Celine price increase
- Thread starter foxie-pooh
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Could not have said it better....It is really a catch-22. A brand wants to be exclusive, yet it still wants to be WANTED....if a brand is barely known (NO ONE I KNOW RECOGNIZES THIS BRAND, NO ONE), then it is very difficult to create that "allure" of the "bag that I want, but can't have" I fell in love with this bag VERY VERY randomly. I was randomly googling "black leather bag", that was it...and fell apon a pic of the mini luggage....needless to say, my life started (or ended) with that moment. Otherwise, you can't see them in stores, and thus many women have no clue what they are even missing. So what would make them buy a bag for such much money, when to them Celine may still be a "no name"???
I have said before that I love the fact that my bag is not recognized, and that I dont see them everywhere. However, I alone am not enough (all of us on here are not enough) to keep a brand alive. They need to pull in a following. Celine has won me with PP genius, but J is right, did they get too big for their britches too soon???????
Exactly! You ladies said it well.
When I fell for Celine I knew nothing of the brand, and it was only later I realized Phoebe Philo was at the helm. I still love that I don't see the luggage everywhere, and most people don't know what I am carrying.
Celine has started to build a strong following, but is by no means on the level of H and the Birkin. They now risk alienating the same customers who have contributed to their success so far.
I think you are right, but they are 100% going about it the wrong way. Celine is in the very infantile stages of their new-found popularity. They are absolutely jumping the shark. How are they supposed to really & truly get their brand and pieces out there when they have prematurely jacked the prices up so much that normal consumers cannot afford their pieces? I absolutely love Celine. I carry the Mini 99.9% of the time. My other bags go unused. I can tell you that nine out of ten people have zero clue what I am carrying when I'm out in public. I receive compliments quite often, from men and women alike, but none of them know that I've spent $2k+ on the bag, nor can they readily identify the designer.
PP is a genius, but she is not a miracle worker. One cannot reinvent a brand and make it an exclusive, ridiculously expensive classic overnight. These things take time. IMO Celine has moved too quickly.
While I agree that most people don't recognize a Celine or know anything about the brand, I think this is true about Hermes as well. I know that no one around me would recognize a Birkin from a Luggage. Most of them haven't even heard of Hermes. But people in the know, know about the brand, and they should know about Celine - Celine has been around for a long time. It's only the line under PP that's relatively young. Celine is not a young brand. I think the idea that the average person can't afford a Luggage or Box Bag is exactly what she's aiming for, just like the average person can't afford a Birkin or Kelly or Constance. Because the prices are so insane, Hermes bags are usually reserved for a more "elite" crowd who truly KNOW the brand and I think this may be PP's goal for Celine, especially for bags like the Luggage and Phantom and Box - I think she wants it to stay relatively unknown and out of reach for most except for those who truly know and appreciate the brand, but may not want to spend the $$ for a Birkin or Kelly. I have a feeling that with all these price increases, they're trying to weed out the customers who bought the bag for its IT status, while trying to keep the customers who don't care about carrying the most recent IT bag, and to whom these price increrases only mean that they will be able to own something that the average person can't really attain. The ones who want "Hermes status" w/o dropping Hermes bucks.
Perhaps it is a regional thing, because *everone* around here knows what a Birkin is. Even DBF.
I also know that Celine has been around for a longtime, but their popularity is rather new-found.
Oh, also I wanted to add... You mention that PP may just want the brand to stay out of reach except for those who truly know and appreciate the brand. Ok, that makes sense, but when do prices become ridiculous? I appreciate Celine, but I'm not paying $2400 for a Mini that was darn near a grand less, less than a year ago. Where is that line in the sand?
