In his review of the David Thomas' book 'How luxury lost its lustre', Harry Mount took the modern handbag/wallet as a model to explain the linkage between high fashion and mass production.

"The way to make money was to introduce fashionable lower-priced accessories that most people could afford and cut back on couture.  In the 1950s, 200 women wore haute couture; today 2,000 women do.

The great accessory  cash cow is the handbag.  For the aspiring middle-market that can't afford a smart dress, the handbag, like perfume and wallets, is the perfect 'entrance product' to a luxury brand. 

That is why the first room in any upmarket shop is given over to these things- it's where they nab the cautious buyer.  Stick the monogrammed leather business-card holder in a soft felt pouch, wrap it in tissue paper, toss it in a rope-handled paper bag in the brand's signature colour and the poor benighted customer thinks he's bought a slice of the high life, not just four square inches of cowhide.

At Louis Vuitton's huge four-story Tokyo flagship- the industry word for a shop, with the complete range of products- 40% of sales are made in that first room which only stocks wallets, small leather goods and monogrammed handbags. 

The profit margin on Louis Vuitton handbags is 13 times the cost price, and Vuitton never marks down- that would dilute the brand, Even better, handbags come in one size only- no need then, to give different sets of instructions to your factories."