While the rest of us buckle under sustained inflation and high interest rates, the luxury fashion houses have been increasing their prices with a quickness. In 2020, a Chanel classic flap bag was $6500. Now it’s over $10,000. I really think a lot of them are shifting their strategies and who they want their customer bases to be. Pharrell Williams is Louis Vuitton’s Creative Director for their menswear. He debuted a new version of their classic Speedy bag (the one made famous by Audrey Hepburn before Paris Hilton revived it in the 2000s, what a history!). This one costs a million dollars. Why? It’s made of crocodile skin instead of canvas, and has diamond and gold hardware. It’s made to order and only available to VIPs, in a range of Crayola-bright colors. Jacob Elordi was at the airport the other day with a green one. Pharrell’s own one, that he wore to Paris Fashion Week, is yellow. Athletes like PJ Tucker and LeBron James are wearing it. But honestly? I think the Millionaire bag looks bad, and I’ll explain why.
Forget everything about quiet luxury: Pharrell Williams’ new Louis Vuitton Speedy is as loud as luxury gets, down to the $1,000,000 price tag.
Sold only on a made-to-order basis, the “Millionaire Speedy” bag elevates the popular silhouette to a whole new level (and price bracket), swapping the commonly-used cotton canvas for crocodile leather, using gold hardware and adding diamond pendants as embellishments.
Available starting January 4, the six-figure accessory can be crafted in one of five colors: red, blue, green, yellow or brown. Williams himself toted the bag in canary yellow around Paris Fashion Week this past season.
Williams was appointed to the head Louis Vuitton’s menswear division in February 2023, succeeding the late Virgil Abloh. Ahead of his debut this past summer, he told WWD that handbags would be a focal point of his tenure.
Okay, the reason why I think this bag is going to look bad quickly is that the crocodile leather has less structure to it than the traditional treated canvas. The canvas Speedys will also get kind of misshapen and blob-like over time, but it’s already happening–LeBron James’ one looks worn out already. The reason why Pharrell’s looks good is because he must have put a piece of cardboard in the bottom so that it would hold its shape. Even though this bag isn’t a real product and it’s mostly marketing, I think this is part of the overall strategy for brands like Chanel and Louis Vuitton. The dirty secret about the luxury houses is that most of their money comes from the middle-to-slightly-wealthy classes buying leather goods, fragrances and cosmetics. A lot of regular people, if they cared enough, could save up for a few years to buy a Louis Vuitton or Gucci bag. Middle class people buy these luxury goods to feel secure in their own class status–we want to have the trappings of wealth, if we can’t have the reality. People will always buy things (if they can) that reinforce their identities or help them enact a powerful fantasy. The brands knew this and they pursued a pricing strategy to match for certain parts of their product lines. But the aggressive price hikes, along with a million dollar bag as a stunt, telegraph to me that the luxury houses are now chasing a different customer base: the truly wealthy. They don’t want to be perceived as accessible to someone who makes, say, $100,000 a year. They want the uber-rich. But do the uber-rich want them? I’ve crossed paths with that kind of person, and at least the Old Money uber-rich never carry ostentatious bags around. They have a scuffed plain black handbag from Tod’s that they got in 2004, or their grandma’s Hermes Kelly. The uber-wealthy don’t need to prove themselves, so they don’t need to buy a million dollar bag. That’s my take, but I’m cynical.
photos credit: Backgrid and via Instagram
“But honestly? I think the Millionaire bag looks bad,”
I agree. It looks bad and it’s tacky and not in that way cool, sexy Dolly Parton tacky either. Trailer park tacky Sarah Palin tacky.
I honestly think LV needs a proper designer in this role. Pharrell doesn’t have the chops for this. At. All.
Agreed! Virgil Abloh was a genius, he was always going to be a tough act to follow.
Totally agree, they look cheap.
two words. ludicrously capacious.
screams lemme advertise for free for LV.
1 million dollars? And it’s tacky as hell?
One good thing about it, when it comes time to eat the rich, we’ll be able to find them easily enough
hahaha
There’s a very sharp write up on these bags at Pajiba, it’s worth a read and says much the same @HeatherC.
Has anyone actually paid $1 million for it, though? LeBron’s looks like the leather version.
The true rich, the extremely rich really don’t care about designer labels. It’s actually seen as tacky to show off designer labels on bags, shoes, or clothes.
They do care about well-constructed and well-made clothing, which lasts. They aren’t interested in fast fashion.
My guess they are going after the trust fund babies hoping to stir up a need to show off labels again.
My boss is a multimillionaire. He told me he looks for charity auctions that put designer bags up for auction. That way he can buy his wife the bag at a discounted price and get a tax refund on it. The rich never want to pay full price lol.
Yes and Silicon Valley venture capitalists drive Subarus and Toyotas. Many fly commercial because it’s safer. (They’re staying at some amazing hotel or resort, though.) These people don’t want us to gawk at them. They want to disappear under the radar and do their thing.
This! And meanwhile celebs are used for the less rich to throw their money on purses and shoes and cars.
I stopped buy purses when COVID hit – shoes too (unless it is sneakers or maybe a lower heel work shoe). And it was liberating.
