Having just seen the article about the etro bag I’m struck it’s funny 2 brands that are trying to move from their signature product into bags both chose horse detailing for their hardware
I think I prefer the Pegasus to the cut up knight and horse but hey, I guess it’s an obvious chic animal and duck is actually already taken isn’t it?
It’s ridiculous to me, and this is luxury websites in general, that an educated buyer can tell me more about the bag than the brand itself. It just says goat leather, no provenance, no details.
I don’t need to read a big pitch about the springbok larking in a sylvan glade but it’d be nice to see a bit of interest the materials. I think a lot of people find the Hermes leather and tanneries talk interesting and a bit of traceability might reduce this
giant luxury sausage machine feel I get at times.
I am totally with you. It's so patronising to play to the cheap seats and lowest common denominator. Luxury customers love all the details of their product(s)
For the most part, I think the generic (and/or wrong) descriptions are because a) Burberry (and other lux brands that create extensions nothing to do with their core business) get those products made for them (also explains lack of aftercare). Workers on the website creating descriptions only get pics not products and none of the finer details. A goat is a goat, a springbok is an antelope. Antelope suede and fur is much finer - and will need more looking after, b) because they may not think a B client will know what a springbok is.
To be fair, the Pegasus logo has always been Etro's (F.1968). They made couture textiles for the couture houses before they created a RTW business and have used the winged horse on packaging and labels extensively for a long time, the paisley only since 1981. Burberry has close ties to the military (officer class) and
Prorsum means advance or forward, and the knight has been used since 1901, and trademarked 1909. Much longer than the Burberry check that they forgot to trademark and left them open to huge-scale copies that tarnished the brand without any recourse until 2020. Hermes using pegasus was a later permutation of the greek god and legend, their horses were nearly always equestrian until recently, and Guccio Gucci famous art deco bell boy logo was changed into a shopping knight by his son Aldo in the 1950s (when the founder died) and they wanted to create an aristocratic, horsey history for the brand instead of the 'rags-to-riches' story, never mind the horse-bits for shoes, Gucci was never a saddler.
Burberry have been making leather goods throughout their entire history, and I have an inherited 1960s duffle bag with shoe compartment to prove it. But these were 'Made in England' maybe even in the old factories in Chatham Place E9. Almost the entire street was Burberry factories, now long since mostly sold-off and turned into retail.
Now Burberry outsource their leather-goods, and having seen them at dept stores they look OK, but they are an add-on for the brand and treated as such.
I know the prices have gone crazy across luxury, but if Burberry want (a lot of) my money, then they need to deliver some old world luxury along with their tales of yore and heritage prints. Give me some old fashioned service, including detailed description of what my £2K + money is buying, aftercare, and a well trained staff-force. Live up to your Latin motto
Prorsum!
. I have a Gucci Springbok jacket, I recognised the fur. It could be a goat, but the fur is usually much longer and thicker.
. I love the colour though.
of course, silly me.
