Best and worst quality Contemporary brands?

[RayKay]

Hm..
I must just be very gentle; I can't think of many outright quality issues I've had OTHER than the general decline contemporary well-known brands are inflicting on us.
My MK are all the softer, 'higher end' (for Michael Kors) leathers, but nothing other than normal corner wear...
Same with my Kate Spades, they hold up surprisingly well externally considering how lightweight they are (I'm old school and associate light with cheap) though the linings are often cheap-looking to me.
My bags from a nobody company called Boden, out of England, are very comparable to KS quality wise.
I like my Marc Jacobs and my one MBMJ. They're just kinda there.

Coach..? I take good care of my stuff. My Carly is not frayed anywhere. I LOVE my pieces made in NYC. I oughta check out their throwback line but I hadn't needed to cause the actual originals are SO AWESOME.
I confess a love of Fossil. All their stuff EXCEPT the jewelry is very well made for the cost. Jewelry, keep clear. I will say, Fossil is hot & cold.New season? I either want every single bag in every color and all the bag charms and all the keychains... or I can't flee the store fast enough. Just..avoid the jewelry. The outer plating is gonna be gone in a month.

Dooney!! Yeah, they can't win on styling. For a long time they caught mad crap because everything was too young, I'm a grown woman not a middle schooler, etc, and now I hear a lot of everything is too old, I'm a young woman not a retiree or a lawyer, etc.
They hold their heads high with the big dogs as far as how well the bag is constructed and out of what quality components. Some people got scared off because they read three posts about bad ones..?
Spend some time in the LV threads. THeRE shalt thou hearest many tales of woeful quality, of canvas one hath paid four digits for that hath cracked before the sixmonth is out.
Everyone turns out some stinkers. Frankly if I never read anything but slobbering praise, I suspect shenanigans. Paid fawners. It's the gist that matters.
I have only had two Dooneys whose poor performance I could lay at Dooney's door. Actually, one is partly my fault; I stored it in a garage and the coating separated from the canvas. Yeah, maybe they should plan for that. I mean, cars get hot. People leave purses in cars. Invent coated canvas that withstands heat. BUT it's unrealistic to expect it withstand for three years straight , I guess!

Mostly I lament the general decline in contemporary quality. Everyone can see Rebecca Minkoff isn't the same now. Coach?? Please. Pretty soon it's going to be either Factory quality for a hundred bucks or slightly above average for nine hundred.
Everyone is cheaping out wherever they can get away with it and no sir, I don't like it.

Have you really looked over in the Coach forum about the Coach 1941 stuff?

I highly disagree the 1941 line is "slightly above average". My own Rogues/1941 are amazing quality - wonderful thick glovetanned leather, suede/leather linings, beautiful stitching, wonderful little details. My Rogues are amongst my top favourite bags ever. Beautiful and so functional. While their newer kisslock bags are not my personal style, they are beautiful and if I was into collecting bags just to collect I would gather them in every style/pattern.

Stuart Vevers, who has a strong history with premium brands including Mulberry and working with MJ at LV, is doing amazing things with Coach with leather goods, accessories, etc, and getting recognition for it. They are working to move away from the rep they have gained for factory items.

 

[Dooneysta]

Have you really looked over in the Coach forum about the Coach 1941 stuff?

I highly disagree the 1941 line is "slightly above average". My own Rogues/1941 are amazing quality - wonderful thick glovetanned leather, suede/leather linings, beautiful stitching, wonderful little details. My Rogues are amongst my top favourite bags ever. Beautiful and so functional. While their newer kisslock bags are not my personal style, they are beautiful and if I was into collecting bags just to collect I would gather them in every style/pattern.

Stuart Vevers, who has a strong history with premium brands including Mulberry and working with MJ at LV, is doing amazing things with Coach with leather goods, accessories, etc, and getting recognition for it. They are working to move away from the rep they have gained for factory items.

I understand that. I did not say that their top-end bags were slightly above average.
I said if they are unable to correct the trajectory they've been on for a long time now, that's what it will someday come to.

I know they're trying to dodge the bullet. I hope they do. But it's hard, when you've spent years training consumers that a Coach bag costs X (factory prices) to get them to believe that EVERY Coach bag can't cost X. They don't understand.
If you could, you'd say 'look, you shallow dopes. Glove tanned leather lined with more leather and solid brass fittings cannot be sold for the same price as siggy fabric with cotton lining with cheap plated fittings. Why is this something that even has to be pointed out??'

But they've never HAD anything really nice, just been label w&@$#% since they were teens. They'll pick the cheap factory bag because they don't see a reason to spend that much more when all their posse is just looking for the logo anyway.

This mentality is not isolated to Coach, god knows, but they seem to be the most staggering example. Maybe Michael Kors too.
I do hope they get right. I love my Coaches. My only siggy fabric one is the Carly, but I love it even though that thing was ERRRYWURE back in the day. My others are all leather and most are vintage. I do have a couple nicer Factory bags. Factory does not have to be a lost cause either.
It's too early to tell at this point because they're struggling not only against themselves but a culture of cheap/fast.
Everyone wants the impossible. They want the cows to get treated well but milk can't cost more than three bucks a gallon, by god. I want manufacturing jobs in America but don't even think about charging more than $15.97 for those jeans. And so on.
Coach has a struggle on its plate for sure to win out. But no, I'm not claiming their full price lines are slightly above average at all. Not yet.

