Image via Louis Vuitton
Louis Vuitton’s Spring 2012 runway show was a joy to behold for a variety of reasons: the enormous carousel set piece bearing dozens of the world’s best models, girlish clothes in the most powdery and feminine of pastels, luxury in every detail. The entire collection felt fresh, light and joyful. Personally, though, I was distracted by one thing and one thing only, which was trying to guess how much the littany of crocodile pieces, from bags to jackets, would cost once they hit retail. Not only is crocodile astronomically expensive all on its own, but Vuitton tends to charge a premium for all of its products, above and beyond most another brands.
For the handbag star of the collection, the Louis Vuitton Crocodile Old Speedy Flap, we now have an answer, but go ahead and try to guess before you peek.
$33,000.
My personal guess was around $35,000 and I thought that even that kind of figure might be a little low, particularly when you consider that so many designers seem to be in some sort of unofficial race to see who can produce the most ridiculously expensive bag of them all. (Hermes probably has everyone already beat on that anyway.) Not that $33,000 is something that is even within the realm of reason to pay for a handbag – it’s not! But, you know, it’s closer than The Row.
Louis Vuitton surely has clients who will pony up for this bag in one of its three colors – mint, jaune (pale yellow) or nuit (navy blue with a bit of softness) – or who knows, maybe someone will get it in all three. Primarily, though, pieces like this one serve a public relations function; not only do they get people talking, but they represent the designer as a purveyor of the sort of rarified goods that only a tiny sliver of the global population can ever hope to possess. If you have an extra thirty grand or so laying around the house, inquire about this bag via LouisVuitton.com.
