What This $1400 Brian Atwood Handbag Means for Gilt

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Today at noon, Gilt.com will launch an exclusive boutique with shoe designer Brian Atwood, who has created his first-ever line of handbags. This isn't your typical Gilt flash sale, though. The four bags up for grabs—the envelope clutch shown above, two enamel miniaudieres, and a leopard-print pony hair clutch—are priced between $1,050 and $1,850, and will be available exclusively on the website for the entire season. Most importantly, since Gilt is the only place you can shop the collection, there are no discounts to be had.

It's fair to say that Gilt is courting a more luxury-oriented customer than their original online sample sale concept drew. "I think brands are realizing that our customer base is not a discount shopper," Gilt's General Manager of Women's Jyothi Rao told us last night. "We have a lot of products for customers that are under $150. But we also sell, on a weekly basis, several pieces of fine jewelry that are over $5000."

And you can expect more luxury products in that price range to come. "I think we will do more of this, but we're going to do the right collaborations, with the right brands, the right products. We have to feel that it's covetable enough for our savvy membership base."
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