Originally Posted by Landgolier
I'm talking about the decorations, not the bags themselves. Anybody can decorate their own rig. I mean, the showpieces are one thing, I think it's beautiful art, but it seems like they've become the latest commodity fetish around here. Before this it was Rapha ****.
Comparing what independent bag makers do to Rapha is stretching things by a LOT. Rapha stuff is mass produced with like a 4000% markup over the cost of materials - it's a luxury brand based on Mmarketing. Look at how similar their catalog feels to, say, Tag Heuer, or Rolls Royce, or, I dunno, Prada.
RELoad, UTW, Seagull, Bedlam, me, mikearena, (I'm sure I'm missing someone here) - the price you pay for the artwork is based on labor (and it *is* a lot of labor), and I think everyone's charging pretty damn fair rates, across the board.
It's *fetishistic* now for people to want a unique bag? Something with an image on it that means something to them personally?
Sorry, I'm calling bull****.