Social media has been in an uproar on Tuesday morning about ALDO handbags and their affordability.
More specifically, the discourse is shaped around a screenshot of a text exchange between two people, where one participant shamed the other for their affinity for ALDO handbags.
In fact, the unnamed user only highlighted the irony since the person they were texting accused them of being broke. One can easily presume the text exchange was the culmination of a courting attempt gone horribly wrong.
GUYS 😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭 pic.twitter.com/mYqOc4FK8U
— ॐ (@LesegoMahlako) April 11, 2022
Alas, the comment about ALDO handbags caused a stir on social media and, as custodians of information, we saw it fit to provide reason for why the Canadian apparel giant’s accessories are reasonably affordable.
What makes a handbag expensive?
The marketplace for women’s accessories may be the most saturated with copycats repurposing designs crafted by leading fashion houses.
A Louis Vuitton handbag, for instance, would enter the market at a price point specifically targeted towards the upper echelon of society, and in a span of weeks, or even days in some cases, a near-perfect reiteration of the product would surface in the mass market for much cheaper.
Medium published an insightful piece, providing perspective on what makes a handbag so expensive. Apart from the exotic materials used, and the exclusivity that comes with high demand for luxury handbags like, say a Birkin or Chanel, craftsmanship lend a heavy hand towards the final price.
Unlike giant retailers, high-end handbags are, for the most part, hand-made by expert designers. Every stitch is perfectly treaded by hand and the materials used offer the handbag a longer lifespan.
Why are ALDO handbags so affordable?
ALDO, famous for its shoes, produces high quality and sustainable products but, unlike high-end fashion houses, the Canadian retailer plays in the mass market arena.
With more than 3 000 points of sale and nearly 200 million walk-ins worldwide, ALDO offers high-quality products, tailored towards men and women (more so the latter, than the former), at accessible prices.
Moreover, the apparel giant is a leader in sustainability. This means that purchasing an ALDO handbag means that, in all likelihood, you are:
- not supporting the inhumane proliferation of pig leather;
- not wearing leather sourced from the Amazon biome in Brazil, a primary cause of rainforest deforestation;
- not wearing materials sourced from domestic animals, such as dog and cat.
An ALDO handbag will cost anywhere between R900 to R2 000 in South Africa.
