The rise of the handbag in the twenty-first century: Value creation and media strategies

This study examines how the handbag has developed into a highly reputable and gratifying object in the twenty-first century. It places it at the intersection of three attributes: a sociocultural accessory, a feminine hallmark and a status marker. The study considers these attributes as added values that have been mediated largely through advertising in social media. By investigating the system of representation consisting of language and image in the ads, this study can show how the production of meaning takes place, how it is connected to the culture of the brand and further mediated to consumers. The theoretical framework consists mainly of Hall’s constructionist approach, Barthes’s view of the double structure of the photograph being both denotative and connotative and Baudrillard’s theory of the relativity of the sign. The study sheds also light on the handbag’s latest appearance as non-fungible asset in the virtual world and the problematic volatility of its monetary value.