Buying In Before the Archive Exists

Picking up a price tag and seeing a number just shy of $10,000 takes quite a bit of self-control to keep your eyeballs from falling out of your head.

No matter how many times it happens, I’m always shocked but never let on with more than a smile because that’s when I start doing the mental gymnastics. Social media might call it “girl math,” but that doesn’t quite capture the amount of contortions required to make some price tags make sense.

The thing is, I’ve found myself hitting a brick wall. Whether it’s Schiaparelli’s hand clutch or Phoebe Philo’s Gig bag, my bag of tricks suddenly doesn’t work anymore.

Heritage houses like Chanel and Hermès have decades of accumulated inventory that continue to circulate through resale. Those archives have become marketplaces of their own, giving shoppers countless opportunities to buy into the brand at every imaginable price point.

Schiaparelli and Phoebe Philo haven’t had time to build that kind of marketplace. In most cases, an iconic piece needs to be purchased at retail or not at all. (Unless, of course, you want to fly to Europe.)

Today, you can dress head-to-toe in Chanel for under $1,000 if you’re an adroit shopper. Try assembling a comparable Schiaparelli or Phoebe Philo wardrobe for the same price, and that’s a challenge.

There’s another dynamic at play that has nothing to do with price. These brands create an unusually small community of people who recognize one another. Spot someone wearing Schiaparelli’s keyhole dress at a wedding and you can’t help but think, “I know exactly what that is.”

Catch a glimpse of Phoebe Philo’s Gig bag or signature sunglasses and the conversation immediately turns to the coat you’ve been stalking for months or the shoes you wish you’d bought last season. It’s less about showing off and more about speaking a language that relatively few people understand.

Let’s be clear, not every item of Schiaparelli or PP is a grand slam but it doesn’t have to be. There are enough iconic pieces in each collection to keep shoppers engaged, and without an established archive to fall back on, today’s icons have to be bought today.

Perhaps the unexpected luxury of paying full price isn’t the item itself. It’s freedom from the mental gymnastics. You can simply enjoy owning something special, knowing you were there before the archive existed.