Bags worth the brag

Handbag and purse lovers have long been a fixture in the female demographic in any country in the world. Where some men have their watches or cars, women have their handbags and one of the best way's to a women's heart is truly through handbags. Unfortunately though, if you are a bag lover in Bangladesh, your choices are more influenced by design than by quality. One glaring reason for this is the lack of brand name, high quality handbags in the local market. But three months ago, all of that changed.

Mahjabeen Hashim, another handbag aficionda, for too long felt that she was missing out on all the leathery pieces of art. She wanted to add to her collection, like others, but the process seemed tedious. She'd have to wait until she travelled abroad to pick out the best that bag/purse makers had to offer. Brands like the Guccis and Pradas were never available in the domestic market and when they did make that rare appearance, they were outrageously priced. Seeing the problem, Mahjabeen Hashim went out about looking for a solution. Thus, three months ago, La Rouge was born. Bangladesh's first ever online bag store, La Rouge is already making waves and is poised to blaze quite a trail in the hand bag market. 

La Rouge is Bangladesh's first online handbag store. It is a well-thought out and meticulously planned endeavour, going so far as to already establishing their own line of affordable handbags, made out of high quality, 100 % leather. These handbags are designed and made in Italy and everyone knows that Italy is to bags as cheese is to Pizza and thus both the look and the quality of these bags are guaranteed. Lidia May, the handbag designers that blend the ethnic with the eternal, have now joined La Rouge's collection and the online store seems to be getting better and better. 

The online store offers three categories of bags; Firstly, there are the trendy handbags, which fit all occasions and come in retro and post-modern designs. These range from 1400-4000+ BDT and are generally very affordable despite boasting high-quality leather. Then, there is the luxury handbag category, which is made up of popular names such as Chiara, Gianna and Rosa, with prices a bit steeper, starting from 12,000BDT. However, the price for these reassures a buyer of the quality and these are collectibles in many ways and thus the money tends to be worth it. It is also comparatively a lot cheaper than the same bags priced elsewhere. Finally, there are the Designer Handbags, a section that seems to be currently being worked on. 

Just offering high-quality bags isn't enough and La Rouge is well-aware of that and thus they offer other incentives as well. Students are given a 10% discount, while customers have a 14-day return policy if they are dissatisfied with their product. There is also free shipping and customers can pay cash on delivery or even use the Bkash system, with more payment options being added. "My real reason for doing is to really just share my love for bags with all the women in this country, who love bags but can't really access the really good ones," she explained. La Rouge is bag-lovers paradise and is well worth anyone's time. Even for men, its worth the visit because if sweet words don't work their magic on your woman, these bags certainly will. Visit La Rouge's page at www.larougeshop.com or visit their Facebook page at Facebook//larougeshopbd. 

Photo courtesy: La Rouge