It says you’ve arrived. That you’re part of an exclusive club. That you are a fashion insider. And an affluent one.
Your purse packs a punch.
“In an age when nobility has no true signature, an expensive designer bag is the most rapid social shorthand for status,” Anna Johnson, author of “Handbags: The Power of the Purse” (Workman Publishing, 2001), writes via e-mail. “Between women it’s a sign of success and social mobility. Fiercely so.”
Customers this fall are lining up to spend $1,200 or more for such models as Chloe’s padlock-adorned “Paddington” and Fendi’s top-handled “Spy Bag.”
Stores have waiting lists for those designs, while styles like the 50th-anniversary edition of Chanel’s famous 2.55 quilted leather bag with chain handle are flying out of Neiman Marcus and Saks Fifth Avenue.
Why are status bags getting so much attention when, according to the consumer-research outfit NPD Group, most American women spend only $40 to $65 per bag?
Handbags are hot for a number of reasons. Trends flow down from the high end to the mass market, and companies serving both customers stand to bag big profits on a product that women love to buy.
Handbag sales in the United States were projected to be $5.76 billion for 2004, an increase of 8 percent, according to Accessories Magazine, which conducts an annual audit.
“Everyone is getting into it because there’s so much money to be made,” says Valerie Steele, director of the Museum at Fashion Institute of Technology in New York and author of “Handbags: A Lexicon of Style”
(Rizzoli International Publications Inc., 1999).
The status-bag market even has spawned online
businesses such as bagborroworsteal.com and bagstoriches.com that rent handbags to women who lust for them but lack the cash or the desire to own them forever.
Easy to buy, easy to wear
In addition, for the shopper, a handbag is a forgiving purchase, not requiring she be built like a supermodel. “You don’t have to be a size 2 or have a wonderful little waist, which helps you get over the despair of shopping,” Steele says.
And a designer bag can lend clout to a wardrobe at a price far below what a full outfit from the design house label might cost.
“One step up from perfume, the handbag is also the most accessible item an ordinary working woman can afford from a very exclusive house,” Johnson says. “Status bags are a cheap thrill, comparatively speaking, for those who want business class but are living coach.”
“Handbags are collectible in a way that shoes are not,” the author adds. “They don’t pound the pavement. They also are wearable in a way that hats are not. All you need is a manicure and you’re ready to rock.”
Women who buy status bags often speak of investing in the item, as opposed to clothing purchases that are likely to be in and out of style. “When you look at how often you carry a bag, it’s easier to justify (the price),” says Holly Kylberg, a Denverite who is busy on the social and philanthropic scene and is known for her extensive designer wardrobe. “In many cases, you are wearing it every day.
“I think with stores like Forever 21 and all the options we have, it’s easier to spend less and less on clothing. Handbags and shoes are maybe a more savvy investment,” she says.
Purses also are the type of item that can be put away after a season and recycled a year or two later, says Evelyn Dallal, a New York fashion public relations executive.
“I’m constantly pulling out my Epi leather Vuitton bags. I’ve worn them for years,” says Dallal, who used to represent Vuitton and now has another high-end accessories client, LAI.
“I’m an accessories person. I dress simply, but I love color and exotic skins. I never used to buy colored bags, but I’ve learned it’s a way to dress up your outfit.”
This is a prevailing thought about status style: wearing a single designer or a bunch of designer duds head to toe looks dated, while toting a Gucci purse while wearing a casual outfit sends another message: “You spent a bundle,” Steele says. “Nobody wants to look like a fashion victim.”
Decisions, decisions
But what bag does a woman choose? Which one is going to be the true “it” bag, a style with the staying power of Hermes’ Kelly, named for one of its most famous customers, Grace Kelly, or Chanel’s classic quilted bag? Or the more contemporary Fendi baguette or Dior saddlebag?
Designs from companies like Chloe and Balenciaga are gaining ground with young shoppers.
Michelle Heacock-Webster, handbag and accessories manager at Neiman Marcus, says she recently talked with a college-age woman who had her sights set on a status bag. “She said, ‘What I can really afford is Kate Spade, but I must have a Chloe bag. This is the only bag I’m getting.”‘
The store expanded its handbag department a year ago and added several lines, but Heacock-Webster says she didn’t notice “the explosion” in interest in bags until this past spring.
“I have had some Chloe and Fendi bags wait-listed since July. We basically take the orders and ring them when they come in. They never even hit the floor,” Heacock-Webster says.
She and others say customer interest is fueled by celebrity sightings, advertisements and other marketing by the handbag companies.
Fendi’s success a few years back with the baguette bag, which was seen on everything from the HBO hit “Sex and the City” to the arms of a slew of Hollywood starlets, led other companies into the game, says Ellyn Chestnut, fashion accessories director at Elle magazine. “The market was flooded with people who wanted to do an ‘it’ bag. Designers would want to know what we thought of them and were pushing us to feature them.”
For a bag to attain that status, Chestnut says, “It has to have coolness and wearability.”
Exclusivity helps, too. From many of the high-end companies, bags only trickle into the stores, leading to limited supplies and resulting wait lists.
Also a factor is that the bag be seen on the right people, including editors and celebrities. “Prada for many seasons would give fashion editors their bag of the season,” Chestnut says.
The focus now has shifted to celebrities, who provide “instant gratification” to companies when their designs are seen in magazines, she says.
And it doesn’t matter if Lindsay Lohan or Paris Hilton got the style in an awards-show goodie bag, if they are photographed wearing it, “the look is celebrity-endorsed, and it inspires people to buy,” says Deborah Rudinsky, merchandise manager for accessories at The Doneger Group, a New York- based buying office.
“Accessories play a much bigger role in a woman’s wardrobe than they ever have,” Rudinsky says. “It’s a sensible way of updating your own inventory, regardless of your income level.”
And when your budget won’t fully cooperate, you can still get into the game. Sandy McNamee, a busy mother of three, was having trouble deciding what purse to get for her birthday a few months back. “I knew I wanted a handbag, but they were so pricey. I love Marc Jacobs.”
McNamee’s husband found out about bagborroworsteal.com, a membership service for handbag lovers that rents styles for a set monthly fee, sort of Netflix.com for the fashion lover. “He got to present me with a handbag and the membership. It’s really fun,” McNamee says.
“I like the flexibility of the service,” she says. “This way you get to rotate your handbags without having to purchase them. Sometimes you buy a bag and you bring it home and it’s not right. This way, you can just send it back and get another one.”
Staff writer Suzanne S. Brown can be reached at 303-820-1697 or sbrown@denverpost.com.
