, that they actually monitor employee's instas...
America?
@@phunk8607 Yes, and this was 35 years ago.
@@rob5customs Companies are known to look at potential employees socials to see if they have the "standards" they're looking for. Going as far as looking at people's credit history is even wild. The funny yet insane thing is most of the CEOs aren't exemplary people themselves
@@rob5customs They are allowed to volunteer, therefore it wouldn't be 'snitching', it would be spying and harrassment.
I love how the fraud department couldn't spot their own material
They don't have to. By calling everything "fake" without a store receipt the burden of proof to prove it's authentic is on you now. Luckily this guy had the original stuff.
@@jamesjw0071 Guilty until proven innocent, sounds like a good legal system...
@@jamesjw0071 Burden of proof lies with the plaintiff, not the defendant.
It’s almost like they are saying their own atom of water is worth more than your atom of water….lol 😂
That's because nowadays a lot of the materials for the fakes and real items come from the same factory. Some (especially electronics) are assembled in the same factories by the same workers.
As someone who despises branding, logos, and corporate culture, keep doing what you're doing 👍
Here is the thing about LV and many "logo" brands: At one time it meant something. My Grandmother had some LV trunks and suitcases from when she travel by ocean liner in the 1920's up to WW2. The trunk was kept in the laundry room of her home to hold things and for the house keeper to put things on and whatnot. Now, in this day and age, only fools who blow money to advertise for a massive "luxury" corporation who sells logo crap to stupid people. What a lot of the customers seem to miss is that wealth whispers. If one is going to have LV product it will be small, discreet and not loud. Let the rappers, and others make LV wealthy.
Same, I will actively not buy any product I've seen ads for
Trade marks are first and foremost for consumer protection, it's so that consumers can trust who made the thing they are buying.
@@kennixox262the only LV I would pay big money for are the antique ones! I love the super old stuff.
@TomasGradin Then have it on a tag if you want me to buy it. Im not interested in being a walking billboard for a company.
In the United States, legally purchased items can be modified, at will, by the legal owner of said item(s). The modified items can be legally resold as long as it is disclosed that modifications have been made. There have been many court cases about this subject.
Just remember that this is only for physical, non-licensed goods.
Anything that's digital or physical items "licensed" to you, do not have this kind of protection.
Large corporations have come up with this "wonderful" loophole...
@@Kingyoshi999 Yeah it's why old ROM's of games are legal, but not newer games. It's all bs in my opinion and the courts at some point need to protect the public from these predatory practices where you never "own" anything that's digital anymore.
@@DemonaeTV Yeah man the stuff going on with Internet Archive and Nintendos ongoing War on Roms are just giant signal posts to consumers that these companies want you to own nothing, and be able to take away and control how you do use what you buy. Catch me pirating 99% of digital media these days.
In Australia, it's all illegal, so don't complain too much 😂
That’s not the point. The point is to bankrupt the individual. Endlessly money with lawyers that know every nook and cranny to drag it out and make it expensive as possible until the person caves and gets them what they want.
The corporate drama kind of makes me chuckle. When I worked for U.S. Customs over a decade, we were endlessly examining designer imports for knockoffs. As time progressed the counterfeits got better in craftmanship and the originals grew worse. Brand name profiteering delivers enormous margin to design houses that they leverage. All the while they began utilizing substandard bonded leathers and poly fabric liners. I don't recall EVER seeing a handstitched designer product in that time. Never happened. With every suspicious import discovery, we called them only to discover 'Why yes, this plastic piece of junk was original.' After a while we simply stopped calling.
Now here we are years later with hand crafters UPGRADING pre-owned designer products into rebranded items,..and designers are complaining. That LV upscaled and reimagined product has likely never performed better. Their issue isn't that they're embarrassed to be producing substandard crap, it's their name that can't stand the hits. Which is very ironic when one considers building quality items is how a brand grows. *Shrugs
Oh man, I can't imagine working for custoims and watching fake stuff come through! Closest I've come is making product for different brands I've worked with in factories that also make luxury designer bags -- people who claim luxury brands are higher quality don't realize a lot of their products are made by the same hands that make outlet brands lol. Short of the atelier-level houses you won't usually find any hand stitching or it'll be like $30,000 which...I like to get paid for my work but it's a bit ridiculous.
@@Corter Yeah, it's a wild circumstance. The gulf between quality and brand grew so wide, I left customs to do my own leathercrafting. 🤣🤣 I had been a repair hobbyist since the early 90's, but it wasn't until I experienced how horrible the market became that I saw the opportunity. I think these days our struggle is largely against ignorance, which is pretty vast and an uphill battle.
Cheers Eric.🥃👍
@@pepleatherlab3872 Indeed, very difficult to teach people about brand doesn't necessarily mean quality and pure handcraft. Sure is an uphill battle to educate the public about it. Good luck and courage !
As I’m reading this I’m thinking about Emma Stone’s dress’ zipper that broke this year. Lots of sewists were saying that zipper should be better to hold the weight, cinching and load of the dress. The real problem is that zipper shouldn’t be holding any tension. You can see that the dress was made properly with the built in corsetry and support. That zipper simply closes the decorative yoke. You can see the support underneath the decorative yolk’s opening in the back. There’s only two reasons why that zipper broke. Shoddy zipper. Or someone zipped it up incorrectly, broke some of the teeth and compromised it then zipped it together again.
That's funny. Wife's friend was entering France and their customs tried to seize her boots as counterfeit. They were absolutely sure of jt until she pulled out the receipt she had on the LV website.
Lawyer here. You are a hero for standing up multi corpos! We need brave souls like you! Fight for freedom
💪🏻🤍💪🏻
Would you have stepped in and defended him or counter-sued if his standing up for himself went badly? Would you have done the case pro bono or on a contingency fee arrangement with no money up front?
lawyers are the scum of the planet.
@@BryanTorok Does that matter? That aside there are many factors including their speciality and position within their firm - you cannot just go taking on cases like this willy nilly without senior approval and involvement.
Am I crazy for thinking he should sue LV for this? Would he have a legal case to do so?
