AW '09 "Shine" Leather Issues?

[jennirane]

Sally suggested that we start a (perhaps low-post-count!) thread to keep track of any issues with the "Shine" leathers due out in the Fall... Several of us have some sample pieces, and it seems that the Grape Shine, at least, does seem to be having some flaking problems with the shiny coating... I'll post pics of my Grape Shine Celina cuff later today, and hopefully Carlie can re-post the poor Biblio pics here as well... To date, we've seen or heard of the Grape Shine, Yam Shine, Black Shine, Grey Shine, and there's something someone is calling "Midnight" (a dark blue-black) that might appear on the Clara Flap bag.

So... any issues with a Shine sample? Have you contacted HH? Let's keep track of them here... (AND if you've got a Shine sample but no issues so far, post that as well!!)

[sallyca]

Thanks Jenni!!! I know a lot of hotties are waiting for the fall bags to come (like me) and it will be helpful if we have more information about any flaking problem. It could just be an early batch of grape shine with problems and nothing more than that.

[jennirane]

Here are pics of the peeling (mainly on the rounded edge under the buckle and on the back "cinch" piece of leather, but in general along the edges) on the Grape Shine Celina... I'll be emailing these to HH tomorrow...

[paelaf]

^^what the d*ck?! love your celina, but no likey the peeling. They best be fixing that.

[sallyca]

It looks like the same problem that was on Carlie's biblio.

[lulu3955]

OH NO Jenn! Your lovely grape shine celina!! I don't remember hearing the story on how you procured your cuff jenn do tell?!?!

[enga4]

My heart seriously sunk to my tummy seeing that. I hope they fix that hot purple mess w. some hot green backs.

[jennirane]

A friend in NY scored it for me But it's definitely an AW 09 sample.

Should also mention here the sample Clara Flap bag that was recently sold on Bonanzle:

http://www.bonanzle.com/booths/nonna.../items/7995950

The seller describes the three "Shine" leathers as Grape Shine, Yam Shine, and "Midnight"... when she describes the condition of the bag, she notes that there are a few spots where the Grape (only) is peeling... so perhaps it's just an issue with that color, although that doesn't make a lot of sense... process should be the same. So I'm interested to hear if any of the Yam samples (or Black Shine, which may be what she's calling "Midnight") have the same issues...

My bad... she just calls it a "midnight black" so my guess is that the main body of the bag is the "Black Shine" we've been led to expect...

[lulu3955]

I love that clara! it's so cool looking!

[gingeybear]

I can only sit for as long as it takes me to post this, and even this is too long..and then I need to go rest. No pain meds during the day because I still have to function. I'm wearing a hideous corset-like thing and taped up like The Mummy (the Mommy?).

I'm posting because I have to let you know that I emailed Toni about how ticked I was about the Michelle scarf. I had posted a query on the HH site about why no dimensions had been given for the Michelle..and when I saw them I was livid. My scarf is half the size..it is an ascot..NOT a scarf.

More about that when I can sit and it's not relevant to this thread. I don't want to leave you with that so to make a long story short, suffice it to say, it was resolved. Yes, I'm pissed that I had to have the "kadoorim" or "cojones" to go to the top..but I was getting NOWHERE and I don't give up.

Amigas, I'll go into details next week. I was not responding to email...so she called me and I raised not only how furious I was how I was mislead and some of the other Hotties were too during that particular auction but I was on pain meds..(thank goodness not a major dose or I would have been loopy and incoherent)...in fact..I brought up ALL and I mean ALL of the issues and frustrations that we were having and feeling towards HH during my year of TPF membership and HHHottiedom...(of which I am unduly proud and pleased to be in such illustrious, intelligent, sarcastic, witty, compassionate, loyal, pottymouthed and toilet brained company).

