4:32 p.m.
Say the name “Burberry” and you’re likely to conjure an image of khaki trench coats and prim tweed suits, but Burberry is your grandmother’s brand that has now gone modern with a vengeance, pushing aside the emphasis on staid wardrobe styles and refocusing on the bread and butter of every brand with respectable world wide aspirations: accessories!
Bags, bags and more bags, plus umbrellas, wallets, cuff links, caps, scarves, gloves, boxers, belts and socks. Pretty much anything that’s not a dress, shirt, skirt or pair of trousers contributes a greater good to a company’s bottom line by crossing stylistic and geographical borders without the difficulty of needing to fit a wide variety of shoulders, hips, arms, necks, legs and backsides. I mean, a blouse that fits a South Side London girl is not going to play well on physiques in Tokyo, but a studded leather shoulder bag bridges all continents with ease.
UK: Burberry half-year profits climb 31%
“Burberry Group’s profit for the six months ended 30 September climbed 31%, with luxury handbags a key revenue driver . . . Reported revenue increased 15% for the interim period, reaching GBP (British Pound) 449.1m, with accessories including handbags representing 31% of sales. Currently, luxury handbags in the group’s European and US retail stores account for 50-60% of all handbag sales compared to less than 40% a year ago, and less than 5% 18 months ago.”
Charge cards to the rescue!
If you’ve been wondering why you’re seeing new luxury stores cropping up that look more like shrines to the handbag than a proper clothing store, sales figures like this are the reason. The handbag is the singularly most profitable item in every major designer group’s arsenal, with mark-ups that approach 1000% and no hassles with difficult sizing or unpopular hem lengths — and if you’re Louis Vuitton, you can just recycle unsold handbags and call it a special limited edition must have!
Or you can just grab one of these great new Burberry studded bags, made special for the 21st century brand whore! You gotta admit, it’s pretty darn sweet:
This is my favorite kind of stud.