LV is notorious for not being able to recognize and authenticate their own products. Thousands of people had issues with this when they needed repairs that are provided by the company for free. It's like you have to keep your receipts for years to make sure they don't refuse the service. Horrible company all in all not only regarding this but their whole business. Plus their bags look cheap.
there's a youtuber here who runs a trading post and he won't take LV items, says they are impossible to authenticate.
They look cheap because they ARE cheap, look up the news LVMH just got put under court administration in Italy and how much their product is actually worth is now known
They aren't saying that the material he is using isn't real, but that the product he is selling isn't from them.
@@AUTgriesbrei what you wrote makes no sense. It's either legit made by LV or not.
@@rickross6368 LV isn't selling leather with their trademarked and copyrighted logo to others to be made into products, so the only thing LV has to look at is if the sold product is something they themself sell.
Kind of ironic that them sending a PI to your house allowed you to release this video and allow you to show up in my (and many other people's) algorithm. You have a lovely voice and you make neat things, keep at it!
Bit of a Streissand effect going on here.
Yeah, this video was in my recommended and I have no idea why, but I'm glad I stopped by!
Ywnbaw
@@tekrit3249oh boy someone's turning this political
@@tekrit3249 too late
There's something funny about LV using a fake instagram account with a fake family that has a full fake online history and accusing you of selling fakes, when you're not. In this interaction, all the faking was on their side.
pretty sure the account is the PIs and not directly LVs.
@@CASyHD. I'm sure the PIs have their fake accounts too, but I thought the account in question belonged to the LV fraud team? They purchased the item to inspect the fabric.
It's quite common for fraud teams of major companies to use fake accounts for various purposes. A large retailer in the UK would use them to catch people out all the time on social media. I was married to a fraud investigator for nearly a decade, it was really interesting to learn how it works behind the scenes.
just admit you were wrong @@Anikat
@@uuuultra 😂
Now that, was funny.
Playing the audio over your upscaling another LV bag is priceless. You're a king in the community, man.
I like how you said "upscaling" because his creation look like much better quality than LV, which may be why they're so upset.
This is the best video I’ve watched all day. And reaffirms why I’d never ever give LV any of my money. I never have and never will. Luxury brands have lots of unethical practices, yet market themselves completely differently.
@@Diametricallyopposed00and what are those unethical practices you speak of? 🤔
You are allowed to upscale, but when you turn around and start selling it based on that brands recognition, yeah thats called theft
@@dancestar1018did you watch the video or what
I have a similar experience with LV. Many years ago I had a 99' Honda Accord that was a legitimate magazine cover car. With some digging I managed to purchase a full roll of MultiColore Monogram leather from a dealer in Spain. It was advertised as authentic but I really couldn't say for certain. The car had just been completed and was featured at a Hot Import Nights show in Seattle when I get a call from the owner of the upholstery shop and he says some lady is here, she's from Louis Vuitton and wants to see a piece of the material we used in your car. Not a week later she shows up at my shop, so I showed her the car. Almost immediately she passed it off as not authentic based on feel and I tried to explain that the leather is steamed and stretched into place but she wasn't convinced and at the same time really wanted to know where I got it from which I thought was strange. She got frustrated when I refused to tell her, walked out and that was it. Never heard from them again.
she wanted to know who sold you the fabric without giving them their cut.
It was probably coming from a leather dealer that they forgot to force to sign an exclusivity and rights of inspection contract, lol
Big brands like that really love to bully their suppliers, asking for the base price, but demanding high price privileges, like exclusivity and oversight on potential clients.
They are cheap mofos for people claiming to cater to the "crème de la crème"
Well anyone would be mad at a tuner ‘99 accord with LV leather seats 🤦♂️ great model of car though. 2.3?
Do you have a link to any pictures or anything I can search to find pictures? Would love to see this. Always love it when people make cars into something unique that they love. Miss the late 90's and early 2000's car scene.
She was looking for a supply source for herself so she could make knock-offs. She wasnt from LV just like I dont think the people in the black sedan were. That’s what I assume.
@@mookiepookie444 Nah, designer companies like that are heavily known for this. They don't want anyone tarnishing their brand name. They even throw out any leftover stock from the season prior in order to produce artifical scarcity of their products and to not keep old styles from still being relevant and stealing sales of new products.
I love how corporations think they still own things that have their logo on them after you have purchased them.
The concept of personal ownership is definitely not being eroded in the name of corporate profits.
Put on your corporate logo NASCAR-style jumpsuit and get back to work, wage-peasant
look at software. over the last decade or longer the software industry has moved from sales to subscription model where you never stop paying for access to a product, or the console gaming indusrty that has moved from physical media to online game streaming where you dont own the game you bought and they can end your access to the game you bought at any time when they tire of allowing you access.
@@slappomatthew Bro do not get me started on corporate software.
@@LordWaterBottle I mean, I can kinda see it with the LV fabric because to anyone not in the know any upcycled product would at first glance look like an LV product. Obviously companies would want to prevent such misunderstandings to happen, especially if they could lead to lesser craftsmen than Corter Leather throwing stuff on the market that - if mistaken for LV - could actually give people a wrong impression about quality and design of the genuine article.
On the other hand, if you bought something you should be able to do with it as you please.
Try to tell that to microsoft, they are something else. I may own it, but they control it and can make it obsolete when they want. I mean like they did, you're only one update away.
I love the "hey, we determined, through our extensive research and analysis, that our own fabric is indistinguishable from a fake." Like, big thumbs up guys, you sure know how to make quality products that only highly paid LV craftsmen can create 🤦
That's a polite way of saying "yeah you fixed our bad design".
Well yeah why do you think thy want to take down dudes like this. Theyre getting EXPOSED for the FRAUDS they are.
Rumor has it that their canvas is made in China.
LV craftsmen = Child labour in Sri Lanka
It was a pretext for sending the PI, trying to scare him off, take him for a ride. If he didnt have the serials it might have worked.
LVMH missed a great PR opportunity to show their bags are high enough quality to live a 2nd life as an upcycle product.
The snobbery prevents that… egos have little practical sense.
That’s one of the things I don’t understand about big companies like LV.
In my opinion it would be very beneficial to have a small department that seeks out small creators like this and try to get a small collaboration out of it. Produce every design in a very limited production run, use it for marketing, sell it for a crazy high price and maybe even donate some percentage for a good course to satisfy the “look at us, we do good things” demand.
