A top leatherworker has revealed the actual cost of a 'glorified plastic' 1,700 USD Louis Vuitton bag.

Tanner Leatherstein dissected the brown designer briefcase and concluded it was ‘trash' after tallying up the estimated price of materials and labour used on the luxury item.

Footage shows Tanner at his workshop in Dallas, Texas, using tools to cut through layers of the bag to show the materials used - with most of the bag made from canvas.

Being a leather craftsman himself, Tanner detailed the materials used in making the LV bag and how much these actually cost, branding the luxury item 'glorified plastic trash'.

Tanner believes the raw materials and labour cost around 170 USD to make the item, which then retails for around 10 times as much.

He said: ‘I destroyed my new Louis Vuitton bag to understand the materials, the quality, and labour involved.

‘As the label states, the bag consists of main three materials: coated fabric, cowhide leather trim, and man-made lining.'

However, he claimed this proved that the bag was mostly made with ‘glorified plastic'.

He said: ‘Let me tell you why it is trash for the money I spent. Most often, Louis Vuitton is associated with leather and luxury.

‘And after waiting in the line for a while to buy this bag, the sales rep told me that the most common material they use in these bags we see all around is not even leather. They said it's coated canvas. What is that? I realised it was glorified plastic.'

He noted that the luxury store used high-quality stitching and metals for the bag sourced from well-known producers.

He said: ‘The metal accessories and zippers are made of high quality, as expected.'

However, the craftsman calculated the cost breakdown and maintained that the bag's price was exaggerated.

He said: ‘I calculated the cost breakdown of this bag in three categories.

‘The outside leather would cost about 50 USD in my experience using a 4 USD per sqm ft leather which is usually a pretty good leather. Inner fabric lining would cost somewhere around 20 USD.

‘The second category being the accessories, metal buckles, rings, and the zippers, I total up to be about 30 USD.

‘The last piece is the craftsmanship, the labour side of it, it would cost me about 70 USD.'

‘As a leather craftsman after taking this back to my workshop I knew I didn't get what my 1,700 USD is worth. I decided to make it better using really good leather.'

In another video, the craftsman went to his workshop to create a ‘Frankenstein Luis Vuitton' that he said was even better than the original.

After the bag makeover, he concluded: ‘Especially if you think about how much money you spend on this bag it is definitely a fail on the value you get for the leather quality.

'So what you're getting from Louis Vuitton is not the leather or the quality of the leather. You're buying the status and that's also a great thing that people seek after.

'And as long as you're aware of that, that's totally fine it's a great brand.'

ViralPress / Tanner Leatherstein