Authenticate This Kooba

[iluvmybags]

OK Ladies. I recd my Kooba Sienna bag. I checked all the details, comparing them to older Kooba bags. The name is embossed on the side, check. Brown fabric signature lining, check. Leather zipper pull (which older bags had), check. Braided end tassels, check. It's got a single sided tag (which again, older bags had), check. I also looked inside and could NOT find a Made in China tag, which I understand is also true of older bags.

The one thing I am not sure of is the quality of the leather. I know - it's hard to tell from pix, but I"m gonna try. The leather to me is not smooth, but it's also not pebbled. It's grainy & distressed, soft and squishy, but the handles seem a little stiff and almost have a "cracked" appearance tot them. It also does not seem to have that "yummy" leather smell that new bags usually have (Granted, if the bag is authentic, altho it is new, it is really 2-3 years old).

here are a couple of pix. Im' sorry they are not that great - we got a new camera, it's not very good at taking these kind of pix. If there's something in particular I should photograph, let me know & I will try.

Thank you in advance - I told you that if I had any doubts and/or questions, I would come here, so here I am.

[iluvmybags]

here are a couple more

[helpl!!! slush]

just as a suggestion so the ladies can help you even more maybe take a picture of it next to (like 1/2 on top of) your other one so that the difference in the 2 leathers are right next to each other??

just maybe it will help even more! :)

[Cheekers]

For some reason I cannot get the exterior pic to enlarge.

[iluvmybags]

Originally Posted by helpl!!! slush

just as a suggestion so the ladies can help you even more maybe take a picture of it next to (like 1/2 on top of) your other one so that the difference in the 2 leathers are right next to each other?? just maybe it will help even more! :)

I only have one. This is my first Kooba purchase.

[iluvmybags]

Originally Posted by Cheekers

For some reason I cannot get the exterior pic to enlarge.

Try it now - I was using the edit feature, maybe that's when you were trying. I just tried all of the pix, and they all worked for me.

[iluvmybags]

maybe these will give you better idea?

[iluvmybags]

here - I used my scanner for the tag.

[iluvmybags]

One more thing I wanted to ask. Does anyone know whether or not Kooba uses a brand name zipper for the inner pocket? The zipper inside this bag does not have a name on the backside of it. It's just a plain gold colored zipper.

[KoobaLover]

There are two things I am questioning right now. For one, the interior zipper looks like vinyl, not metal. I am not sure if there were variations on this with the earlier Kooba lines though. The second thing I'm trying to figure out is why the tag doesn't give a value for the MSRP... it's just blank there? Makes me wonder.

The leather in your pics looks good to me. Kooba leather is never uniform, so you'll have to live with the variations. However, my Sienna is over 2 years old and still has the wonderful, rich smell of leather.

I dunno???

[KoobaLover]

Originally Posted by iluvmybags

One more thing I wanted to ask. Does anyone know whether or not Kooba uses a brand name zipper for the inner pocket? The zipper inside this bag does not have a name on the backside of it. It's just a plain gold colored zipper.

Nope, the zipper on my Sienna is not branded (nothing on the back or front...).

[iluvmybags]

Thank you for your reply. See, this is what I'm thinking.....All of the details of this bag seem to check out compared to older, original Sienna bags (fabric lining, embossed name, leather zipper pull, etc.). I can't seem to find anything that jumps out and screams FAKE! IF this bag were a fake, it would have been made a while ago, when Kooba was still using fabric linings (why would anyone produce a fake Kooba w/fabric lining nowadays??). I don't think the quality of the fake bags were as "good" as they are today. Nowadays, you can get a mirror image designer handbag, and you have to practically put the bag under a microscope in order find the details that make the bag fake. Back then, fake bags weren't made so well, and the details did not match up so perfectly (remember the early fake MJ bags and Balenciaga? UGH!).

This is is why I tend to believe it is an authentic Sienna. It's the leather on the bag that I'm wondering about. Unfortunately, I haven't seen & touched a whole lot of Kooba bags in person, esp the earlier ones. My thoughts on the earlier bags were that they were probably a little better than the bags of today (since this seems to be the case w/most designers that produce "It" bags). But the leather on this bag isn't any kind of, "knock your socks off" WOW! kind of leather. To me, it's nothing special, and it certainly wouldn't keep me coming back for more. I don't know, maybe I'm spoiled from years of MJ, Balenciaga and more recently Chloe (I know the leather of Kooba is way diff than any of those). But I would have at least thought the leather on a Kooba bag would be around the same quality as, I don't know...maybe an Isabella Fiore bag (the leather on my original WhipFlash is heavenly!), but again, it doesn't compare.

Anyone have any comments on the Sienna leathers?

[KoobaLover]

Originally Posted by iluvmybags

Anyone have any comments on the Sienna leathers?

My Sienna is very broken in, and very slouchy-smooth. It is a heavy leather though, and cannot compare to Balenciaga which is much softer and lighter. I pulled out all my bags today and took pics for the Bags Showcase, and the one thing I noticed is how heavy the Sienna is compared to all of my other bags.

I also have an IF Audra (the Whipflash Revival), and while the leather on that is nice, it doesn't even come close to being as good as the leather on my Sienna.

If I was ranking the three on a scale of 1-10 it would go like this...

10 Balenciaga
7 Kooba Sienna
4 IF Whipflash Audra

The Audra leather is nice, but rougher and pebbled. I haven't seen one of the original Audras IRL, so perhaps there are variations as well... Hope my opinions help!

[iluvmybags]

I know what you mean about Balenciaga. NONE of my bags even come close to comparing those leathers. I think Balenciaga is in a class of its own when it comes to leather. Are Sienna bags a little more "stiff & firm" when they are new? Esp the leather on the handles. They are a definitely more stiff than the body of the bag. Maybe the leather will soften over time & with use?? It's just like I said, if I saw this bag in the store and felt its leather, while I agree that it is soft & mushy, it's nothing spectacular, and I don't think it would be something that I would say WOW! I gotta have that.

Like last week, I was at Nordstroms, and I saw a Gustto bag for the first time. I was like WOW!WOW!WOW! I have GOT to get me one of them! This Sienna - - I probably wouldn't have much of a reaction.

Do you have an early Sienna (one w/fabric lining) ?

[KoobaLover]

Originally Posted by iluvmybags

Like last week, I was at Nordstroms, and I saw a Gustto bag for the first time. I was like WOW!WOW!WOW! I have GOT to get me one of them! This Sienna - - I probably wouldn't have much of a reaction. Do you have an early Sienna (one w/fabric lining) ?

Nope, my Sienna has the olive-colored ultrasuede from a couple of years ago. I know what you mean about having Gustto-lust. I've never fondled one IRL, but the pics some of the gals here have posted of their Bacas... Ahhhhhh... They look so dreamy.