China exposes the luxury lie
Think your luxury bag is French? China just dropped the receipts – and they’re made in Guangzhou.
Welcome to 2025, where TikTok is no longer just for dance challenges and thirst traps. It’s now the new home of luxury exposés.
That R25,000 handbag you bought for the aesthetic?
It was born in the same Chinese factory as your cousin’s knock-off, and it’s having a viral moment all over social media.
@nathanramospark The chinese takedown of luxury goods right now is fascinating to watch. Revealing that all luxury goods are actually mostly made in China is going to dispel the myth of western exceptionalism and western standard when in reality it’s been the Chinese standard #gucci #prada #tariffs #trump #china #manufacturing #luxury #beccabloom #takedown #softpower #exceptionalism #jobs ♬ original sound - Nathan Ramos-Park
Chinese creators, influencers, and even factory workers are spilling the overpriced tea on your fave high-end brands.
Ralph Lauren, Calvin Klein, Chanel and Prada? Turns out they’ve all got a little “Made in China” in their DNA.
This digital drama started heating up after Donald Trump slapped 125% tariffs on Chinese imports.
But instead of breaking a sweat, China pulled out its phone, hit record, and said: “Let’s talk receipts.”
This is the menace.
— Tanya Junghans (@tanyajunghans) April 13, 2025
He has a female counterpart who is exposing cosmetics. https://t.co/2ZUESI83oh pic.twitter.com/67vexLhOPk
Workers behind the scenes started posting videos from factory floors, showing massive orders of designer gear being stitched, pressed, and boxed right in the heart of China.
Some even showed price breakdowns. The stuff that sells for tens of thousands in New York only costs a few thousand dollars to make.
TikTok user Senbags2 (who has since deactivated his account) elaborated:
Chinese exposing these scams
— Koki (@k0k1mania) April 14, 2025
A birkin bag costs $1395 to be made including the worker getting paid but it is being sold for $35k+ showing that there are out people overpaying for stuff just to be cool and relevant around others
This is also why the West fear China pic.twitter.com/rEWT0rNqC7
Shook? You should be, but also – not really.
Chinese factories aren’t pumping out low-quality knock-offs.
They’re making the real deal, with top-tier craftsmanship, cutting-edge technology, and decades of expertise.
Even Apple CEO Tim Cook said this years ago while explaining why the iPhone is manufactured in China.
Tim Cook explains why @Apple manufactures products in China.
— Shen Shiwei 沈诗伟 (@shen_shiwei) April 11, 2025
The true reason is because of the skill, the quantity of skill in one location, and the type of skill it is. Not because of labor cost since China stopped being a low labour cost country many years ago.
The Apple CEO… pic.twitter.com/v5964liBPz
The only difference is marketing.
Western media told us for years that “Made in China” equals cheap.
While we don’t know how true these claims are, it seems that China is the quiet engine behind almost everything in your closet.
That “French” perfume and your favourite “Italian” jacket? It’s probably more Chinese than you think.
What this trend really exposes isn’t just fashion industry secrets. It’s the power of branding.
For decades, consumers have been buying into the idea of luxury.
Now that China is pulling back the velvet curtain, the world may finally know the truth: Made in China, marketed everywhere else.
So the next time someone flexes their Birkin, you can smile politely and say, “Cute bag… I wonder which part of Guangzhou that came from.”
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