Yikes... Looks like we're facing another Chanel price increase. This one is supposed to be pretty serious. Rumor has it that we're talking up to a 20% hike! Apparently, Chanel is worried that they are becoming a "main street" brand "like Louis Vuitton". When they want go the more exclusive Hermes route. From Madison Ave Spy:
Consider this: In 2008, a 227 Reissue was $2850. Today the same bag costs $3600 and could jump to $4100 if current indications are correct. That's an approximate 40% increase in just two years. There's nothing Main Street about that type of price shift. As a matter of fact it's not even Wall Street reality.
Well, it's targeted for August 1. So we'll have to see. Maybe Fashionphile needs to have one of it's famous "Price Increase Sales"! You know the ones- where your favorite brand increases its prices- so Fashionphile gives you a break in time to stock up
Go ahead and enter! Of course, we'd love it if one of our Fashionphile readers won this amazing bag! It's a Marc Jacobs Quilted Venetia- a handbag staple IMO!
This is a pic of Cameron Diaz carrying her un-quilted version. It's just such a great style! I love it.
I know in my last post I blasted Louis Vuitton for designing cases for products outside their fashion expertise. But when FIFA decided to collaborate with them on providing the case for this year's cup trophy, I say design on. I am dying for the international event to begin June 11th of this year and I couldn't think of a better company to put in charge of protecting the most important trophy in the world than Louis Vuitton.
I don't know if it's because the wound is still too open from Apple's recent stomping on its once most trusted fan and ally, the little guy, but I have to admit I am not a fan of this case. That almost seems impossible to imagine seeing that this is coming from an avid mac user since 2002. I am on my 4th mac computer, I have gone through 4 iPods, I'm on my second iPhone, and yes I snagged the iPad, which I love. What can I say... I'm an early adopter techno geek. What I don't love is Louis Vuitton's continual exploitation of the fleeting technological devices, whose size, function, style, and capabilities change just as often as they possibly can. I get it. I recognize that each year when that new gizmo comes out, the previous one that has completely satisfied me till the very second I became aware of the new one has utterly become obsolete. It becomes a burden to even look at. These guys bank it big time on maximizing our techno needs.
When I think of Louis Vuitton, I think of a brand that produces timeless pieces of designer luxury that transcend these concepts of fads. I think of classic photoshoots of Audrey Hepburn and her speedy. I think of Twiggy and her papillon. Those images could just as easily be used today and no one would suspect it from being old. To give you an idea of what I'm talking about here are just some of the cases that Louis Vuitton has created over the years, whose longevity lasted almost as long as the devices they protected:
Let's just hope the LVMH attorneys don't learn of this one or we just never know what they'd do. In this episode, the gang attempts to verify an old story of a lighter more mobile version of the iron cannon that was evidently made out of leather. And of course if they were going to be doing some fine craftsmanship with leather, they may as well go luxury. I won't spoil the ending but do you think it'll work? Sorry but the Discovery Channel's website doesn't allow embedding of their videos so click here to watch it on their site.
One lesson I learned early on in my marriage is that if I wanted to be able to watch all the sports I wanted, Id have to succumb to quality time with my wife watching Gossip Girl, The Bachelor slash Bachelorette, Dancing with the Stars, and Americas Next Top Model. As painful as these shows are to watch, sometimes theyll surprise you, like in the beginning of this clip from ANTM, with some helpful information.
If you're gonna build a house over a 9 car garage with a car elevator that enables you to display them one at a time in your living room, you may as well make sure your wife stays happy while also displaying some Louis Vuitton soft luggage at the same time.
One of my favorite time wasters is Photoshop Disasters, where they expose graphic "artist's" mistakes in ads. It covers anything from the classic accidental omitting of a limb to distorted bodies that always makes you wonder, "One, how could the "professional" designer make that mistake, and two, how did no one else catch it before it went live?" Anyway, here's the latest from Chanel with an obvious cut an paste of the model on to a new background...Kind of looks like something my mom would do. No offense mom!?
Here's where they got the orignal: (see for yourself here and here)
Today Louis Vuitton unveiled their latest window display, definitely not going down as their most creative design endeavor yet. Though I still do like to give all those who aren't from around here a glimpse of Rodeo. We share the alley way with them and it's always fun to watch them unload the huge boxes with custom ornaments each time they change their display. As you can tell this version, I guess the boxes werent so huge.
Our friends over at "Extra" invited us to take part in a little giveaway to promote their new online site. So being the good friends that we are, we were happy to be involved! We are giving away a $500 gift card that can be used on absolutely anything in our store.
Check it out- and enter to win!!! Truth is, that they've got soooo many viewers- but we'd really, really like it if one of our bag loving Fashionphiles won it! So go give it a try!!!
