That is very strange. Every Kooba bag I have ever had since 2004 were all made in China. Where did you get your bag? Could it be a Prototype?
Hmm... This is strange. I have a black Kooba Blake and unless I'm terribly mistaken it stated "made in Italy" right inside.
I'll investigate this further when we return home next week!
Meanwhile, if most Kooba's past 04 aren't made in Italy then that helps explain a lot to me on their pricing!
Lovebags, as far as I know, no Koobas were ever made in Italy before 04 or after. It is a US New York based company. All of the older Koobas I have had pre 2004 either were made in China with some of the earliest being made in NYC. The Inner floral or striped designs were very colorful and on their zippers were fabric labels that said Kooba NYC. The Company started in 1998.
The Blake is a newer bag from last season and no new Koobas were made anywhere but China. I don't want to alarm you but there have been alot of Fake Blakes and one of the prime tactics of Couterfeiters were to put Made in Italy in the bags to make them seem even more valuable.
Do you mean the price is lower or higher being that they aren't made in Italy? Most Koobas retail for 595-725.
I have owned three Kooba bags (down to two) and none of them were made in Italy. As far as the leather, only one has good leather IMO...and that's my Marcelle. Everything else stains very easily, which kind of bothered me.
$195 and $295 seem awfully low for Koobas. Even in outlets and heavily discounted sales, I have never seen them that low. Lexie is right on the money on the range...I did buy one at $475 retail but it was a small bag, a Kiera if I recall.
Overall, I like BE leather better.
I don't have a lot of bags but they are all BE. I had never seen anything from Kooba until I became a member of TPF. I love the look of some of their designs but was wondering how the leather quality stacks up against BE?
Anybody got both who can advise? If I were to purchase a Kooba bag, it would have to be online as I haven't found any stocked here in the UK (or maybe I'm looking in the wrong stores!), same goes for Linea Pelle. I don't want to risk buying something online, paying the shipping etc only to be disappointed in the quality.
I have the following BEs:
Petrol SMM (gold h/ware)
Tan Matte Hold Me (gold h/ware)
Black Cervo Hold Me (purple lining, silver h/ware)
Choco Matte Hug Me (silver h/ware)
Wishlist
TMA Midi in Cream Cervo with red lining and gold h/ware
Aubergine Adore Me with grey lining and silver h/ware
Hi Ladies,
I was doing my hour cardio yesterday at our hotel and guess what? It hit me what I "think" happened. I solved the mystery of Lovebags "Made In Italy" Kooba. You have to admit ladies I do add quite a lot of excitement on this forum. Never a dull moment with me around. LOL
Here's what happened:
Last month I cleaned house on many of my handbags. I've told you all by now that I'm a true fan of buy one and sell two rule in my home. In any event, I was going thru one of my Tod's bag and that's the ONE (I think) that said MADE IN ITALY. I think I got my Kooba and Tod's mixed up last week in my thread. Of course, I"m on vacation and I can't confirm but now I'm quite certain that's what happened. My apology everyone for the confusion.
Lexie, your a sweetheart. I'll properly reply to you when I return home.
Fascinating - I was desperate for a Kooba back in 2005 but real ones were hard to find in the UK. I have been nursing a quiet desire since then but I think that I will drop that after hearing what most of you say about their current quality.