These corporations are rarely ever headed by capable, intelligent people.
What keeps them upright is momentum and the few capable people sprinkled throughout the vast ocean of corporate mediocrity.
Actually they do have a second life program for bags they repair and get as close to original and sell at a discounted price. Was at the exchange at Nellis AFB and they had a few there next to the new bags.
Doesn’t suit their image of “luxury”
I can't stand bullies. So glad you stood up to them.
Really well put at 6:12:
- Once you sell a bag, you no longer own it.
Right to Repair, Right to Recycle.
Cheers from Portugal.
Unfortunately if people are not going to get political about this and legislate against this we're heading for a world where it's no longer the case.. software ownership is getting harder by the month, and they want to peek in on what you are doing with their stuff, Isn't there a Louis Vuitton subscription yet? couple grand a year and you get sent a bag each season upon returning the old one.
However it is just human to want to sell thing, pocket the money, but domehow still own the thing.
However it is just human to want to sell thing, pocket the money, but domehow still own the thing.
Right to repair and to recycle isn't a right to make a profit off someone else's trademarked brand, which is effectively breaking the law. Maybe you all should stop claiming rights without being educated on the full legal context, because this can mislead a lot of people into doing things that will get them in trouble.
@@hippdip And where is that the case? Even the video here was perfectly legal...
So LV gets angry that their plastic coated cotton that they pass off as leather, that is copied and counterfeited by the millions world wide, but goes after a person drawing attention to LV. Seems ridiculous to me.
I guess their marketing department wants full control over, how attention is drawn to their brand. (Ridiculous in the times of social media.) For the investigation department he is only a low hanging fruit. More easy to investigate than the Chinese mafia.
LV makes that stuff in china, sends it in bulk to Italy where they use chinese laborers to "craft" it...
Yes to this!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
They have never passed it of as leather. Uninformed people assumed it was leather
Yeah I'm not a fan of LVs stuff but they call the goods made of canvas "Monogrammed Canvas" for a reason, the leather goods are called leather
Lmao, it says a lot when Louis Vuitton themselves buys something made with one of their own bags and determines the material is of inferior quality. You really are just paying for the smoke and mirrors magic show with a cheaply made bag to keep as a souvenir.
They DO charge thousands for plastic covered cotton after all…
Its the luxury goods factor. its less about the bag being worth $5k for example, and more about the fact that you have the wealth to go and spend $5k on something as mundane as a purse...
I mean, it wasn't that it was "inferior" they probably have a checklist for identifying non authentic fabric and the lack of a rubber backing is probably the first thing they look for.
Is anyone under the illusion that luxury goods aren't wildly overpriced?
I thought the whole point was getting to say "look how rich I am I flushed thousands of dollars down the toilet for a bag and I don't care because I have so much money."
@@bigidiot123 THAT sir is exactly the reason why LV don't like these "upycled" items showing AND using THEIR name and logo EVEN if they have been rebranded.
This guy has got a lot of free advertisement simply by using their name in his title and hardly anybody would have opened it if he didn't show their logo ...
If he'd called it "CORTER LEATHER" he would have gotten 0 views.
It's exactly why the person who buys this item will also show it off right side up and people all around will think: "That person has money to flush down the toilet" because HIS logo is on the back.
He's walking on thin ice and should know better but I agree that LV products exist only to help the rich show that they are rich.
I read the story about your case from Louis Rossmann a few days ago and your video finally pop up.
There was a similar condition case happened in Hong Kong too.
A barbershop made a couple of furniture by recreation from LV suitcases and put them in the shop for deco.
LV sued the barbershop with the same reasons, fake products, and finally made themselves a fool.
I hate companies point their ulgy fingers on the things I own, never respect companies like these at all.
Disgusting.
@@ontinz if a company can send agents to reposess the item you legally purchased, do you really own that item?
They really should do more research before accusing people of selling fakes. Awesome how you handled it very cool and no bs.
for them it doesn't matter, its just scare tactics
They know what theyre doing..
Spooking someone who doesn’t know has worked for them in the past. Has if they manage to drag you to court you now have to go up against their massive legal department while they push with the charge of counterfeiting their product.
That’s what they were hoping for but a lady from new York rolling up to a cottage in the woods…didn’t really sell the intimidation tone they wanted.
This is a very cheap exercise though. No need to put a lot of effort into building an airtight case when you know you don't have a leg to stand on and your only hope is to negotiate (or scare) people into doing what you want. So you write a letter and you send over someone in a fancy suit asking you to give them all your stuff and to sign documents. Printing those papers cost nearly nothing, and since you're not filing anything official, they don't even have to be exactly right either.
That was literally them investigating. And good for him for going along with it. Hopefully they never bother him again.
And the funny part is that Coach totally embraces upcycling their stuff. They even have their own designers who do it and they sell some on their site.
Some of the best quality bags i have are Coach bags
It is a bit different and if LV would go to court with this, they would very likely win. It's not about upcycling, it's about their trademark, that is shown quite prominently on the upcycled stuff, which makes it look like an official product (that Corter Leather also sells/uses commercially, as far as I understand). From a trademark owner's perspective, they actually have to fight this, because if they knowingly don't, it weakens their trademark, because it can be seen as implied permission in other cases. Their legal department just acted very, very stupid. The normal procedure would have been a cease and desist letter with the request to send proof of destruction of the products, and if this cease and desist letter wouldn't have been returned signed, they would have gone to court (which, in trademark cases, can be VERY expensive, because the ammount in dispute used to calculate fees and attorney payments is generally the estimated value of the trademark).
It's comparable to somebody getting a thorn pair of Levi's Jeans for a few bucks, then cutting off the label, sewing it onto a pair of dollar store Jeans and selling them on ebay, with the label prominently visible.
And I'm sorry if I didn't use the correct legal language, English isn't my first language and it's been about 12 years since I last worked as a patent paralegal (but trademarks were actually the part of the job I liked, patents are boring as heck).
@@MyRegardsToTheDodoLV knew they couldn’t do anything about what he’s doing that’s why they didn’t take legal action.
@@MyRegardsToTheDodo They would very likely not win; as chelle said above, if they HAD a legal leg to stand on (which they did not), they probably would have sued.
