Nina Ricci makes bags?

Over here what I've been looking/shopping for are things I can't find in the States. I really enjoyed Dongdaemun's Doosan Tower-- there were so many little boutiques offering really fashion-forward local designers. It was a great place to get a sense of where Korean fashion is headed, as well as pick up some really cute pieces. I went back yesterday and hit up the Migliore building and the Cerestar building. The Migliore building was full of shops with very cheap merchandise, but not really showcasing any designer talent. The Cerestar building was DEAD. It is quite unfortunate, as the space is really nice, but it's a 23 floor building and only the first 6 floors were open. Those 6 floors were only half occupied at that. The first few floors had womens clothing items ranging from 5,000 won shirts ($4 USD) to 250,000 won fur coats ($198 USD). The 5th floor was hopping and full with mens/boys stuff. This would be the only reason to venture back here, in my opinion. Management could really use some re-invention!View coming up from the escalator to the 2nd floor


Since I'm staying in the Westin Chosun Hotel, I'm right next door to the fabulous Lotte department store. Most of the items I see from Western designers are the same as I'd find at home. However, I did come across a Nina Ricci bag counter and found the most adorable purse. Nina Ricci bags? I'd never heard of those before, and if the clothing is any indication, I expected something astronomical for a bag. When the salesgirl told me the price, I was shocked. 430,000 won retail ($339 USD) and the store was doing a store-wide 10% discount due to their 30th Anniversary. This brought the total to 387,000 won ($305 USD), and I will get some VAT tax back. She assured me the bag was pure leather and the chain was even plated with white gold (which I am skeptical about) because how could I get all that for under $300? Before plunging in, I frantically SMSed my friend Kelly in Chicago, who has great wisdom of these things. At first she was also skeptical-- Nina Ricci bags? Is this another effort at bilking unsuspecting markets by randomly licensing their brand to sub-standard products a la DVF luggage? If a Nina Ricci camisole is $800, why the holy hell would they sell a leather handbag for less than $2000? It boggles the mind.

In the end, however, we both agreed that $300 for a cute bag is too good to pass up. (Incidentally, all the tags and cards are written in Korean, so we can pretty much say with confidence that this bag did not come from Paris.) I really need bigger luggage at this point...


What do you think?