Don't shoot me, but here in Europe is a different story. If you have a look at a lot of the European Bloggers websites they are carrying Celine, There are enormous ads for the brand in all the major magazines. PP is big news here. Not to mention that editors/journalists are carrying the bags etc over fashion week. Hermes has become pretty unobtainable for a lot of people and lots of people are looking for the next best thing. Celine's minimalistic approach, and yummy colours and leathers seems to have hit the spot. It is near impossible to find the luggage in the popular colours here. Bags sell out so fast you have to be on a waiting list or have a really good SA to find one that you are looking for. Dover Street Market had a line outside before it opened last Saturday of people looking for the pink mini luggage. While the demand is there it makes marketing sense for the brand to put up their prices to cope with the demand. If the price gets too high and people stop buying, then there will be no drastic increases in the future.
Blogger/editors in the US are carrying Celine as well, and the bags are certainly not easy to come by. There are waiting lists for every seasonal color (as well as many basics) and most bags are sold before they ever hit the sales floor. This demand is part of the reason we are seeing such rapid price increases, although I wouldn't say the price increase is to cope with demand, but to capitalize on it. The other aspect of the price increases, as others have said, is brand strategy.
Whatever the logic behind it, I think many of us here who discovered and appreciated Celine before the rise in popularity are feeling stung by what amounts to a more than 50% price increase in just over a year.
Perhaps it is a regional thing, because *everone* around here knows what a Birkin is. Even DBF.
I also know that Celine has been around for a longtime, but their popularity is rather new-found.
Oh, also I wanted to add... You mention that PP may just want the brand to stay out of reach except for those who truly know and appreciate the brand. Ok, that makes sense, but when do prices become ridiculous? I appreciate Celine, but I'm not paying $2400 for a Mini that was darn near a grand less, less than a year ago. Where is that line in the sand?
That's what I'm saying - for people who want a Celine bag because it's the "next best thing" to Hermes w/o the Hermes price, won't mind paying the extra $300-500 for the bag. It's still far less than a Birkin.
Hermes has a faithful following and they'll continue buying the Constance and Birkin and Kelly bags no matter how high the price goes. Hermes doesn't seem concerned about alienating its followers, just as I imagine Celine isn't worried about it - those who still want the bag for what it represents will still buy the bag.
Look at the Contance and Box bags - they are essentially the same bag except for the hardware on the front. It would make more sense to buy the Celine Box because it costs almost $2k less, yet there are people who remain faithful to Hermes and who still want the Constance. If they were concerned about the price, they'd choose the Box bag instead. But for the fans of Hermes who ARE concerned about the rising prices, they now have an alternative that's strikingly similar, without the enormous price tag. It's almost like a win/win situation for Celine - they're trying to build a faithful following, while giving fans of Hermes a reasonable alternative.
I've heard the Luggage compared to the Birkin many times. I think in some ways Celine is banking on those similarities and hoping that those customers of Hermes who may want to expand their collection with something that's similar, yet a little different, may turn to Celine and the Luggage and realize, "wow! Here's a bag that's almost comparable to a Birkin but it'll cost be far less (and maybe be a little bit easier to attain)." Those people won't care that the Luggage costs almost 2x what it cost less than 2 yrs ago because it's giving them what they want for a lot less money.
That's the other thing I forgot to mention in the UK the Celine Luggage is now £1300GBP compared to the previous year when it was £1150GBP. It seems like a much smaller increase compared to the US? Strange.....
I have been thinking about a new black grained mini with silver hw .. saw tomorrow was the rumored increase so I started calling around for one.. Everyone I talked to Nordstrom/BG/Aloha Rag/KZ said sold out, the increase is coming! Then I talked to the Celine boutique -- They had a black grainy mini in stock (got it!), and said the increase is not coming until the next collection comes out.
But at the end of the day, the Luggage is not the Birkin, and Celine is not Hermes. Celine does not have the reputation nor the quality to fall back on at this point.
Thank you for the interesting perspective from overseas!!!
Absolutely agree.
See, I disagree - I think they have both. I think that Phoebe Philo has brought Celine back to the forefront and the quality of their bags far exceeds the quality of a lot of other designers.
You think that Celine's quality and reputation are comparable to Hermes?
IMO, quality is going backward. The new faux suede linings on the drummed leather bags is awful.
