Reed Krakoff Luxury Brand

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#541
LuvAllBags said:
What did you learn?
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Basically that a lot of the construction is poor and it will fall apart in a couple of years. The piping is plastic and the leather is treated in such a way that it looks and feels like nice, squooshy leather but the handles will crack. He said it was clever -- the body of the bag itself is extremely cheap but is treated to look expensive. He said there was more effort put into the details -- like the hanging tag, and the stitching holding the handles on the bag, than the actual bag. He was pretty sure it came from two different factories.

All in all he was shocked at what the bag went for.
 
#545
BittyMonkey said:
Basically that a lot of the construction is poor and it will fall apart in a couple of years. The piping is plastic and the leather is treated in such a way that it looks and feels like nice, squooshy leather but the handles will crack. He said it was clever -- the body of the bag itself is extremely cheap but is treated to look expensive. He said there was more effort put into the details -- like the hanging tag, and the stitching holding the handles on the bag, than the actual bag. He was pretty sure it came from two different factories.

All in all he was shocked at what the bag went for.
Click to expand...

Thanks! Very interesting. I have often thought this about several high end bag brands, but of course am not an expert...
 
#546
LuvAllBags said:
Thanks! Very interesting. I have often thought this about several high end bag brands, but of course am not an expert...
Click to expand...


It was pretty shocking to hear him say that. What I found most interesting was his take on how these designers 'fake' finishes on the leather to make it appear of better quality. And that the dyes they use have some pretty toxic stuff in them. Like I guess cobalt blue is one where the dye is seriously bad for the planet. Which is depressing because I love that color.
 
#547
BittyMonkey said:
Basically that a lot of the construction is poor and it will fall apart in a couple of years. The piping is plastic and the leather is treated in such a way that it looks and feels like nice, squooshy leather but the handles will crack. He said it was clever -- the body of the bag itself is extremely cheap but is treated to look expensive. He said there was more effort put into the details -- like the hanging tag, and the stitching holding the handles on the bag, than the actual bag. He was pretty sure it came from two different factories.



All in all he was shocked at what the bag went for.
Click to expand...


Wow. This is quite disappointing to hear. I really love a number of RK bags and believed them to be high quality especially because the details seems to show artisanal-quality workmanship. I assumed that level of craftsmanship would have been used throughout the bags construction. I wonder what kind of treatment makes the leather appear soft and squooshy and what it might have looked like before that. I will definitely be looking closely at my Editor's bag tonight when I get home.
 
#549
I'm spending a lot of time with this guy lately so I will try and get more info on ways to treat leather to mimic better quality. He was impressed at the...artifice?

He also said that Bottega doesn't really weave anything - things are precut and just slotted together to give the appearance that it is fully woven.
 
#550
I feel as though there's behind-the-scenes documentary to be made here...

Just the other day I was looking at an LV Sophia Coppola bag in cobalt and seriously considering purchasing it...I wonder if the same problem exists there and if that cobalt is the toxic one?

Thanks for any further info you can share.
 
#551
I'll ask him for more info, if you guys are interested. He seems to believe that people aren't interested in learning about construction at that level. I disagree. I think he should blog about it.
 
#553
NamkhaDrolma said:
I feel as though there's behind-the-scenes documentary to be made here...

Just the other day I was looking at an LV Sophia Coppola bag in cobalt and seriously considering purchasing it...I wonder if the same problem exists there and if that cobalt is the toxic one?

Thanks for any further info you can share.
Click to expand...


I have also been looking at the LV SC bags...hm...this really makes me wonder about my expensive bags.
 
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