The Guardian: Louis Vuitton makes its Italian shoes at Somarest plant in Cisnădie, Romania

British newspaper The Guardian reveals that the Louis Vuitton’s Italian shoes are in fact produced in Romania, at Cisnadie.

The paper reads that many of the shoes and boots “it sells for between GBP 500 and GBP 1,800 a pair and stamped as ‘made in Italy’ are mostly made in Transylvania,” and that the factories are kept secret. The factory is “Somarest, a little-known LVMH subsidiary,” the sources reads.

According to the paper, a French TV documentary team was turned back at these gates in 2014. “Anonymous workers said entire shoes were made in Romania before being sent to Italy, where the soles were added. Bernard Arnault, LVMH’s chief executive and France’s richest man, rejected the claim. Now the Guardian can report from inside the factory for the first time, and can confirm that thousands of Louis Vuitton shoes leave their doors every week, complete in most details apart from the soles.”

It also informs that, according to its own sources, the production has increased by 70% since 2007 up to about 100,000 pairs. “A second factory was built in nearby Avrig in 2009, also to make components for handbags and suitcases,” The Guardian also informs, adding that the factories employ 734 local people who are paid the average Romanian garment worker wages, i.e. about EUR 133 a month.