Hermès Blamed for Suffering Alligator Farming Industry
Is Hermès to blame for tanking alligator farming business? Photo: Sam Yeh, AFP/Getty Images
The alligator farming industry is suffering and thinks the real culprit is none other than the house of exotic skin handbags itself, Hermès, reports The New York Times.
Farmers used to sell skins to independent, family-owned tanneries who would pay a decent price for the raw skins. The tanneries would then in turn sell the skins to luxury houses like Cartier, Hermès and Gucci, according to the paper.
But in the '90s, Hermès started buying up tanneries and roughly two years ago became the largest exotic skin provider. (Now, the French brand is even breeding its own crocodiles.)
And apparently, the luxury house is demanding much lower prices from farmers -- sometimes below cost -- while other fashion houses cry foul over the rising prices of tanned skins.
"Every time I go to Neiman Marcus and say every year the price is going up, they fight me tooth and nail," George D. Malkemus III, president of Manolo Blahnik, told The Times. "They say, 'I'm not going to spend $4,000 for an alligator shoe.'" (We hear that!)
Gator farmer Zachary Casey has an explanation: Hermès is hoarding skins and forcing other fashion houses to pay inflated prices while leaving the farmers with few other options, says the source.
A spokeswoman for Hermès, Caroline Schwartz-Mailhe, emailed the paper in the company's defense, saying that Hermès is still aggressively buying from farmers "to support them in these difficult times and to respond to Hermès' increasing development in alligator skins."
Schwartz-Mailhe was also quick to point out that the luxury house only bought a third of the skins produced in Florida, Georgia and Louisiana.
But with so much hard work for little in return (never mind those snapping jaws!), some U.S. gator farmers have had it and are considering other opportunities like roadside zoos.
We're guessing these aren't of the petting variety.
Exotic skins may be outlandishly expensive but no price is too high for die-hard Brikin fans Naomi Campbell and Victoria Beckham.
Filed under: Accessories, Fashion, News, Designers & Brands
Tags: Alligator, Brikin Bags, Crocodile, exotic skins, farmers, handbags, Hermes, Manolo Blahnik
Tags: Alligator, Brikin Bags, Crocodile, exotic skins, farmers, handbags, Hermes, Manolo Blahnik
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