well, Hong Kong is exactly the same ---really luxury brand conscious, global crisis or not. Every Hongky girl has to have at least one high-end bag and will go through extreme lengths (and I do mean extreme as what I have read) to get one. I see mostly Asian girls carrying the GH bags and mostly Caucasian women carry RH bags and definitely not everywhere and that's what I love about Bal bags.
RE: GH bags
Who cares if its been released a million years ago, as the saying goes, "if it ain't broke then don't fix it" so that's why it has continued to exist even to this day. It has been selling very well that is the only reason why it has lasted this long. The only reason why it will go it's because of Bal's decision to cut costs, plain and simple--also explains why studs downgraded from 18k plating to 14k plating, why rose gold is really not rose gold plating..why zippers don't match the hardware on RG , why there's no more extra tassels given, etc..etc....
RE: why GGh will still come out but only for special orders...
it's again a marketing tactic, to limit the availability so that it becomes more sought-after and in demand. I also notice that from 2010, GGH mostly comes out in colors that don't sell very well (exception is black and athra--although GGh expands the saleability of these two colors even more so) ---like least-selling colors like Praline, Sahara, Vieux de Rose...etc.etc. and now why in Coq when it's a best-seller? because it's a re-issued color. Why would people who already bought the Coq from FW pre-season buy again for FW2011 main season? So the release of Coq + GGH will give Coq a re-birth and therefore, boost sales again, for the exact same color.
People with RH or GSH will buy again or sell theirs to buy the GGH combo...now what could be better than this scenario? Anywhich way, it definitely serves the brand very well. IMO.
RE: GH bags
Who cares if its been released a million years ago, as the saying goes, "if it ain't broke then don't fix it" so that's why it has continued to exist even to this day. It has been selling very well that is the only reason why it has lasted this long. The only reason why it will go it's because of Bal's decision to cut costs, plain and simple--also explains why studs downgraded from 18k plating to 14k plating, why rose gold is really not rose gold plating..why zippers don't match the hardware on RG , why there's no more extra tassels given, etc..etc....
RE: why GGh will still come out but only for special orders...
it's again a marketing tactic, to limit the availability so that it becomes more sought-after and in demand. I also notice that from 2010, GGH mostly comes out in colors that don't sell very well (exception is black and athra--although GGh expands the saleability of these two colors even more so) ---like least-selling colors like Praline, Sahara, Vieux de Rose...etc.etc. and now why in Coq when it's a best-seller? because it's a re-issued color. Why would people who already bought the Coq from FW pre-season buy again for FW2011 main season? So the release of Coq + GGH will give Coq a re-birth and therefore, boost sales again, for the exact same color.
People with RH or GSH will buy again or sell theirs to buy the GGH combo...now what could be better than this scenario? Anywhich way, it definitely serves the brand very well. IMO.