Prada Is Selling A $185 Paper Clip

www.zerohedge.com

We finally have some good news for the distressed US retail industry.

In light of recent deteriorating spending trends within the luxury segment, with Bank of America internal card data showing a relentless decline in retail spending among the wealthiest segment...

... one would perhaps think that the conspicuous consumption excesses that marked the peak of the last bubble were long behind us.

One would be wrong: first there was Balenciaga selling a $2,145 handbag that was a spitting image of an IKEA tote sold for $1 at the iconic store, and now, there is the $185 Prada paper clip.

According to Business Insider, the Italian-made clip sold by Barneys New York, is 6.25 centimeters in length and 2.25 centimeters wide, is made from silver and has the Prada logo embossed on its side. It's supposed to be used as a money clip, although one wonders why nouveau riche Millennials would use a Prada paper clip to hold their money (especially if much of it is in cryptocurrencies) when a, well, money clip should suffice perfectly. Then again, we can only assume Prada did their market research, and this is what it came up with:

Of course, one can buy roughly 300 similar-looking paper clips on Amazon for around $5.50, which comes out to around $0.02 per paper clip, but hey, they are not silver Prada paperclips. 

The social media response, as noted by Mashable, suggests that the new product may not be the smash hit that Prada envisioned.