Love It or Leave It: Louis Vuitton Earbuds

Outrageously over-the-top or fancy but functional?

If you guys are like me, than you try to let your wallets recoup post holiday season by avoiding the new arrivals sections of your favorite online shopping destinations. And while this is a tactic that used to work well for me, these days it’s not a plausible approach considering I work for a blog about handbags and fashion. If you’ve been playing it safe like I wish I were, than you might have missed what popped up on Louis Vuitton‘s website earlier this month. Friends, let me introduce you to the most extra pair of wireless headphones I ever did see: the Louis Vuitton Horizon Monogram Headphones.

Not your average earbuds, these portable, wireless buds were designed by audio specialist Master & Dynamic. They’re available in 4 colorways: white, black, red and Monogram striped. They’re designed to work with all Bluetooth equipped devices as well as Vuitton’s own smart watch. The earbuds are sold with a battery charger and a leather carrying case. Interestingly, the earbuds are only under warranty for 2 years, despite the almost 4-figure price tag. At $995 a pair, do you love them or would you leave them?

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Bryan Lepe

Leave it. If you’re going it for audio, they’re so not worth it. If you’re doing it to look cool… well… still not worth it.

psny15

silly yet fun!

Jerri R

Exactly. They are not gonna make you look cool. If anything, they will make you look image-obsessed & desperate

Bryan Lepe

Reads: Fashion victim

Albertine W

IA…plus there are much better ways to look cool with a budget of $1k haha

Master Green

This sounds so legitimate! Please tell me more!

momoc

Got a pair in red and really love it 🙂
You are not buying them for a pair of earphones, just like you are not buying higher-end brand bags just to hold stuff, or clothes just for keeping your warm…
I bought them because I wanted a pair of LV earphones. It’s that simple. If you don’t want that of course that’s fine, they are not for you and you weren’t who LV thought of when they came up with this. Honestly at this stage why is a blog like purseblog even asking these questions – everyone here should know very well how this whole luxury-brand-image-capitalism-consumerism thing works. I mean, you remember the supreme bricks and hermes rock, right? We’ve been over this and it’s been old news for so long now. I a, beginning feel like PB is getting a little deliberate and desparate recently.

Kate

Whenever anyone wonders why would anyone buy such product, she can just imagine the product in question is 1% of the current price, in this case, $10 for the Louis Vuitton ear buds, she would understand 🙂

momoc

Haha, that’s a fun way of putting it!

I really believe concepts such as “overpriced” and “worth it” are just very, very different depending on the person, and it is both in terms of how much they can afford to spend, and how much they like the brand stuff. (The second part is as important, obviously even if someone has a lot money but aren’t into things like this then it’s still overpriced to them).

I should say that I do think our society and culture as a whole is definitely pressuring people to spend above what is actually “worth it” to them, and I don’t like that either. But if it’s within their means and they like it, then it’s very much a sensible purchase.

Kate

Very well said!

AYM

Quite honestly if your in the market for superior sound quality earbuds, i wouldnt go to a fashion house for the product, I’d go to a company that specializes in technology. Granted most liklely the reason that people buy these is not for the quality, but for the recognition and the branding.

momoc

These are actually the exact same earphones as made by Master & Dynamic (an audio equipment company) but with LV branding on it (and on the battery case, charging cable, and so on – yeah even the like USB bands that comes with them get an LV logo). It’s a collaboration between LV & a company that does earphones. The exact same earphones without the branding is offered by Master & Dynamic for $300. In other words it’s literally $700 for LV logos on an existing product.

Again, for me, that is a perfectly fine price tag, and I *know* for many people that is completely ridiculous – but the point is that people like me do exist 🙂

I did do a research on the original Master & Dynamic earphones model though, for what it’s worth. I read reviews to make sure they are actually good headphones. They are. Most say that they are a little priced though at $300 (in other words you may finder cheaper ones with same good quality that are less). But again I wasn’t setting out to buy earphones you know? I wanted LV earphones, and it turns out they are pretty good earphones, so no hesitation and I booked a pair immediately.

Candee

While I think they are cute I’m not interested in paying almost $1K for them. However, while I don’t prefer them I understand the appeal and feel that ppl have the right to purchase whatever they want, without criticism. I purchase items that my friends don’t understand the appeal, but I’m buying for me and not them. So enjoy!

Olivia Isaksson

Momoc, I just love your reasoning. May I ask you, just out of curiosity, what gender and age you are? 🙂

momoc

Thanks! I’m female and ~30 years old.

FashionableLena

If money were no object…yes.

emily

Very interesting. I love my wireless earbuds, but that seems a bit too much for earbuds!

Sparky

Nice! I’ll take them – for $20.00!

Master Green

Would you really wear these? I wouldn’t even wear these if they were free!

Sparky

Yeah, as a joke. I think they’re funny! But only for that $20!

Jerri R

I thought I was a logo-whore until I saw these earbuds. I am not that desperate to brandish.

Heart_of_au

Does anyone feel like this dilutes the brand a little, at least to an informed consumer? They’ll stick their logo on just about anything.

Master Green

I agree with you.

Master Green

The price is not really the problem here… it’s just how ugly they are! It’s for the logo-desperate fashionista I guess…

miChiaroscuro

No…leave them…

Mary Smith

Yes – if price didn’t matter to me. Like if I was a billionaire. Yes I would. In a heartbeat. The red is very pretty.

LAReese

If they would get me to the gym more, I’d buy them in a heartbeat;-)

Passerine

The plain black ones, ok. The red ones maybe, but only if I were wearing or carrying nothing else that was logo-obvious. Although this will never be an option for me because even if these were the best earbuds on earth, I simply hate earbuds period. I’d much rather wear over the ear headphones. And also, as a public transport user, the iPhones with no earbud or speaker jacks are the bane of my existence. Instead of buying cordless earbuds, too many teenagers are simply playing their music or videos out loud on the trams, buses, etc. Even here in Switzerland where people are normally pretty considerate. Anyway, people are listening to too much loud music via earbuds. A good friend is an audiologist and her business is booming. She’s seeing hearing loss in people under 40 that she generally saw only in people over 60 when she first started her career. She’s so busy with younger patients affected by hearing loss that she’s been able to put a hefty down payment on a vacation house on the Jersey shore. Silver lining and all that, I guess. Ok, ok, off my soapbox!

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