Designer Dresses - still made in China

Essence of Australia made in China....haha!

We had a post like this a while back because the bride was surprised her dress what made in China, even though it was a designer. What people have to remember is the designer only designed the dress; they didn't manufacture it. They can outsource that to whoever they want but a good designer (who doesn't want to damage their reputation) will make sure it will go to a quality manufacturer.

The difference between designers who manufacture in China, and Chinese knock-offs is that designers set guidelines as to which fabric and material can be used, labor costs, labor conditions, etc. The quality of the dress is still there even though it was Made in China.

Chinese knock-offs just do whatever the hell they want which is why most of their dresses are bad quality, and aren't sewn together straight.

Designer dresses that are "Made in China" also have patterns that they are required to follow along with specific fabric and material like another bride mentioned. Just about everything is "Made in China." There is a difference between these designer dresses and the Chinese knock-offs.

I do not think a lot of people know this to be honest. When you are buying a "brand" that is just a label - it is still going to be made in China unless you are going couture. Even Pnina Tornai, Mori Lee, Maggie Sottero, Vera Wang, etc. are all made in China. That being said there is a MAJOR DIFFERENCE between buying a brand and buying a knockoff. The brand will be made correctly, with a liner, hand beaded stitching, proper darting and fitting - a knockoff will likely not have any of these things. I have seen some really crappy knockoffs lately (prom consignments) and they are total junk.

I found this very very frustrating. I looked at the small list of designer gowns made in the US or Europe and wow.. it is all the "top" brands that I frankly, can not afford.

I am still in the debate of "have dress custom made in the US by tailor or buy designer gown" ...but then I thought about the fabric they would be using to make my dress in the US and that fabric would likely be made in China so the environmental factors I was trying to save on, really are not totally there no matter what I do =(

I didn't know it until I tried them all and saw the "made in china" but they were great quality. I just wanted to spread the news.

I'm sure my Maggie was made in China, I think most wedding dresses are... Mrs_M hit the nail on the head.

That makes sense.

My "China" dress is not a knock off, and it was well made. You just have to be careful who you buy from, not which country you buy from.

Just because an item is Made in China it doesn't mean it is bad quality. The initial dress and fabrics would have gone through a stringent quality approval process with the designer in their respected country. The fabrics may not necessarily come from China either. Note that China is much better set up for mass production than western countries, as the public do not want to pay the higher costs, mainly coming from labour. Also the machinery and skilled labour is no longer as readily available as clothing production in western countries has been on a steady decline due to this reason for years.

Your designer dress will cost 4x as much if it was made locally. Are you willing to pay that??

(I am a clothing designer and work with both off shore and local production)

That's because the "made in china" drama is because the knock off dress are as said above by MrsM to Be. On top of that they are probably going to used child labor to make knock offs or horrible work conditions for the ones making it.

Almost everything is made in China. Derp.

Yup and reputable designers would have audited every factory they use to ensure good working conditions. Made in China is not a bad thing! It just gets a bad rap due to some of the cheap quality our chain retailers are pushing them to produce, as the general public are showing they only want to pay peanuts for the clothes that they wear.

I think with anything, you're paying for the label. for all we know the same workers paid to make Vera wang dresses, are the same ones who clock out, go home and set up shop to make knock offs as a side hustle.... whats the difference nothing dont get me wrong, you can still get some crappy knock offs but I've seen some nice ones.... INCLUDING MY OWN :-) . idc if a bride decides to pay $150 for her knock off or $1500 for her Vera Wang, whatever floats your boat.

As LadyMonk said, you just have to be careful WHO you are buying from, not what country. Read their reviews and make sure that anyone who had a problem got it resolved with enough time. I get most of my non-work clothes made and shipped from China and Japan because the US does not really sell clothes that are my style, and I have never had a problem. I'm sure my wedding dress is probably also going to turn up being made in China.

As Ashley pointed out, the pattern makes a HUGE difference! Technical patterns are extremely challenging, time consuming, and effort intense-- for day-to-day clothing, they will undergo several iterations with fit models to make sure it is just right. I imagine for wedding gowns, it is even much more work. The knock-off manufacturers are trying to work backwards-- start with the final product and *then* create the technical pattern, which can pose a lot of problems.

Yeah, I was a little bothered when I saw that my 'San Patrick Barcelona" gown was made in china but then when I thought about it, I shouldn't have been surprised. I still love the gown and the quality.

As a designer who's worked in the industry you are getting cheaper quality garments from China and the luxury designers who use them turn a blind eye to slavery. There are secondary mills in more rural areas or in other countries contributing to slavery this is especially true if it's a discount bridal option. You contribute to slavery when you buy cheap clothing, period. Especially fully embellished garments, they have made in China but send to India to be hand beaded. Those dresses are hand beaded hundreds of hours by human hands, think about it.....That's why I went into business doing custom dresses and rtw in NYC. Ethical, high quality, beautifully made garments.

Hello there,

Not all Designer Dresses are made in china , for example take a look at made in Armenia with love to this link for some designer that pays attention and good effort to the fabric and value of production , checkout this link

http://www.ritoot.com/wedding-dresses

let me know if its helpful

thanks.

Designers do not "audit" to see if ethical practices are used. Workers are selected for their precision and dexterity, separated from their family, and sent to factories where they can be most useful. Usually the designers (Essence of Australia, Martina Liana, etc) never set foot in the PRC. The factory rep sends photos and samples, but that is about it. I'd like to think some designers also manufacture locally, but need to do more research before buying my dress. With anything made in China there is no way to know how the workers are treated.