What a waste—with so many people suffering and so many non-profits (that actually give back to humanity) struggling.
100% agreed. That’s what REALLY looks bad here.
The LeBron James green one is not made with crocodile skin and doesn’t seems to have a gold chain. I guess the bag exist in different materials/prices/standards
Yes, I think LeBron’s is the leather version and there’s also a canvas version. Pharrell’s has the crocodile patterning on the surface, LeBron’s has a smooth surface and the red one that Rihanna is holding has the pebbled surface of the traditional canvas bags.
love your take on this, I agree if you see somebody with a logo on their clothing or accessories, you can be fairly certain they are not very rich at all, as the rich don’t broadcast their wealth in that particular way.
Also, good luck to those fashion houses who only want the uber-rich on their customer list, there are only so many billionaires and only so many pieces they’re going to buy from each house (IMO), when profits are all that matter and you only want .5% of the population as customers, you’re going to hit a wall eventually and profit shareholders are not going to be happy about it.
Flying back from Malaga in Spain recently I had to chuckle at the number of ‘Christian Dior’ stiff fabric tote/shopping bags that were on the security belt.
@missmerry,
“There are only so many billionaires”
— that’s not the case anymore, which is why he’s aiming for this market. The number of billionaires has increased exponentially. Currently over 3,000. This graphs maps them out by region:
https://www.visualcapitalist.com/mapped-the-worlds-billionaire-population-by-country/
Most are not just one-billionaires, they are billionaires many many many times over. The old money rich are still there, wearing their old money clothes. But there’s a new crop of billionaires who don’t adhere to the same quiet luxury rules. Never mind the many many many newly minted hundred-millionaires who want to roll with the billionaires.
The NYTimes wrote about the members-only and concierge services that are springing up to support those on this race to live an ever-more-priviledged life.
Behind the Gates of a Private World for Only the Wealthiest New Yorkers https://www.nytimes.com/2023/11/06/nyregion/nyc-rich-private-clubs.html?smid=nytcore-android-share
Like hiring a “laundress” who irons a shirt, one shirt, for 30 mins and earns $45/hr. Nanny services where live in nannies do a few weeks with you 24/7 and rotate out so you never need see your kids or be responsible for them (nevermind that your kid won’t even get the consistency of the same nanny), the dog walking services that will take fido on upstate nature trails so he doesn’t have to walk in a city park with the peasants’ dogs …
It’s quite a read.
Eat the rich. They are so very very ready to be eaten.
This screams ” new money”. Tacky.
Hermes bags have lost their luster since reality “stars” have started carrying them. I would rather purchase a bag from a custom leather maker or small business. The quality is still there and you’re not advertising for a tacky brand.
Serious question ….. why is he wearing his dressing gown in the first pic?
Yep, i defo think the luxury brands are trying to be more exclusive, what with the boom of reality stars and social media influencers. but 1 million for that bag screams tacky, try hard, and ‘please rob me’ .
luxury brands have indeed lost indeed a bit of their exclusivity shine and have seemed more accessible to people with regular income.
Paying one million dollars for a bag is dumb, I don’t care how much money you have, it’s just dumb. I’ve had my speedy for over 20years and it keeps its shape because I collapse it and store it flat when not in use. I also try not to put anything too heavy in it.
I don’t get it. I never have. I understand paying for quality, or even just for something you LOVE, but not for a logo. I think there are some Uber-wealthy people who will pay big bucks for an ostentatious bag like that. But so-called “Old Money” won’t. They might buy Chanel or Louis Vuitton, but it will be subtle and classic. That, or they’ll buy a bright cheery Lily Pulitzer for using in the Hamptons or Aruba or something.
It is true that, if kept in good condition, some luxury brand bags hold their value fairly well and can be sold when the owners are ready to part with them. I have a very hard time imagining one of those Million Dollar Monstrosities being anything more than a waste of money. How can a bag that costs THAT much possibly hold it’s value?
Carina—you speak the truth.
For a number of years, I was a personal assistant to an heiress—a family with deep roots (a recognizable name) and generational wealth. Here are my observations re attire:
The true upper class would never be used as an endorsement i.e., wear branded products. Clothing was custom made, shoes ordered from cobblers in England or Italy. No logos or anything suggesting trend. Money was no object for a singular piece—whether it be a custom clutch or piece of jewelry; every purchase was executed quietly by trusted associates and every item purchased was of a quality meant to endure.
Lives are led in quiet elegance, not opulence, and power is asserted, when needed, in a very subtle manner.
@Carina — you’re not cynical, you’re spot on with your analysis. This is nothing more than pandering to the nouveau riche who clammer for ridiculously over-priced crap to show clout and status…”LOOK AT MEEEEEE!” Those with generational money don’t flaunt it, in fact some I’ve known some who drive old cars and shop frugally, and leave their money to charities instead of nepo children.
Why spend a million dollars on that ugly bag when you could hire a personal chef and eat the most incredible food every single day?
This bag isn’t for millionaires, it’s for the insecure lower rich class.
I think it is disgusting that we are still killing animals and using their skin for fashion. Seriously gross.