Somerset is very cold and gray today and I have read quite a bit of Kevin Kwan's new guilty pleasure novel about rich Asians. The characters are not just crazy rich anymore, now they are China rich, whatever that means. I like to call this kind of book an and-then-and-then book (and then she bought a dress, and then she went to a party, and then everyone was jealous of her, and then her husband lost all his money), although that probably says more about my eloquence than Kwan's.
At one point Kwan describes how newly rich mainland Chinese always get their first expensive outfits wrong, because they dress in head-to-toe Prada. His snobby dig at Prada comes at an interesting time for the brand, as it has seen profits fall during the last year (read more HERE). Prada argues the slump is related to a strong Pound and a clampdown on corruption in China, making less cash available for luxury buys. I wonder whether Prada should dig a bit deeper and look at its handbag designs. In my humble opinion they have become stale, and not worth the astronomical price tags. Take a look at THIS bag - it costs $2100 at Neiman Marcus, and it's body is smaller than a piece of A4 paper. Not to mention that this style seems to have been around for too many years. I wonder if Prada has decided these bland Saffiano totes should be their own equivalent of a classic Chanel 2.55? Hhhhhhhmmmmmm....... not so sure about that.
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