They were just harassing someone and trying to intimidate them into complying. Many companies both large and small will try this tactic, and individuals too. It's important to stand up to it and not just sign something because it sounds scary.
@@chellebryant5431 Their legal department or more likely their hired PI effed up, that's why they didn't take any legal action (so far).
So basically they don't know what borderline hilarious quality they actually sell, didn't do their research, tried to bully some small maker into signing something really unethical, threatened to steal you materials, used fake Instagram accounts and ultimately achieved nothing but make the brand look even more silly than selling cheap merchandise for insane prices does in the first place. That's next level stupidity.
Maybe it usually works though..
Yeah, "Instagram" is part of Facebook now, isn't it ? And one condition of Facebook use is NOT to use "fake accounts". They must be in one's real name, or a name you're genuinely using (eg "Dallas Lawn Services" for someone in Dallas engaged in lawnmowing etc). I wonder if LV's Instagram account was titled "Over-paid twits harassing innocent people" ?
All these brands have long crossed the line of reason; they charge crazy money for materials that are made in third countries. and any product that is not made in the best way will last much longer.
You should do the legal thing... and report the fake IG account.
Hes on the wrong side of this legally if it wemt to court he would lose everything. Idk y u people gassing him up
I think you might be confused about what "legal" means.
@@stargazer7644 how would it be "illegal" to report a fake IG account to IG?
@@BigFatSeal10 Incorrect.. You can legally take any product and rebuild it into something else and call it yours. The original maker has NO rights in that case.
Remember he wasn't selling this as a Louis Vuitton product. He was selling a disassembled product that he turned into something else. He could also turn LV into Instagram for the fake account as this is against their terms of service AND also against California law. LV could actually be in a ton of legal trouble for this.
@@rodshoaf You cannot, the material itself is copyrighted and legally protected- the patterns are aswell. A hiphop mogul guy tried selling gucci bags cut up into jackets and got sued into oblivion. It was a long drawn out expensive lawsuit, make your own stuff get better at the craft instead of stealing.
this is the equivalent to buying the ingredients to make pizza and then putting pineapples on it, and having the CEO of the ingredients company turn up at your door to seize your kitchen. The absolute entitlement of these companies is hilarious.
Louis Vuitton is part of the LVMH group. They are the most entitled beeings actually on earth.
Not really. It's like making your own pizza, putting it in a domino's pizza box but telling everyone you made the pizza.
@@missbeaussie Well that's a stretch at best
yeah except in your case I wish they did ... pineapple on a Pizza should be illegal 😂
@@missbeaussiesingle digit IQ comment
Many years ago Apple did something similar to me. I was contacted by an attorney after basically taking working pieces of OLD (like WAY too old to get support from so it wasn't anything like support or warranty fraud) used computers out of old broken ones, reassembling the working parts into working machines, and selling those on eBay. An attorney from Apple contacted me and basically said there was nothing he could do, but requested I stop selling them in a public space because his "bosses" didn't like seeing these (I used the term Frankenmacs) sold. It was pretty amusing to me that even he admitted they really couldn't do anything about it.
Full respect to the guy. He should have offered to buy the gear from you.
Ahh. My delenovateway.
Bro Guy: My bosses wants to to stop doing what we can't stop you from doing.
Meanwhile over at the PC side, we would call that "business as usual". The parts taking and new machine building that is.
Awesome work. My husband bought a leather wallet kit from Tandy Leather and made me a wallet and did an engraved rose and my first name initial on it, that was in 1985, and I have used it ever since. The lacings are perfect, but the coin purse has a small tear because I had too many coins in it much of the time, now I only keep a small amount so it won't tear anymore. My husband had learned how to make wallets in the Boy Scouts. Once some of his relatives saw my wallet, they asked him if he would do one for them, so he did. I don't foresee ever needing to buy a new wallet.
Corporations have no business trying to act as law enforcement, the gall of someone showing up at your residence demanding to seize your property.
It’s not law enforcement. They are allowed to send lawyers to investigate if their material is being used and someone is selling it. If he sells these with the intention that they are authentic LV bags he is waiting for a huge lawsuit. I’ve watched grandma’s get sued over using copyrighted material for dresses and etc by Disney.
@@sammieg8641 you don't understand your rights and laws in the USA huh? A company can send whoever they want .
You don't gotta show anyone anything or explain anything.
They're not law enforcement.
I'd prefer to have the company spend their $$$ to show up rather than them wasting actual law enforcement's time on it lol.
By far a superior product with your brand name on it. I am surprised they did not offer you a job designing a product which clearly warrants the LV prices.
@@RockerfellerRothchild1776The company can send who they want, you can refuse to answer. He said the first, you add the second. Why so condescending?
Do you maybe not grasp what 'investigate' means?
Thank you LV private investigator: you just gave this creator a new subscriber AND that new subscriber is going to buy up all LV material they find secondhand for upcycling purposes. Nice work👍
Never let anyone intimidate you for modifying your own stuff you buy! These corporations are OUT of control!
they need to be put in place
I'm not normally one for government control, but if ever there was a need for a government to slap a company down.... this would be it.
Good luck with that.
@@ssss-df5qz Won't happen in America. Especially when trump gets elected.
big EU companies seem to be super weird about it. Just like Ferrari getting super up in arms for Deadmau5's Nyancat Purrari
The legal principal is called the first-sale doctrine. From Wikipedia "The rationale of the doctrine is to prevent the copyright owner from restraining the free alienability of goods. Without the doctrine, a possessor of a copy of a copyrighted work would have to negotiate with the copyright owner every time they wished to dispose of their copy. After the initial transfer of ownership of a legal copy of a copyrighted work, the first-sale doctrine eliminates the copyright holder's right to control ownership of that specific copy."
Not really. First sale doctrine, as you have quoted, is about preventing seller from controlling you further selling or using the copy in some manner the seller doesn't like.
This situation is at most an inspired work (vs derivative work) in terms of copyright. Copyright of the inspired work is entirely free from the copyright of the original. But like i said - at most - since reusing such a fraction of the original work as the material can hardly be called even that.
Thank you for standing up to their BS and not just giving in to their harassment.
You are thanking him for doing what anyone would do?...Like he saved the world or something..
