There are several factors that determine the final price of a bag. For Alexandre Lizarbe, talent recruiter at Luxe Talent, a consultancy specializing in fashion and luxury brands, the main ones are the cost of raw materials, the cost of labor and the qualification of the manufacturer, the quantity produced and, especially in the luxury sector, the identity of the brand. “In a Chanel bag, on average, a fifth of its final price corresponds more or less to all these factors,” she says.
The French fashion house launched its iconic bag 2.55 in 1955, at a cost of 170 euros. In the 90s, the accessory had already become a benchmark of elegance and class, so that price shot up to a thousand euros. However, that rise is nothing compared to what it has experienced in the last year, going from costing 7,700 euros at the beginning of 2022 to 8,990 that it is worth today.
Lizarbe reveals that of all the aspects mentioned, the one that has been most affected by the global economic situation has been the cost of raw materials. Even so, the founder of Luxury Advise and director of the luxury program at IE University, Susana Campuzano, confesses that The desire to buy after the pandemic on the part of rich customers is greater than the conjunctural problems caused by inflation, general uncertainty and the war in Ukraine. “Luxury stocks are doing very well, outperforming the broader stock market,” he notes.
For the consultant in the luxury sector and professor of luxury and fashion communication at ESIC, Alicia Parro, on the other hand, the main problem for the luxury sector is the shortage of artisans. “The big houses have expressed their difficulties in hiring people who master the trades related to haute couture. There is always talk of new jobs in technology, but here too there may be. There is a market to generate them”, she indicates. In them lies the ability to offer unique and, therefore, exclusive pieces. “They are extremely complex and require a large number of hours of craftsmanship,” he recalls.