I am neither making any excuses for nor am I approving how anything was handled or anything else; I am merely relaying the relevant portions of the conversation. I told her about MY issues with two cuffs, the Sapphire Celine that is shredding and the Grape Shine Ramone where the finish is coming off as well as what had happened to Carlie's Grape Shine Biblio and that I owned a Yam Shine Lorca that I was now hesitant to use.

I also conveyed to Toni that had bought both cuffs at the same time and that I wondered if the peeling and shredding was due to the fact they were samples and perhaps the finish was not set in stone and the glitches were not ironed out before production, and I called so that someone at HH would be aware of an actual "crash test dummy's" opinion after use. The answer I received was a "thank you, you can send it back but we can't replace them", therefore I opted to keep them. Nothing more than that was mentioned other than "they may not be included in the line because we are aware of the problem of those two textures and colors" or something similar.

I believe somewhere here I may have posted something about the Sapphire being the same texture as the Pewter and the Bronze Distressed leathers and therefore I warned that the Laura Reversible tote may have the same problems. I also posted that perhaps the shredding issue is due to the wear and tear from opening and closing the cuffs and may not be the same issue with bags but that it was just a conjecture on my part.

Long story short. Toni relayed the information that HH had no choice but to change manufacturers some time in August during the production runs of the merchandise for the launch of A/W 2009 . Toni explained that quality was sub par and did NOT meet up with HH's standards and implied there were other things as well.

I asked her if that was the case, is that why there is such a delay on some of the items and are ALL the shine leathers susceptible to peeling...and was told that the peeling issues were with the Grape Shine and the Grey Shine ONLY and had been rectified. I am NOT the HH mouthpiece here. The entire phone exchange was initiated because Toni wanted to explain that there was a MAJOR SNAFU when it came to my scarf and I was 1,000% correct in my assessment.

Sooo...Carlie...I bet your Grape Shine Biblio was one of those defective ones from the factory that was "fired"...ditto your Celine jenni and my Ramone..and possible the Sapphire too...and is not indicative of how the rest of the Grape Shine Biblios will wear...at least I hope so..again..I'm merely conveying what I told..nothing more.


OK, let me make this clear for any of my amigas here who think I am an HH Ho and mouthpiece without a mind of her own..and am pimping HH and making excuses for all the fcuckups..NOT SO!

I told Toni this..and I'm telling you this..I'm fiercely honest and independent ....I'm NOT swallowing the HH Koolaid and I am not a PR rep either....in fact..I'm miffed that some of my very pointed remarks and inquiries about CS, delivery times, descriptions on the website, accuracy of photos to be TTL, screwups during sales and auctions, were sidestepped completely and I got the feeling that some of what I was asking was overstepping..I still want those answers.

I do understand that the design shop and the warehouse are not near each other even though they are both located in Brooklyn, and Toni expressed her frustration about the lack of coordination between the two at times..so as far as that goes..nothing new for this chica to report back that is any different from my first conversation with Toni about this.

So...I can't explain either why there are delays in the S/S stuff, or why some of the things are backordered from that collection...but perhaps this explains the extremely long delay in some of the A/W stuff dropping..and what is going on with shine leathers for A/W 2009...oh..one more thing..I really really was vocal about how HH screwed up the descriptions of how many things were being auctioned during the Spring Auction, how there were NO specific descriptions of issues with any of the samples other than the general disclaimer and the FINAL SALE policy..etc etc etc...and was told that Toni is design and everything else is delegated to various people..not sure who the people are..PR agency...in house people..out house (no..not outhouse..sorry...) outsourced agencies but that is what I inferred. I could be totally off the mark..so as far as that goes.

I am still not sure how to go about resolving some things..to be frank..if I had not spoken to Toni back in March..I wonder if I would have gotten anywhere with CS other than to return the Michelle scarf..and even that had not been an option for me until I contacted Toni....so I am fortunate that I could do this..and I wish everyone who has been having issues would have the same resolution..

