According to the businessoffashion.com: What this tells us is that consumers want novelty and get tired faster than in the past. Louis Vuitton has recently got back to growth, achieved largely through new canvas and logo products, including those created in collaboration with third-party designers, riffing on the LV monogram, of all things. The fact that Prada became a casualty highlights the possibility of fatigue risk from over-reliance on a few coveted shapes.
This may sound blasphemous, but even Chanel and Hermès may not be safe in the brave new world of handbags if they fail to replicate their past landmark successes with new blockbuster products.
I have a story to add to the “truth”. I visited a handbag factory in Guangzhou/ China to move my production and saw “PRADA” handbags everywhere on the plant’s floor. My first thought was, of course, this factory produces fake Pradas. But then a friend and the factory boss assured mw, these are no fakes. Under close inspection the leather, hardware and overall quality was really good so I didn’t add second thoughts.
Then, weeks later I ran into some problems with this company and I put them under more scrutiny. I noticed that the sample makers where making patterns from Prada bags, and I asked myself, this is a strange practice, I do not expect from a mega brand. Even if they diversifiy production, then they should use some kind of master samples and not let a factory quintessentially copy the bag. I also was questioning the fact they would only produce several hundred of satchels and men’s bags. Prada would not produce in a factory with less then a hundred employees, wouldn’t they? I asked, where do the bags go? The boss answered:” Shenzhen”. I expected he would say Shanghai, the fashion mega hub in China. Then I just said: ” I think these are just good fakes”. He denied and said he has a license from “PRADA”.
I put this all together. The bags were most likely very well made “Prada” fakes. I don’t assume “PRADA” hands out licenses to small Chinese factories, so maybe the “PRADA” store gave them a license and sells fake “PRADA” handbags to add to their bottom line and bypassing original inventory. A theory, I won’t be able to find out but it would cut into “PRADA’s” overall profit if the practice is more common.