I love picturing Louis Vuitton employees digging around Goodwill. 😂
Years ago, I used to occasionally see a car painted all over with the LV logo, driving on I95 between Baltimore and the Capital Beltway. A shame LV didn't try to seize that as being made of 'counterfeit' material.
I bet my life it was a blachdk person@@aemilia5799
@@aemilia5799 😂👍
Louis vuitton's snobbery is off the charts. I have no desire advertising for a company a shallows as theirs
Is it good for the brand in this day and age to send it all to landfill when it's meant to be about recycling and reusing, probably not
Previous 6 Corter Leather videos: 70k views across two months
This video: 150k views in less than a week
Seems like LV have Streisand effected themselves
Maybe it usually works though.. and this case is just one in a hundred or thousand. Could still be statistically worth it.
@@TimoRutanen thousands of views from people that might be interested or involved with the topic and now may spread the word. LV maybe will try to bury this quickly
😂😂😂😂 Good point!
1,056,234 views after 19 days (June 26, 2024)
"The fabric was fake!"
"Well, then what are you holding in your hands?"
I don't get it. If the fabric would, indeed, have been fake, but he never sold it as a LV-product, then what's the problem?
@@elisaa9981 I'm just just joking at the idea that fabric could be "fake", fabric is fabric.
“Protecting the integrity of the brand” is 100% a classist concept when it’s their reason for keeping their products out of thrift stores. They don’t want their brand being associated with poor people.
@@LM-fn6qbI wasn’t actually talking about this guy when I wrote that comment, though it still applies.
He also didn’t steal their logo, or sell counterfeits. He repurposes the material & sells the finished product under his own brand. Which is perfectly ethical & legal.
But regardless, I was reacting to Louis Vuitton’s practice of keeping their bags out of thrift stores. That’s classist AF
It is mostly poor people who buy LV and many other luxury brands. That is their market. Poor people buy this crap to make themselves feel better but it keeps them poor. When will people realize that.
@@BanFamilyVlogging get some money brokie
That is a misconception. The integrity of a brand is protected by law so that consumers can trust what they are buying is actually made by the brand that is on it.
In this particular case LV might not want their brand being associated with "poor people", but that is beside the point: it's still about brand integrity.
@@TomasGradin it's about hubris brother, use real language, not their language
Repurposing items that were destined to be tossed is one of my favorite things to do. Beautiful work. Glad you haven’t quit.
They should be honored that you make beautiful upcycled items from their overpriced bags.
Art is life.
They know exactly what you are doing and they don’t like it, so they sent someone to intimidate you. I love your method of side hustle, I think you are genius. Keep it up man.
I like how in the end you're the one that made money from them, since they bought one of your wallets.
LV can turn him into a millionaire. He just has to constantly come up with new products and sell the "first ones" to them for $2,000,000 a pop. 😂
I am glad you pointed out that it was 100% legal to take a product you buy apart and repurpose it's parts.
I will also point out that sewing patterns used to have some insane 'restrictions' they wanted buyers to honor. (Restrictions you only saw after you bought the pattern.) Not only did they claim you were only permitted to use the pattern for one item, some even said you were not allowed to wear the garment in *public*.
These name brands will puff out their chest to try and control what you do with products you buy. Sadly, digital mediums are only encouraging the behavior. (Look at the number of things you 'buy' online but do not actually 'own'...)
Yea it is 100% legal to take a product you buy apart and repurpose it's parts but i did not know you was allowed to make another product out of it and put your name/brand on it and re sell it as the LV logos are still trade marked am surprised that was not what LV was trying to go for in the vid but no something different in the vid. Am guessing you can do it as bet the person making the vid knows more then i do on laws for it.
@@giggity4670 They would likely have a better case for trademark infringement, though it would likely still fall over, since the holder of that trademark is the one who placed it on that material in the first place. But since money buys justice, they can probably tie it up enough to make it extremely expensive to successfully defend that position and eventually wrangle out a settlement.
I suspect they just want to avoid a media circus and took a gamble expecting he'd just back down quickly and quietly like most people do.
@@venoltar They have no case whatsoever for trademark infringement and probably would see a prima facie dismissal of the case in court. It's obvious based on the facts alone that there's nothing there to justify a trial.
When you buy a product, you own ALL rights to alter, manipulate, resell, or destroy that individual product, in perpetuity. You own all rights to break down and sell the constituent parts of that product. It's yours, forever, and there's nothing they can do about that. After all, you can resell an original bag with the logos on it, right? As long as he isn't trying to pass off altered merchandise as authentic, they can't do anything. The suits in corporate can cry all the way back to their corner offices.
@@Mwstmrlnd Well, I'll freely admit to being quite cynical in regards to the "justice" system. But, I'm also quite surprised at your faith in it considering how it works.
There have been many merit-less cases that have been successfully pursued into a settlement by a sufficiently wealthy litigant.
I suppose it will all depend on the jurisdiction in the end. In some countries the defendant will have a high likelihood of having their defence costs covered should they win the case. Unlike America where in nearly all courts the defendant has to bear all the costs regardless of outcome except in special edge cases.
I don't know why the RUclips algorithm suggested this video to me, but I'm happy it did. This was priceless.
haha same here.. well.. I mean it was at least interesting video. however I have never had any product from their brand and it is not even represented in my country..
One of the best videos I have seen. First, your craftsmanship is sublime.
And your strength in not being able to be pushed around...so few can do
that with such calmness. Well done you!! Enjoy the Cape..
Lawrie from Philadelphia.
Their fraud department should really be doing something about the billion dollar counterfeit market rather than going after individuals. Kind of embarrassing that they had the time to do this at all. Keep doing what you do, man.
they can't because they would have to bribe the chinese authorities more than it would cost their bottom line to let them continue.
Then they would have to do real PI work and not watch RUclips videos.
They were.... it is not until you check the operation you would know if it is a one-man-band crafting or one of many small fronts for a big counterfire group. I think LV was quite reasonable, as after the discussions they let him get on with it and haven't tried to prosecute. Initially they thought, because there was no rubber backing, it was counterfeit. I suspect LV may have thought that some material was being taken out of their factory illegally before the backing added, or that he was using a counterfeit supplier. The law is there to protect the creators, how would Corter Leather feel if their logo started appearing on other makers stuff?