However..to be fair, on the one hand, this was the first time that any problem I had with HH had NOT been resolved to my satisfaction..Nitza really goes above and beyond..I believe she was not sure how to deal with this since Toni and Ben had been on vacation..BUT on the other hand..I HAD raised the issue of the scarf being OOAK back in April when I saw it in the lookbook..and was told it was not being produced..that was MONTHS ago..and she could have asked someone in the know..and maybe she did and they thought I would cease and desist pestering them..(AS IF..WRONG CHICA, HH)...so you see..I have mixed feelings about the way THIS was handled by CS.

Nota Bene: I would greatly appreciate it if you would not quote anything I wrote here in emails to CS if you have issues. I am not the go between..I am not anything or anyone who knows what is truly going on behind the scenes..I'm not embedded in HH to report back here either. Contact CS..talk to Nitza or whoever..and ask them who you can speak to..I have no idea who is in charge of what..I would HATE to be misquoted...I was not recording this conversation so I may not have everything straight..OK?


Over and out...I may be back later today once finish what I have to do inside and outside (brrrrr...cold and nasty)..I just felt that I HAD to let my HHHomegurlz know about this.

[kate83675]

Originally Posted by gingeybear

(of which I am unduly proud and pleased to be in such illustrious, intelligent, sarcastic, witty, compassionate, loyal, pottymouthed and toilet brained company). Don't think I've ever been called toilet-brained before... I am neither making any excuses for nor am I approving how anything was handled or anything else; I am merely relaying the relevant portions of the conversation. I am NOT the HH mouthpiece here. Thank you, thank you, thank you Gingey for taking the time to relay your conversation and for telling Toni what we're all thinking over here. OK, let me make this clear for any of my amigas here who think I am an HH Ho and mouthpiece without a mind of her own..and am pimping HH and making excuses for all the fcuckups..NOT SO! I doubt if there's even one of us that has been here for any time at all who would be silly enough to believe you're anything but independent and honest nor that you are an HH puppet! I told Toni this..and I'm telling you this..I'm fiercely honest and independent ....I'm NOT swallowing the HH Koolaid and I am not a PR rep either....in fact..I'm miffed that some of my very pointed remarks and inquiries about CS, delivery times, descriptions on the website, accuracy of photos to be TTL, screwups during sales and auctions, were sidestepped completely and I got the feeling that some of what I was asking was overstepping..I still want those answers. Over and out...I may be back later today once finish what I have to do inside and outside (brrrrr...cold and nasty)..I just felt that I HAD to let my HHHomegurlz know about this.

Yay! that you got your scarf problem ironed out! Nothing like having a bad taste in your mouth over something like this and HH needed to get it addressed finally.

[quizshow]

Thanks GB for voicing your/our concerns and getting some answers. I had a feeling that the A/W problems had something to do with the manufacturer or shipping the goods from that area of the world (pirate issues perhaps?). It's good to know the shine problems have been corrected (hopefully).

ETA: and very glad to hear your scarf issue was corrected!

[merrygold]

Thanks for the intel, Gingey. I'm glad to hear that the QC issues are promised to be resolved with future grape and grey shines. I didn't know that the Sapphire also had problems. I guess I'll need to scratch the Laura Reversible off my list now.

Quizshow, China and HK are perfectly safe and stable areas of the world.

[quizshow]

Originally Posted by merrygold

Thanks for the intel, Gingey. I'm glad to hear that the QC issues are promised to be resolved with future grape and grey shines. I didn't know that the Sapphire also had problems. I guess I'll need to scratch the Laura Reversible off my list now. Quizshow, China and HK are perfectly safe and stable areas of the world.

Yes, I know that, but shipping from there sometimes requires going through other unstable areas.

[jennirane]

Thanks for the update, Gingey! I'd been thinking it was some major issue with manufacturing that was delaying things... I, for one, am fine waiting on things if it means I'm getting quality items. I'm sure it was a difficult decision to completely change manufacturers, but I appreciate that they didn't want something going out that wasn't up to their standards.

I wonder if we'll see the Yam Shine and Black Shine items first, then?