asv wrote:Gem wrote:Can I ask why it's not allowed, or why there is resistance to, the desire for someone to have their purchased products be made domestically, or nearer to P.O.P.?
Rapha haters are not hating on Rapha because they want to be green. Buying clothing from Switzerland, South America, or Italy is not necessarily any greener than buying clothing from China. It all depends on a wide variety of factors. You could purchase something manufactured in China that is actually "greener" than say something manufactured in Europe.
I would say that Rapha haters fall in to a few different categories:
1. Backlash to high quality marketing campaign. ( Similar to people who hate everything made by Apple because they have good marketing)
2. Outdated stereotypes due to the fact that many Rapha products are manufactured in China. (Asia = bad, Europe = good, etc which is complete BS)
3. Bandwagon people who just like to hate on it because its popular.
4. Backlash to pricing. (which is usually tied to #2, because god forbid you spent money on something made in China)
5. People who don't like the minimalist design. (Some people seem to like wearing clothing that looks like a ski jacket from 1990 and claim its "technical," and there are many people who like the "PRO" look that is similar to a NASCAR racing suit.)
Fair enough. There may be infinite reasons why a theoretical person doesn't like a brand, but it's disingenuous for one to bring that assumption into a conversation and assume that this theoretical person fits into one of the infinite reasons they assume.
If someone doesn't want to give their full support to a brand that:
1. charges a hefty
premium for products that are manufactured in a location where they are paying for heavily
discounted labour, (or at least where value is so perverted that production labour is cents of the dollar of gross revenue generated)
2. ships their products, through all stages of the supply chain, tens of thousands of km's around the globe using subsidized petroleum to procure, manufacture and distribute said products. (When these systems have been shown to be less efficient and magnitudes more environmentally harmful than small scale, or localized systems of production and distribution)
and they want to criticize said brand for this, or look for alternative brands that don't do, do less, or are moving away from, those "criticisms", I think that's completely fair expression and critique of brand value/quality.
I personally cannot prove that Rapha fits into the above two categories (and I don't usually get involved in brand bashing on forums), but I also haven't seen Rapha show that they
don't fit into those categories. So when I read others who chastise them for it.... I completely understand why.