@@JAmediaUK I agree. The people were just doing their jobs... And if LV can afford to send some lady out of state to check up on your small operation then you'd better believe they are balls deep in the counterfeit scene.
@@brandon659366 they knew he wasn't selling his products as real LV, only as products he made using LV fabric. so even if the fabric was counterfeit, it would be perfectly legal for him to sell his products, because he would not be _selling counterfeits_ at all. the most reasonable thing they could have done is literally just call him and say "hey, we think that fabric is counterfeit, do you happen to know where you got it?" he's not selling _counterfeit products_ and they could have figured that out trivially.
the reason they 'investigated' him isn't that they thought he was doing something illegal; their problem with the possible use of counterfeit fabric was, as he says in the video, that it would 'hurt their brand.' if they were just protecting their rights, they wouldn't have wasted money hiring an investigator to go talk to him in person.
Well, as I see it, your product has more value than what LV sells as yours categorically is truly a genuine "HANDMADE" product.
Hey, LV products are also handmade. I mean, they're probably handmade by a bunch of kids in a sweatshop, but they're still handmade...
@@MyRegardsToTheDodo well, considering LV was a 13 year old street kid who worked to survive, it's par for the course.
@@MyRegardsToTheDodo Most of these leather luxury goods are made by Chinese workers in Italy these days. Still high quality, but cheaper labour and are handmade items.
Lmao, his product's value is just as subjective as LV for one. And two, LV is handmade.
Doesn't mean I support LV, but your comment is completely baseless lmao
@@MyRegardsToTheDodo
These are made in France or Italy by local workers, probably with a decent pay. Why ?
Because these are already atrociously over-priced as it is, I doubt they'd play that game.
Wasn’t it a cheap zipper that LV used in Emma Stone’s dress that caused her wardrobe malfunction at the Oscars this year? It’s absurd.
fake news
I would like to see where that happened
@@polluxcastor8429 Look at her acceptance speech for her role in Poor Things. The exact quote is "don't look at the back of my dress", then she turns to show that the zip is broken and is gaping at the back of the garment.
@@polluxcastor8429 It was an external layer zipper, nothing special, but still an amazing malfunction when you consider how much it cost.
That was an interesting little event, the way she handled it was very cool, but if they had used a decent zip, like a YKK one or something of similar quality, it almost certainly would not have broken.
companies always get mad when creatives outthink them
@ThatsWhat-She. here you can witness an absolutely seething bootlicker in its natural habitat
I guess you think that repainting and restoring antiques is also thievery to you
You buy a bunch of shabby tableware on a flee market for pennies, that nobody wants, with paint fallen off, tabula rasa almost, you use your imagination to bring life to otherwise useless pieces of porcelain, so that you can sell it to people who appreciate what you do and find it pretty and useful, yup, sounds like total thievery
Nobody cares that it could've been Gzhel or Ming porcelain, no sane human with a heart in his chest is going to care that somebody repainted it, the only thing a person cares, is if it looks good to him and if he has a use for it
Get a reality check brother, you're lackin', otherwise you sound terminally online
@ThatsWhat-She.Found the LV fraud department narc. Try again, bub
Companies across innumerable industries want to still own what you buy, and maintain control of what you do with your own property. Good to see you standing up for your rights to do what you want with your property.
Yes, I've went to sell my used perfume and have gotten copyright claimed. Like is was making or selling fakes. I sent them the receipt it made no difference.
@@BLARG09 That's so pathetic of you! You sent a receipt to someone who copyright claimed you for an invalid reason. I hope you're smarter now.
@@cleigh3796 Do you feel better now 🤣. I looked at the rest of your comments. A pro troll. Bless your heart 🤣
Yup. The obvious end point is that we will own nothing, and citizens will become renters of EVERYTHING. Even the digital stuff you do buy, they can modify and/or easily make disappear at will. No ebooks for me. 😆
Yup, clearly dangerous activity here. They have nothing better to do? They should be contacting you to collaborate on LV x Corter merchandise.
Of course they don't have anything else to do.
This is literally the corporate attorney’s job. So…
Private investigator........it's what this guy does.
And BTW it is actually legal a counterfeit because it's not an authorized LV product
@@jacobishii6121it's not being sold as a LV product
@jacobishii6121 Counterfeit would mean he’s trying to pass it off as an LV product. He never did that. He’s just upcycling reclaimed materials and selling them as his own product. That’s not what counterfeit means legally or otherwise.
You know a company isn't worth your money when they send thugs to fans houses to intimidate them for interacting with their products wrong, talk about entitlement
Best part is asking him to hand over all his materials… Imagine how many scared old ladies fell for this and were robbed in their own homes
@@jamesethan3749 honestly pretty fitting for a designer with Nazi ties
It's like Dr Oetker sending a PI after seeing a video of you putting a birger between 2 pizzas.
If LV is pretending to still have any rights after purchase, they'll have to maintain every item they "lent" to pristine conditions to any customer demanding it.
@@ZILOGz80VIDEOS I thought that was Hugo Boss.
@@ruzziasht349 Vuitton, channel, and boss were all Nazi sympathisers
You could read stories to kids for a nap and they would definitely fall asleep. So calming.
As an IP paralegal with 35 years in the profession, I’ve been really curious how these high end brands would respond to creative folks repurposing their bags. (BTW - I LOVE your work!)
Would reusing the fabric with their logo printed on it be trademark infringement?
@@GT-yw6dgas is these high brands only sell because of the name, not the quality, it’s more quantity than quality.
With a textbook example of the phrase "the process is the punishment".
@@GT-yw6dg Honestly, I'm still curious about that bit. Seems to be legal, as it probably would've resulted in a more conventional cease-and-desist at a minimum if it wasn't. Or maybe LV doesn't really want to risk any precedence if it goes to court.
@@GT-yw6dg No, you are not copying the fabric.
I absolutely love that last remark "I don't think anyone's gonna confuse it for a _factory_ piece"
Except LV bags aren't factory made. They're made in workshops, who are larger than OP's of course, but not enough to qualify as a factory.
In all fairness, I can see why LV is upset. This guy is making better stuff than the original. Look at the quality and thickness. This guy is a unicorn.
