Deluxe III

Why women fancy handbags? Handbags are visible on the body and give the wearer the chance to brandish the logo and publicly declare her aspiration. They are the easiest luxury fashion item to sell because they don't require sizing or trying on: you look at it, and if you like it, you buy it. "It's easier to choose a bag than a dress," Miuccia Prada told her, "because you don't have to face the age, the weight, all the problems." For brands, it is easy money. Unlike shoes and clothes, there are no leftovers because there are no sizes. "Everyone can afford a luxury handbag, Karl Lagerfeld said. Handbags "make your life life more pleasant, make you dream, give you confidence, and show your neighbors you are doing well." (p. 168)

The luxury brand handbag is a study in globalization: hardware, like locks, come from Italy and China (primarily Guangzhou); the zipper comes from Japan; the lining comes from Korea; the embroidery is done in Italy, India, or northern China; the leather is from Korea or Italy; and the bag is assembled partly in China and partly in Italy. The sourcing is sometimes as questionable as the true provenance of the bag. (p. 202)

Luxury brands deny outright that their bags are made in China make their bags in China. Thomas visited a factory in Guandong province and she had to promise the manufacturer that she wouldn't reveal the brand names. Each brand made the manufacturer sign a confidentiality agreement stipulating that he could not reveal the fact that he produced their products in China. (p. 197)

Vouge China is among the most popular fashion magazine in China, selling about half a million copies every month. The editor Angelica Cheung said, "Most Chinese buy luxury as a status symbol rather than taste. They like logos. The want people to know the are carrying something expensive. You see people walk into stores and say, 'Where is this brand from? Italy? Must be good!" They can't pronounce the names and they don't know where it comes from. The just want it because it's expensive." (p. 303)

"Chinese people," said Tom Doctoroff, director for JWT advertising in Shanghai, "will gladly spend a price premium for goods that are publicly consumed. But it's like buying a big glob of shiny glitter. They know which brands are famous, but they can't tell you the difference between them in terms of quality or design. [They buy] to burnish their credentials as someone of the modern world by stocking up on a year's supply of prestige." "These people," explained Wang Lianyi, an expert in comparative cultural studies at the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences, "are rich economically but lacking in basic manners, and they are not very fond of their own reputation," and they "not only want money, they want people to respect them in the future." (p. 307)