Maybe the economic picture is not as gloomy as we thought. Maybe we're all turning away from fast fashion and embracing the 'investment' shopping model, opting to spend more on more lasting products instead.
Or, maybe we just love their beautiful bags and to hell with the consequences...we could speculate for hours on the reason, but the fact is that Mulberry has reported outstanding sales figures this week, as the very British brand enjoys a growing profile worldwide.
The company's interim financial report shows that profits have trebled from from £1.5m to £4.7m, and it expects similarly strong figures for the full year's result.
The growth follows new store openings in Hong Kong, Korea, Qatar and UAE, as well as the unveiling of a new flagship store in London's New Bond Street, with another one coming soon in New York. Meanwhile, Autumn/Winter 2010 orders are up 100% compared to the same period a year ago, and like-for-like UK Retail sales in full price stores and department store concessions are up by 66% for the 10 weeks to 4 December 2010. Clearly, at least some of us are ready to go shopping!
It's fascinating to see this home-grown company gaining such a strong reputation abroad. While Mulberry bags have long been a coveted commodity and household name in the UK, it wasn't long ago that US accessory fans and reporters still talked about it as a bit of a 'niche' brand and it was not known at all in many parts of the world. The new-found interest is also reflected in the range on offer, which was noticeably bigger than ever before at this year's S/S 11 previews. We can't wait to see what Mulberry does next!