@@JohnBowl14690which probably comes into play with them deciding not to pursue him.
What a petty move. Makes me never want to give them money and frankly cheapens my perception of their brand, including things I already own from them. You are very kind, patient, and gracious in describing your experiences with them.
I agree. Its a huge turnoff. Its not like this guy is selling hundreds of these bags.
But this is a company that burns unsold stock instead of putting them on sale. So they would rather people throw away old outdated bags than be creative and give it new life.
@@em84c Discounts kill a luxury brand.
@@MK_ULTRA420
No it doesn’t. Even Loro Piana and Brunello Cucinelli have outlet stores - and they make much higher quality garments than LV at similar/or even higher prices.
@@Seb2900-uq8wq I said luxury brand, I never said anything about price or quality.
Whoa so crazy, I happen to stumble upon this video and didn’t realize it was Corter leather until halfway through the video. I’ve been buying my wallets and belts from this guy since 2010.
They should be happy that someone repurposing their material is taking the time, effort and care to hand make beautiful pieces that still show off their logo in a respectful way.
They see it as somebody taking money from them, the "business mindset" is really quite insane.
Oh you sweet summer child.
I'm not a leather worker, but I know some people who can help me with it and I have the necessary tools. I think a whole bunch of artists should all make art with upcycled Louis Vuitton fabric and flood the market with it to make a point. Artists did this to Disney back in the 2000s when they tried to bully a family who put some of their characters on their child's tombstone, iirc. It was a PR nightmare for Disney.
I remember that now, was it Mickey?
I like the guy that cuts up purses and examines stitching and materials to see what is quality or crap out there.
Yeah I watch tanner leatherstein too see what he thinks bags are really worth.
Yep he’s fantastic
It's so good to see a good person like you standing up and not letting yourself being intimidated, and explaining how you are fully supported by the law. Thank you for sharing this video!
It's positive to have groups as these told to go pound sand
I’m glad you stood your ground. Creatives have the right to do just that…CREATE! No one should try to take that from them.
Bought one of your belts years ago and it’s one of the best, most resilient articles of clothing I own. Stoked to have the algo show me you’re still at it, and glad to see you’re getting the recognition your craftsmanship warrants!
Disgusting how companies think they own the things you buy. You should sue them for stalking and harassment!
Good for you, from one artist to another nice to hear you stood your ground and didn't allow the bullying on the part of LV.
A friend of mine manufactures LV and sometimes works in their repair center. She said they use the cheapest materials and their products are mostly junk. They don’t even compare to Chanel or obviously Hermes
I’m of the opinion that brands like LV, Gucci, Michael Kors, etc. are all brands who’s only worth is in the logo/label. People want them to look bougie/rich, not because they are quality, long lasting pieces.
LV has been terrible for years. Everybody knows that. Even in the LVMH portfolio it’s treated as a cash cow and not a high quality brand like LOEWE or Celine.
@@draeannx
You can’t compare Gucci and LV. LV is a completely different ball game financially. Further, Gucci is made in house, in Italy; LV is made by subcontractors in Italy. Huge difference. Apart from that, there’s a major difference in fabrics, if you choose the right pieces from high end designers. SUPIMA cotton used in high end clothing is not just cotton - and the price per yard is much higher. The wool used is very different, merino, alpaca and cashmere are all more expensive than cheaper kinds of wool; same holds for say silk; and the yarn might differ too. Even within the different categories price of fabrics may vary depending on country of origin and grades. Further, it’s more rare to see blends, although they do get more common.
@@Seb2900-uq8wqnothing you’ve said makes these things any better quality. Especially since this process has been thinned for generations to garautee low margins and high profits globally. There’s no “major brand” that uses all the same products they did when they first started. So much of it is the exact opposite of hand made and they trick many people into not understanding what true quality is.
Quality is cross generational talent and NO TOP DOLLAR BRAND has that anymore. They all run sweat shops in Asia and Latin America and you’re paying for the same quality products as Walmart sells.
You want real hand made quality goods you go to the country that grows the cotton that’s uses in Gucci and you buy unprocessed goods from them. You buy unprocessed leather from a tannery in Africa or South America. You take it to a bag maker in Mexico and you get it made yourself and you’ll see exactly how good real quality is.
I have hand made clothes from Africa and India. Doesn’t matter how many times I machine wash or hand wash my kufia or my saris, the QUALITY is there and they will never fall apart
LV is for p[eople who want the unitiated to think they are rich. God knows how the family made so much money. Even acknowledging for the fact LVMH includes more than LV stuff.
The fact that Louis is not even as niche and quality as used to be yet they want to pretend like they are is also comical. I had a better experience inside the Chanel store than at Louis. Even Chanel provides a nicer packaging when you’re purchasing and it’s like getting a present when you get home
It's like Supreme. Just an empty joke of a brand.
At least some big brands like Yeti, while hilariously overpriced, still seem to focus on at least delivering a quality end product. (Last I checked anyway)
You know, you’d think they would actually appreciate him putting their brand out there for people to see. That’s advertising 101, people see the brand and are more likely to want to buy that brand.
Now, if they’re upset that he’s taking business from them because he sells products that they don’t, maybe they should think about expanding their product lines.
It’s not as if he’s unfairly competing with them.
And if Chanel thinks you're copying them or even doing something that they consider inspired by it they'll try to intimidate you too. I've seen it happen.
@@krazzysu It just depends on if the owner is a scumbag. RUclips channels tend to be relatively chill
Chanel is overpriced too. Their bags look like old lady bags to me. Very old fashioned and not modern at all. What modern woman is wearing pearls, tweed suits and quilted chain bags? I really don’t get their aesthetic
I love how your bags are waaaay nicer looking than their original bags. Like LV is not worth the pricetag but your bags definetly look worth the price if not more.
His workmanship is obviously undisciplined compared to a LV standard. It doesn't matter in his case if the material was authentic it looks of poor quality to the eye.
Came across this video randomly, subscribed just to spite LV - your craftsmanship is so mesmerizing to watch!
What ever happened to being "green?" Why wouldn't LV want their bags from Thrift stores and flee markets be repurposed, reused, and treasured?
Because then they would be in the hands of common folk, eew!
@@marvindebot3264 ... yuck! We mustn't have that!
