Louis Vuitton ads banned after design house misled customers by suggesting its bags were hand-stitched

With its handbags selling for thousands, Louis Vuitton has built its reputation on the highest quality.
But advertising watchdogs have found the French design house guilty of misleading customers with two advertisements Hermes Bags depicting its 'craftsmen' - because the bags are not actually made by hand.
Despite ads showing a 'seamstress with linen thread' and boasting of 'infinite patience', bags bearing the trademark pattern of Hermes Kelly 32 an interwoven 'L' and 'V' are predominantly created by machine. The Advertising Standards Agency (ASA) will today ban both advertisements. Louis Vuitton has argued the ads pay 'homage to the craftsmanship' Hermes Bolide bags of its employees rather than an accurate depiction of the manufacturing process.
Three people complained to the ASA, saying they did not believe the designer bags were made entirely by hand.
And after Hermes 2011 sale being challenged by the ASA, the designers admitted that sewing machines had been used, but said production of the bags was 'not automated' and that there were over 100 stages in Hermes Birkin bags the making of each bag.
The controversial ad showed a photo of a seamstress stitching the handle of a handbag, with the text reading: 'The seamstress with linen thread and beeswax.

It is composed by cjmlv 08.013.2012