The past month has brought me into contact with a number of people whose lives depend on women spending exorbitant amounts of money on panels of leather held together by fancy stitching and weighed down by lots of metal hardware, perhaps the odd gold chain, a flourish or two of exotic reptile skin, maybe a padlock and a couple of discreetly (or not so discreetly) placed logos.

In New York, one woman from a company known for its intricate attention to detail suggested that the economic downturn was going to be good for business because her core audience would be investing in just one high-ticket bag and it was likely to be from her collection. In Toronto, a buyer from an upmarket department store (the only one in Canada) saw the current period as a complete catastrophe and wasn't sure if any of her handbags were going to shift at full price.