Cost per wear: the real maths

What cost per wear really means

Cost per wear is a simple idea: take what a bag costs you, and divide it by the number of times you actually carry it. It is the honest way to judge whether a bag earns its place, and it usually tells a different story from the price tag.

The maths works one way when you buy, and another way entirely when you rent.

The maths of buying

A Lady Dior retails for about R100,000. Carry it 20 times in a year and that is R5,000 a wear. Carry it 50 times and it falls to R2,000. The trouble is that most occasion bags are worn far less than that, and the money is locked in one bag sitting in a wardrobe.

Buying only makes sense for a bag you will carry often, for years, and still want at the end.

The maths of renting

Renting changes the sum. On the Essence membership at R2,499 a month, you can carry a bag worth up to R50,000, a Bvlgari Serpenti Forever or a Louis Vuitton OnTheGo, and swap it for another when you want a change. On Signature at R4,999 a month, the same applies to premium bags like a Lady Dior or a Chanel flap. Spread across the bags you actually use, the cost per wear drops well below owning, and nothing is locked away.

For a bag you want once, the Prelude tier rents a single bag from R1,999, with no monthly commitment.

The reframe

Owning a designer bag is buying an object. Renting is buying the wearing of it, which is the part you actually enjoy. If you love the look but rarely wear the same bag twice, the maths favours renting by a wide margin.

See what your membership includes on the collection page, or apply to join.

From our bags