Even in 2018, the powers that be in luxury shopping do what they can to ensure that buying luxury goods is an in-person experience. Not only does getting shoppers into stores help control the flow and availability of product for control-hungry brands doing everything they can to maintain their image, but shopping in person and with a sales associate encourages buyers to form a psychological relationship with the experience of buying from a particular place, and it also gives both the brand and the shopper a personal point of future contact for future business. Some of the biggest names in luxury leather goods, like Chanel and Goyard, still don’t allow online shopping, and many other brands keep their most sought-after pieces off their e-commerce sites—too much of an incentive to shop online keeps people out of boutiques. That’s why it’s so notable that a huge brand like Louis Vuitton has launched a bag that is, at least for the time being, only available online.
The Louis Vuitton Haumea
The Louis Vuitton Haumea Tote debuted on the brand’s website earlier this week in three colors of Mahina leather, and with a qualifier I’ve never noticed on any of the brand’s bags before: a note marking it as an online exclusive for a limited time. Louis Vuitton’s primary points of sale for the brand’s entire history have been its large global network of boutiques, so putting a bag only online is a big step. It also suggests a forward-thinking outlook for which the luxury sector is not always known: millennials want to buy stuff online, whether boomers like it or not.
The bag itself is of a very particular Louis Vuitton style: it’s a flared-gusset tote, rendered centrally in smooth leather and accented with tonal panels in perforated monogram. It’s a workhorse piece that won’t star in any ad campaigns but will appeal to longtime Louis Vuitton fans who might not be as enthusiastic about the liberties designer Nicolas Ghesquiere takes with the brand’s bags on the runway. It’s a solid everyday bag, with a main compartment buttressed by smaller ancillary sections to the front and back, plus an optional shoulder strap.
The bag is priced at $4,250 in all three colors, and as of this writing, all three are still available. If you want to scoop this bag up before it’s available in stores, you can do it at the links below.
It’s a nice looking bag but the price is cray cray.
I can’t see the beauty in these designs, they are so complicated I mean, perfo.monogram,tassels,outer pockets,braded handles Louis Vuitton stamped on the outer body of the bag when the monogram is already there and that bad lining I just …….. fail to see the beauty in theses bags, to many elements just weird looking to me.
I agree. A lot of designers seems to be doing this lately…. It just becomes overwhealming till look at.
To* look at. My Swedish autocorrect is messing with me.
This looks more like a Michael Kors bag tbh
Exactly! Michael Kors Bag Collection in 2015.
https://www.vogue.co.jp/item_search/19348
It’s better design but not an original design.
Poor Louis Vuitton.
Nice good looking functional bag, but the price point is too high.
My issue is how does this look with the shorter handles down and worn by the longer strap? What happens to the sides of the bag when the long strap is holding all the weight? And how does that look with the zipper opened and closed? This is why the on-line only experience doesn’t make sense to me. It’s best to see in person before buying, IMHO. Especially at that price point.
its available in stores in europe
$2200, I’m in.
$4300, no way.
Somehow i perceive LV to be “lower” than Chanel, Hermes, and Céline and feel it’s prices should be less than those brands. The quality of Céline bags and shoes is phenomenal.
I agree. LV is so accessible fake or real! It has lost its exclusivity. Great to hear re Celine. I just bought my first Celine Mini Luggage 🙂
Congratulations!!! Enjoy! Next time take a look at the craftsmanship of their shoes.
Agree on all fronts. Chanel and especially Hermes are on another level, and Celine leather goods feel so luxurious. On the other hand, I think Celine is pretty much over as a highly-desired brand.
i completely agree, Louis Vuitton has turned into more of what Coach had become a few years ago
i aired Louis Vuitton as a wanna be bag that youtube bloggers brag – turn off
I completely agree!
Very interesting to see them selling online only! It will be interesting to watch the space develop.
It’s a little…busy. Replace the perforated LVs with smooth leather then you have a winner. It has Louis Vuitton on both tassels and at the bottom of the bag. We get it. It’s LV.
I think LV needs to be more careful about what it’s putting out there. Ubiquity is a brand-killer, and ubiquity at $4,000+ price points is unsustainable. When your designs are getting compared to Michael Kors and Coach, you need to maybe do some editing and put out fewer and more carefully considered bags. Sometimes it feels like LV is just throwing everything and the kitchen sink into the market and taking it for granted that the Asian market is just going to keep buying, buying indiscriminately.
You make excellent points.
It’s Tuesday, Sep 4, and I wonder if it’s already gone? Gone as in “done away with”? Clicking the “buy now” buttons on this article result in a “page not found” response from LV website…
Interesting. I know I saw this bag in the store weeks before the article was posted. Then again, all handbags are starting to look alike. Instead of putting out new bags, these brands need to work on their accessories and parfums. Hermès and Dior, enough with the ugly scarves. Vuitton, you do not need to add anymore eau de parfums. Instead subtract half of them. Start with the entire men’s fragrances and half of the female ones. Chanel, NO MORE FLANKERS AND REFORMULATIONS! Bring back those Les Exclusifs Eau de Toilettes.
I prefer LV being easily accessible than Hermes to have to friend the SA and spend thousands in other stuff in order to MAYBE get a Birkin. Plus the quality is very good in LV.
OMG! Love this bag construction! Wish I had the pattern! I see this style getting ripoff ten ways past Sunday. Chinatown here I come!
Sorry, this bag looks like one of my Coach bags. Understand the need for LV to appeal to millennials but at that price point, ain’t happening for this baby boomer.
i think i used to feel same way as most of you about LV. until got a call from a LV asking me to bring in my W MM black bag that i had it for few years. i thought it was some kind of Joke at first but i took bag to one at Grand Army plaza at 5th Ave, was told price of bag has been appreciated since and exchanged it for Milla MM and small amt of gift card. . through years i have bought Chanel Bags, Ferragamo, Valentino.. Etc. and some times you question the quality VS price. But i thought it was very commendable action by LV. they didn’t had to give me a Appreciated value because i didn’t expected it. overall.. it was Great experience that you don’t get see much now days.