Tag Heuer Watch

The Swiss are known for their watches and this Tag Heuer is no exception.  Timex has a museum in Connecticut but their manufacturing is in China or Switzerland. President Obama had to give up his Tag Heuer for a special NSA secret decoder model. This Invicta model is quite stylish and made in the USA as well as watches from RGM in Pennsylvania.

As a side note, Tag Heuer is owned by Louis Vuitton Moet Hennessy (LVMH) who reported a ( stagnated?) net profit of $2.6 billion for 2008, unchanged from 2007. Of course, stockholders have done well with Bernard Arnault since so many “luxury” items are made in China.

You can get some real insight into the fashion industry and profit structure by reading this book Deluxe: How Luxury Lost Its Luster by Dana Thomas. It wasn’t that long ago we weren’t so brand crazy with wealth and profits being spread more equally among the citizens.  When that changed it turned out to be no so good.

Barack in a USA made suit

Obama’s tall, slim frame is a designer’s dream, and they’re all busy with their sketchpads. After wearing this navy blue two button suit, it’s been a popular request at Chicago’s Hart Schaffner Marx. It sells for $1500 AND it’s made right here in the USA.  He’s also been photographed wearing  Italian Ermenegildo Zegna suits but we’re hoping he’ll stick with the home grown to further sales of American made products.  If he gets tired of the Hartmarx offerings he can pick up some Joseph Abboud suits manufactured in New Bedford, Massachusetts.

The ability to be both “cool” and stylistically “just right” has elevated Obama to the ranks of pop-cultural icon and fashion muse, and he’s already begun to influence haute couture and street fashion.  He appears coolly confident on the covers of Men’s Vogue and GQ as well as Ebony — as one of the “25 Coolest Brothers of All Time” — and Vibe, a hip-hop magazine that dubbed him “B-rock”.  So, a man with this much fashion clout can certainly keep America’s tailors busy.