Money greed money greed and so on…
theyd prefer you buy a bag from them they cant make money second hand
@@davidhunternyc1 Yeah! LV should only be worn by scammers and old money!
The packet didn't have a phone number in it.... lol priceless.
I would never have known this channel existed if it wasn't for LV trying to bully you, thankyou LV for introducing myself and many others to this mans wonderful channel and ideas!
I learned of this creator from Louis Rossman's channel.
Beautiful craftsmanship. I worked for LV for approximately 10 minutes. Ran for my life, the work culture is… how do you say abusive without saying abusive. I used to be mesmerized by their legacy, not anymore. So weird they would invest resources to hunt down an sbo for fraud. I can’t with that company
This is exactly why I wouldn't buy or wear any of their stuff. They've be like this forever, and always will be. Their a bad company that sells people overpriced junk.
Plus, it is ugly.
I like your logo so much more than LV’s. I’m a fan of quality, not faking or bragging that one can afford a “designer” piece.
This is showing on a lot of timelines. Truly the Streisand Effect in full flow. Great work man.
I think it's great to reuse/recycle fabrics/leather. As a quilter I do this with clothing fabrics. Good for you for making something new out of that material and for standing up to the attempted intimidation. Thanks for sharing. Love the item you made in this video.
Now we have to search second hand stores and estate sales to buy all of LV leather material before the fraud monsters can do it. Then send it to Corter Leather.
That could be some sweet video.
Now imagining a series of Corter Leather videos where he opens boxes and boxes of LV material that he then upcycles into beautiful wallets and purses.
Great info that helps cut through a lot of confusion. Sounds like they care more about intimidation and bullying than the actual laws. Thank you!
Sent by Louis' anger, stayed and subbed for the soothing voice and therapeutic craftsmanship.
Ugh, nice annoying descriptive words.
I remember in 2011 when a shipment was stopped in LA. It was filled with "knockoffs” from Vietnam. They were using scraps from the sweat shop to make purses and wallets after hours. It was repurposed material.
You're much more patient and polite than I would have been. I'd have told them to piss off and hope they didn't like it.
Michael Scott: "You know what? I'm going to start making more even harder!!"
Strisand Effect in full force here. I wouldn't have seen this video if they hadn't try to silence you
Beautiful work! Your craftsmanship is top notch! Most people are unaware that these bags are no longer constructed in France. They are owned by a massive conglomerate that produces all the top brands and after they’re constructed in China they are sent back to France and by sewing the made in France tag into it after the fact buyers assume the entire bag was constructed in France. Same with Chanel, Fendi and so many other over price “luxury” brands.
meanwhile, at my local farmers market there seems to be no end to the fake designer wear being openly sold, LV included ...
i'm a big proponent of up-cycling ever since my dad and i would build guitars from old dressers and tables. the pickings not a good as it once was, but i hope you continue your journey of making something new and useful from something old and thrown away!
thanks for the video.
That’s a great story! Surprising that a big brand would even care about your upcycle project. Good looking bag you made as well!
High fashion is the worst type of fashion for these exact reasons.
Its not an “upcycle project” its “using someones well known intellectual proprety, doing things they never would with it, then selling it based on that brands recognition” its illegal
I was entranced by watching your craftsmanship. That is a beautiful work of art, that doesn’t need the LV fabric to be desirable . I would love to be in position to purchase something like this, but I am a retired person who loves seeing a true craftsman at work. People like you are needed in this throw away society🫶.
I had a friend that was into brands but wasn't rich.
What he did was buy the cheapest item from the brand, that was socks, rip off the logo and then sew it on cheap polo shirts.
Now imagine doing that at a larger scale.
The excuse that clients know it's not original is a bit flimsy. There are many people buying fakes knowing they are fake and it is still illegal.
I guess the main factor is the small size of the operation.
Perfectly legal, so long as you disclose it.
Your craftsmanship is beautiful. Lovely to see you repurpose old fabric into new items.
A heat gun? Whooooaaaa d00d! Mind blown! That's some cutting edge piece of space tech right there, brother!
I mean it's funny, but the guy has spent his entire career looking for things that don't comply with the original. The fact that someone had the original, then changed it to look less like the original was mind blowing. 😂😂😂😂
He could have easily used a hair dryer if he didn't have a heat gun, I guess the guy's mind would literally explode if he heard that 😂
Also, funny how in trying to uphold authenticity of their brand…. They use fake shady business practices. Doesn’t make sense!
Has anyone else noticed he has stopped doing this? :) LV has every right to sue this guy out of business for violating trademark. Any lawyer in this space would agree with me.
Gabanelli accordions did the same thing to several accordion repair shops. Consumers wanted their accordions modified, when the repair shop posted updates to Facebook, Gabanelli lawyers sent letters to stop modifying the accordions or be sued. They have no control over what a consumer does once it’s been purchased. Just like modifying a car, GMC does not tell me what I can do with my car. These companies are on crack
But they may have the right, based on a distribution agreement/contract, to tell their distributor not to modify their product. But that seems not to have been the case you describe.
I'm so glad RUclips recommended this to me. I just found out my dad passed on a 300 USD vintage Louis Vuitton key holder to me... 7 years after he passed away. Wouldn't have thought all that much about it had I not noticed the same monogram pattern. Thanks for sharing this information and hopefully others find little treasures they didn't know they had from it too.
Good for you for standing up to them AND sharing the story so other small makers can hear and not fall for the scare tactics
Sorry but it's not scare tactics, LV has legal standing here as owners of US trade mark 1770131.
@@TomasGradin It IS scare tactics to accuse someone of running a counterfeiting operation when they're extremely transparent about what their product is made from and even disclose the process while making it very clear that they are not affiliated. Stop bootlicking
I've never been into brand name stuff, but if I was, I wouldn't want some ugly brown fabric with beige designs on it. I just don't see the attraction. They wanted to enter your home, and look over your property, and have you sign an unenforceable contract(a valid contract needs reciprocity). They assumed you'd just kowtow to them and be shaking in your boots over their 'fraud department'. They also don't want their 'brand' getting into the hands of a 'poor' person? Seriously? They are a pretentious company aren't they? They can sit and spin, as this 'poor' person says! Your work, is top notch!