Why Are Designer Bags So Expensive?

To fashion fiends everywhere the designer handbag is the status equivalent of a Rolex timepiece or the Italian Ferrari. 

A mouth-watering combination of whimsical excess, chic details and unquestionable luxury, the expensive designer bag says to the world, you are the best.

Have you ever wondered what's behind the enormous huge designer bag price tags?  Here are 6 things every woman needs to know before buying their dream “it bag”.

Both use a big H as a logo, but Hermes is certainly not Hilfiger. A Hermes Birkin is expensive because of the reputation of the design house and its legendary dedication to craftsmanship and quality.  One of the few bags that holds their value over time, women patiently wait for years on lists to receive a special order Birkin bag which can cost in upwards of 100,000 dollars.

The designer bag celebrity effect

The fashion design houses often hire celebrity stylists and publicists to place their accessories on the arms of starlets. The celebrities function as walking billboards and often receive these objects of handbag aspiration free of charge. When Hollywood celebrities appear in photographs with designer bags in magazines - the value of the purse in the eyes of the designer bag enthusiast skyrockets.

Does your designer bag have iconic status?

If the grand dames of the designer handbag trinity: Grace Kelly, Jane Birkin and Jacqueline Onassis carried it; women desire it.  As muses for legendary fashion houses Hermes and Gucci the relationship between the icon’s historic style and the design house’s royal reputation increases the public’s thirst for the items. Symbols of everlasting elegance and glamour, attach these three legendary names to the origin and design of a bag and voila; everybody and anybody must have it.

Bag snobbery is not a new phenomenon

Luxury brands like Cartier, Hermes and Louis Vuitton served the French royal court in the 18th and 19th centuries. Fashion house artisans spent hours designing these objects d’art for aristocrats, and in later years exclusively for notable American families.

Unlike today's trendy it bag often banished to purse purgatory at the end of a season, designer handbags of the past were considered lifelong companions; accessories for royals and family heirlooms for the well-to-do. Created for the wealthy European elite, these leather goods reeked of sophistication and elitism while the strict attention to detail justified the high expense.

Legendary craftsmanship makes the designer difference. Combine premium leathers, suedes and exotic animal skins with the legendary artisanship of the designer bag emporiums and you’ve got a recipe for a luxury big ticket item.

Limited edition designer bags

Labeling bags limited edition is a branding tactic used frequently to send designer bag aficionados into a bag feeding frenzy. When Gucci celebrated their 85th anniversary in 2006, Creative director Frida Giannini reworked the classic hobo shape for designer bag lovers. The bags, sold in Gucci stores from July through December of ’06, were priced in the 4,500 dollar range. 

You now understand why a designer handbag is so expensive. With the information above you can shop with the Andre Leon Talleys and Nina Garcias of the world with complete confidence. Armed with this simple purse primer, you now can speak expensive designer handbag fluently.

Mechele Pellebon reports on fashionable finds, designer bag trends and deals for the modern wardrobe. Follow Mechele on Twitter and join her network of friends on Myspace and Facebook.

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