Does a Collection / Brand Need to Look Good as a Whole for you to Select One Bag?

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papertiger

papertiger

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#1
Not exclusive to one designer, sometimes when I go to a brand website (I'm looking for a gift work bag for someone's birthday atm) I'm put off by the look of other bags in their range(s).

I'm not taking about brand DNA, layout of the site, styling or even aesthetic, but sometimes I see all the bags/products together and think there's a nice bag, but since I don't like the others (I'm not even thinking of buying) I get put off.

Do you think that's odd? In this case I'm not even buying for me so it's not an investment into the brand etc. It's like the company just got lucky with the bag in question so I don't trust their judgement or something (haven't quite figured it out myself). Even for me I love the Fendi First, Mulberry Bayswater Tote or a certain Celine etc and I can't make the jump to buying it because I'm just looking at the puffy new Mulberrys (no disrespect to anyone who likes a quilted cushion for a bag - I can imagine they're cool styled well) or some the other SF bags (just too lady-like for me) and get put off. I'd like a SLP/YSL bag, it just bugs me I don't like most of them even though I know I'm only going to buy the one and not buy more. I even stopped looking at BV.

Happily (or expensively) it doesn't seem to have happened to brands I know very well like Gucci and Hermes, who have some great bags and some that make no sense to me at all. I focus on the one bag and I'm fine :sweatdrop: , but if I browse at GG and H on preloved sites, even bags from those brands make me think 'what a mess'. I guess that's why we curate/edit our own collections.

What do you think? Maybe I'm (bag) crazy.
 
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#3
papertiger said:
Not exclusive to one designer, sometimes when I go to a brand website (I'm looking for a gift work bag for someone's birthday atm) I'm put off by the look of other bags in their range(s).

I'm not taking about brand DNA, layout of the site, styling or even aesthetic, but sometimes I see all the bags/products together and think there's a nice bag, but since I don't like the others (I'm not even thinking of buying) I get put off.

Do you think that's odd? In this case I'm not even buying for me so it's not an investment into the brand etc. It's like the company just got lucky with the bag in question so I don't trust their judgement or something (haven't quite figured it out myself). Even for me I love the Fendi First, Mulberry Bayswater Tote or a certain Celine etc and I can't make the jump to buying it because I'm just looking at the puffy new Mulberrys (no disrespect to anyone who likes a quilted cushion for a bag - I can imagine they're cool styled well) or some the other SF bags (just too lady-like for me) and get put off. I'd like a SLP/YSL bag, it just bugs me I don't like most of them even though I know I'm only going to buy the one and not buy more. I even stopped looking at BV.

Happily (or expensively) it doesn't seem to have happened to brands I know very well like Gucci and Hermes, who have some great bags and some that make no sense to me at all. I focus on the one bag and I'm fine :sweatdrop: , but if I browse at GG and H on preloved sites, even bags from those brands make me think 'what a mess'. I guess that's why we curate/edit our own collections.

What do you think? Maybe I'm (bag) crazy.
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I can’t say that I’ve ever done that. The product that I am interested in is the only
one I consider when making purchasing decisions.

The brand could manufacture strange multi coloured kitchen implements but if they have a nice tote bag I’ll still buy it.
 
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#4
I would guess most frequent luxury buyers have this mindset since luxury is a lot about projecting a brand image, so if one doesn't like the brand aesthetic, one cute bag won't change that. I haven't reached that point as I am not that frequent of a luxury buyer but I do toy with the idea of just picking one brand from which to buy so I keep a consistent aesthetic and reduce decision making. But that is my laziness more than image.
 
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#6
2cello said:
I would guess most frequent luxury buyers have this mindset since luxury is a lot about projecting a brand image, so if one doesn't like the brand aesthetic, one cute bag won't change that. I haven't reached that point as I am not that frequent of a luxury buyer but I do toy with the idea of just picking one brand from which to buy so I keep a consistent aesthetic and reduce decision making. But that is my laziness more than image.
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Iv'e wondered if it's the brand image or the perception of the brand but no, it seems to be more about a lack of cohesive taste, like irrespective of the brand/fashionability, the company CEO/CD wants to be everything to all people (I think I may have cracked it :woohoo: )

It may not be me at all but the brands lack of identity and (non) understanding of who its consumers really are or even who is 'out there'.

I don't think you're lazy at all. It's the real point of luxury to be able to get consistently great service and products from a brand.

PS came back because of terrible typos today
 
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#7
papertiger said:
You are splendidly focused :cool:
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Best example I can think of is Roots.

For the most part their items are mid range (around the 200-400$ mark in bags) but they had a Horween collab with riri zippers way back and I decided to special order one and paid more than a Louis Vuitton Keepall for it. (Comparing MSRP of both at the time)

804514CC-C89E-4D9F-ACA2-A2FEED3F4A9E.jpeg
 
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#8
Christofle said:
Best example I can think of is Roots.

For the most part their items are mid range (around the 200-400$ mark in bags) but they had a Horween collab with riri zippers way back and I decided to special order one and paid more than a Louis Vuitton Keepall for it. (Comparing MSRP of both at the time)

View attachment 5361986
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That's a stealth bag baby!

I used to be like that. I will try to follow your example and put on my good-taste blinkers.
 
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#13
leechiyong said:
I don’t, but think I ought to consider it more. I find a bag I love from a new brand, get it, and want to be excited about the brand, but wind up finding nothing else I like. Then my wardrobe winds up being a mishmash of things. It doesn’t lend to a cohesive sense of style.
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I get that, especially if you want to create a well thought out capsule wardrobe. Mine ends up looking like an all you can eat buffet mixed with a pile of clothes at the return counter of a department store.
 
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#14
My initial reaction as I read your opening post was 'no' until I got to your line about BV. Ohhhh, now I get it. Yeah, everything about the DL tenure was off-putting (IMO). I continue to look for TM-era bags, but I'm not sure if/when I'll go back to buying new BV. So I guess my answer to the thread question is 'maybe' but it's definitely situational. I can shrug off a lot, but apparently not everything.
 
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#15
Hmmmm, I think it's a little bit of both for me.

I do look at a collection overall, watch the runway shows, look at how things are put together by the brand. That does influence how I feel about a bag or about how a bag looks in the way the collection is portrayed.

But there are some bags that I just love so much that I can set aside the collection or some bags that I think are on a "higher level"? Probably something very classic and timeless like the Chanel CF or the Hermes quota bags.

So I guess it depends haha. :P
 
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