One Million Dollars? What Makes a Bag Worth it?
Pharrell’s Louis Vuitton (PARIS:MC.PA +0.36%) debut was a fashion feast for the eyes; but between all of the fame-filled mayhem on Paris’ Point Neuf Bridge that June evening, many onlookers were focused on one thing: the Millionaire Speedy Bag.
It’s Pharrell’s luxurious reimagination of the formerly entry-level Speedy silhouette, done in the way that “a Canal Street counterfeiter might” (with blatant logos, a memorable shape and unapologetic references) but with the plushiest leather there is. Not long after, Rihanna appeared holding the bag in the designer’s first campaign for Louis Vuitton Men’s; and in the subsequent months, only a handful of notables were granted access to the elusive accessory — for the colossal cost of $1,000,000 USD, on a strongly-secured website that the public only knows about thanks to Los Angeles Clippers power forward P.J. Tucker’s Instagram.
The Millionaire Speedy Bag is a cultural and historical marker of Pharrell’s debut at the helm of Louis Vuitton, and it’s the pinnacle of exorbitant luxury in the modern-day, but what makes the arm candy worth its gargantuan, seven-figure price tag?
Putting the accessory’s cultural relevance aside, here’s what that top dollar offers: the Millionaire Speedy features a flipped white monogram with matching tan accents, as well as a pavé-set diamond “LV” pendant and yellow-gold hardware on its rivets, buckles and chunky Cuban links. The bag, available in five colorways, including “Rogue,” “Vert,” “Marron,” “Bleu” and “Jaune,” is handmade with crocodile leather, the most expensive exotic animal skin on the luxury market (and the reason that PETA invited Pharrell on a less-than-luxurious tour of a deadly crocodile farm earlier this year).
