Mulberry to slash price of handbags
MULBERRY has been forced to reduce prices of its handbags after admitting its customers cannot afford them.
The British designer brand, favoured by the likes of Kate Winslet, Sienna Miller and Kim Sears, Andy Murray’s girlfriend, said its cheapest models will now start from £500.
Mulberry is most famous for the Alexa satchel, named after TV presenter Alexa Chung, which went on sale in 2009 costing between around £800 and £3,750.
Other Mulberry bags made in exotic skins, such as ostrich, sold for as much as £5,000.
Now the Somerset-based firm has announced it is lowering the price range of its cheapest bags, while also offering more products in this bracket.
Last month chief creative officer Bruno Guillon left the firm with immediate effect.
He had hoped to catapult Mulberry into the same league as his previous employer, French luxury brand Hermes, where handbags can sell for tens of thousands of pounds. But the firm suffered as mid-market rivals dropped prices over Christmas. It has also been struggling to shake off concerns the company is a one-hit wonder with its Alexa range.
The price cuts will hurt Mulberry’s annual profit.
But Godfrey Davis, interim executive chairman, insisted: ‘It is not a move downmarket as the quality is what you would expect from Mulberry.’