GERMANY: Berlin online shop rents out designer handbags so German women "can look like a million dollars without spending it"

Louis Vuitton one week, Prada the next - designer handbags may be appealing, but they don't come cheap. German company "Luxusbabe" (luxury babe) is changing all that, allowing customers to rent and later return designer handbags. Luxusbabe is the brainchild of Maike Senger who set up the firm on discovering that U.S-based online handbag rental services wouldn't deliver to Germany. "I myself am addicted to handbags and last year I read in an American women's magazine that this was totally normal, being able to rent designer handbags," Senger, who also owns Luxusbabe, told Reuters Television. "So I immediately went onto the internet site but they told me they wouldn't ship bags to Germany. I was completely devastated. Handbags are expensive so I came up with the idea of doing it myself." Senger soon discovered there were plenty of other women who shared her love of designer bags. Luxusbabe's minimum contract lasts three months and has three levels of monthly subscriptions, ranging from 29 Euros (36.80 USD) to 79 Euros (100.2 USD). Customers then choose their favourite bag from the selection available. The designer bags are ordered online and delivered to the customer's door. Bags can be swapped as often as desired and Senger says nothing beats the real thing: "Quite simply, a real bag feels nicer, and personally I find it's justifiable compared to a fake." Luxusbabe has introduced customer Sophia Schmidt to online shopping. She had never bought anything on the internet before. "I just like designer handbags because they're made of real leather and because not everyone has them," Schmidt said, clutching an "MCM" bag, adding "it's not some average bag." According to Luxusbabe, their online shop gives customers the chance "to look like a million dollars without having to spend it."

ITN Source | September 16, 2006

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