Jed boards the epitome of bootek
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Etsyđ§
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Lol deck is at full tilt and the trucks arenât turning
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Didnât read everything (blame it on the fact itâs almost 4am)
Iâve seen people give their opinion on what they consider to the definition of both sides.
For examples:
Production would be when proprietary parts are created for a general use
Meanwhile
Boutique is customized to each customer
âŚ
Where in this definition does Lacroix stand?
Lacroix has multiple proprietary and mass produced parts yet customizes every board to the customer who ordered it (even beyond when special requests within the realm of possible are made)
Lacroix is very small in terms of staff and yet very big in terms of production. But thatâs just because Alex surrounded himself with the best possible locally sourced team he could (and the occasional Brazilian).
Iâm using Lacroix as a starting point because I personally have experience in the company. But who would others position a company like this on these lines without actually being in said companies?
Conversation done. Back to sleep
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Iâm in a said company.
#fuckboutique
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Iâve been managing a restaurant for almost a year now 
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Do you hate yourself or is available work just slim?
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A bit of both. Nah, Iâve always loved the social aspect of my jobs and Iâm good with people.
I admire people who can like people.
#fuckpeople
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Thatâs because they are channel trucks put at 0 degrees. Genius.
Good ol SLRboards, solar powered too!
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Oh i know. Just baffling that even made it to being a rideable(?) board, let alone a promotion photo.
Itâs like advertising an esc with a female xt90s on it 
who would even do that!?
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If the builder isnât willing to construct/customise a product they have created to your specifications, its by definition a production board. Regardless of whether its from Lacroix or Lamborghini, youâre buying a product the vendor considers to be a âstandardâ product, not a something that has been engineered to your specific requirements.
âBoutiqueâ is a terrible adjective in a marketing context, itâs in the same league as âPremiumâ. Its an overused and stupid term used to present a small business as having a degree of expertise (which it may, or may not be true). It should be associated with care, craftsmanship and quality, which would be clearly evident from a technical or aesthetic perspective, Just because a company ships a limited number of units, or has few employees, doesnât mean it is âboutiqueâ or their products are âboutiqueâ, it might just as well mean the business is being run inefficiently, has poor customer service, or its products are low quality. Just because something is expensive, popular or desirable, does not make it boutique.
Throwing adjectives like boutique (or premium) around is messy and generally overestimates builderâs expertise. @jack.luis I might suggest the word ânicheâ might be more appropriate (as in niche vs production), as this relates to the particular requirements of customers seeking a specialised product instead of a more generic product.
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100% bespoke is the right word for the job.
I actually somewhat disagree with the inclusion of more expensive parts though. I find that any store that calls itself a boutique usually is charging exorbitant prices but the product itself varies from secondhand vintage wares to upscale collections (retail clothing specifically at this point).
I wouldnât expect to walk in to a clothing boutique and see 10 of the same shirt in different sizes.
I wouldnât expect to walk in to an esk8 boutique and see 10 of the same board either.
I believe that âboutiqueâ had come to carry with it a certain air of elegance and is often used much like the word green to convey a feeling more than an actual indication of quality.
Good points all around. Huzzah!
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I feel like thereâs still a distinction there though, between a boutique and full on customs. You might not be able to customize things like battery or decks/enclosures and stuff like that in a boutique, but there is the capability to along the production line should a change be requested. A full on production brand could not make individual changes on the assembly line just pull a board from inventory, while custom is full on bespoke, with everything able to be changed by the customer.
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This isnât boutique though. This is bespoke.
People with money may buy $2k loafers. The people on yachts buy bespoke (custom made) shoes from people you have never heard of.
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I see your point. If I walked into an esk8 boutique, I wouldnât expect a rack of the same board, even if small production and high quality.
I might expect each one to be customized/unique in some special way. Perhaps not a requirement for boutique, but strongly suggests that.
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Of course youâre allowed to compared them. Itâs done every day by a large number of potential customers.
Artificial barriers thrown up to justify not making certain comparisons is ignoring the reality of how a customer chooses what to buy IMHO. They donât care how a product is classified. They only care about cost, appearance, features, or whatever their priorities are.
HmmâŚthere are a few who place more value on labels for a product and might favor âboutiqueâ over âproductionâ brands or models but theyâll still do the comparisons between them.
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Imo boutique can pretty easily be considered a subcategory of production where there are boutique production boards and midrange production boards.
Production to me means any board where multiple of the same board are being produced at quantity.
Bespoke is where we leave production and go into the realm of complete custom orders for the board. Price not usually an object, purpose built for every customer.
Boutique would be low quantity production run, high performance boards that focus on unique custom parts or a niche rather than going for mass appeal. Shadowfax put it best I think when it comes to customer perception:
These you will usually pay a premium for because of their (relatively) small quantity. Usually hand built by people rather than machines. Tweaking/tuning these boards is usually expected or encouraged. I typically expect customer service to be stellar and pretty much assumed to be built in to the price. High end brands fall into this category.
Mid range/ regular production boards are focused on high output, mass appeal at (usually) as low a price as possible. These tend to cut corners more often than not in search of price cuts to maximize profit, and they usually have less human hands on the board during assembly. Usually not meant to be modified/tweaked. Customer service typically not great. Mid to low end brands usually fall into this category.
As Mooch said itâs kinda hard to put a hard and fast line unless the company labels themself as such. Otherwise consumers will kinda just put whatever labels they want. I would say this gets the most difficult once you start getting into the $1500+ price range where you start to get price overlap between mass production companies and the smaller businesses.
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Where does @defiantboardsociety sit considering these conclusions?
Iâve been thinking of them as boutique but so far they seem to ascribe to the definitions of production, bespoke as they are.