 

[LaChel]

I have a fairly large Coach collection and, in my opinion, the vintage handbags, hands-down, win for durability. It irritates me immensely to see corner wear on a newer Coach purse that shows wear after 2 wearings. My purses never touch the floor or a dirty surface so I am just baffled at how the leather seems to disintegrate on some models. Recently, I was in search of a black satchel with gold hardware for winter everyday use. The Rogue 25 caught my eye although it is a bit too boxy for my taste, I ended up saving several hundred dollars by going through my well-stored vintage and found a beautiful Coach Vintage satchel in near perfect condition. At least 5 people - all younger than me - have complimented me on it and asked me what model it is because they "want one". It looks like Coach is reaching a younger audience with Selena as their spokesperson.

 

[Dooneysta]

Well, Selena is so pretty, hopefully she'll be good for them.
We have to start teaching young people though that quality is better than quantity and price. We used to do that; prior to, I would say, WWll it was normal that everyone knew what to look for to indicate that a product was well made. People in general had less disposable income throughout history than the average now and it was important that your money bought something you weren't going to have to buy again for awhile.

Obviously that is not fashionable now.

But it could probably be. The local/small/handmade/etc movement is growing. People are falling over themselves to point out how darn local their product is. In some enclaves you could make child labor hip if all the kids were local and like, repurposing an old downtown that Wal-Mart put out of business, probably.
The movement to reduce waste in manufacturing and keep stuff out of landfills is big now too.
You could harness all this and use it on young people. Say look, local and handmade is great and all, but part of why you think so is because you associate it with better quality. Our stuff is lasting quality though, look!
And because of the quality it starts with, you can keep it out of the landfill for thirty, forty years! We could teach people to think this way again, except..

This also requires teaching the STOCKHOLDERS their expectations are unreasonable too. Good luck with that though.

 

[pianolize]

thanks for the warning! I was looking at some Zadig & Voltaire bags a while ago and liked the look, but I don't want something that will fall apart easily.

That's so sad to hear, since I've had one for a few months now and am just starting to use it!

 

[pianolize]

Have you stopped to take a look at any of the new designs? The 1941 line by Stuart Vevers?

There is a hugely stark contrast between his 1941 line, and anything prior I've seen!!! I noticed the difference immediately and was shocked!

 

[jade]

There is a hugely stark contrast between his 1941 line, and anything prior I've seen!!! I noticed the difference immediately and was shocked!

Yes, these bags are much nicer than bags even costing $1500. Finding leather lining is difficult, even when paying $1000+.

 

[wkim]

Herve Chapelier. I buy them cheap, use them to death for about a year and then re-gift or donate.
Coach. Stewardess and Patricia (not the re-boots, the older ones) from 2010. Still look brand new. I love what SV has done with the line, though
Sezane. Vadim tote is T.D.F. I'm almost afraid to carry it!
Mansur Gavriel (2013 line). Bucket bag and tote are still riding hard. I use the pouches as my wallets, and the patina is perfection.
My HG right now is an Oak Bayswater, because patina. I take care of my bags, but don't baby them. It's going to haul books, toys, food, and travel to random places - from an airport in Europe to a village somewhere in Kenya. I need it to perform, and I almost NEVER get rid of good quality bags.
My first 'designer' bag was a Kate Spade - 2009 or thereabouts. Good at first but the quality went south, so I consigned it. I still have a Charles David Silvia hobo from the mid 2000's that looks like a dream. Can't bear to part with her (and yes, she got the 'I'll take you to a muddy village and put you down in the dirt' treatment. AND STILL LOOKS GOOD.

 

[Antigone]

Before I started getting into bags late this year, I wasn't interested in them and just got them based on utility.

I've only had one Coach bag. A messenger canvas big bag that can be worn crossbody or on the shoulder. Bought it in 2012. I recently gave it to my mom. I can honestly say it looks almost the same as when I bought it. Granted, I haven't used it that much in the past few years but I've used it for travelling, etc.

I am also a fan of Furla and Fossil.

 

[Dooneysta]

Before I started getting into bags late this year, I wasn't interested in them and just got them based on utility.

I've only had one Coach bag. A messenger canvas big bag that can be worn crossbody or on the shoulder. Bought it in 2012. I recently gave it to my mom. I can honestly say it looks almost the same as when I bought it. Granted, I haven't used it that much in the past few years but I've used it for travelling, etc.

I am also a fan of Furla and Fossil.

I like Fossil too...their quality is good for the price. They’re also great price for value on watches. Not jewelry; it’s very badly coated metal and gets tatty looking fast.
But handbags... I find they have on/off phases, where either I’ll love everything and could drop two grand OR everything is lame. But yes, people should check out Fossil; I wish they had a group.