Just a few years ago, if you looked at any red carpet or a fashion runway, the western style handbags being showcased were particularly gaudy and crazy looking. There wasn’t much focus being placed on the usefulness of bags as much as placing the importance on how large, feathered, printed and garish a bag could be. Put simply, the emphasis was placed on the panache versus the quality.
That trend has certainly slowed however, with the world economy on its knees and the average unemployment rate consistently hovering around 10% in America alone. Granted, high fashion handbags are not a normal consumer item – with prices in the thousands, only the rich and famous can generally afford the bags. But, this trend is affecting middle of the line bags as well.
I’m certainly not the only one noticing this complete turn in handbag fashion and sales. Catherine Caines has an article in The Australian that talks about the change in the overall theme for handbags:
“…post-recession, the flashy monograms and in-your-face styles have gone, replaced by a more discreet species of clutches and totes that is driving the recovery of the handbag market.
When sales of handbags in the US alone fell 3.3 per cent to $6.97 billion last year, according to market researcher NPD Group, fashion brands across the world began working overtime to transform their designer dinosaurs into smaller classic investment pieces that would appeal to the more judicious consumer.”
The report notes that lots of high end designers are shifting to a ‘smaller is better’ theme for their pieces, while maintaining a lofty level for usability, which adds a significant amount of value to the bags being offered by Prada and the like. If you’re looking for a high end bag that has usability, this might be the best time to find one!
Leave a Reply