Are snobby stores refusing to sell It-bags to the likes of you? Fashionistas forced to join queues for latest arm candy (behind every A-listers on the planet) By Anna Pursglove Angelina Jolie toting Louis Vuitton's new Capucines handbag last month Angelina Jolie's arm candy has captivated women worldwide. Hugely desirable, worth a fortune and deliberately discreet - all epithets that could be applied to Brad Pitt, but in this case refer to her latest designer handbag. When the actress was first spotted toting Louis Vuitton's new Capucines handbag last month, it prompted demand across the globe. The demand turned into a buying frenzy followed by the inevitable waiting list, all despite a starting price of £3,000 and a style so sedate the Queen could happily carry it to church. Leather, rectangular, with plain handles, it exudes restraint - so much so that it's been designed with a flap that will cover the LV logo should you wish. Times certainly have changed. A decade ago, a bag with this sort of price tag would have announced itself in a blaze of giant logos and breathless adoration. No WAG or reality TV star would dream of being seen in public without a giant double-G Gucci emblem or an expanse of the LV monogram pattern on display. Today, though, designer It-bags are very different. Stung by the recession, and with fashion embracing a new mood of decorum, the latest must-have bags are so discreet they've been nicknamed "Stealth Wealth" bags. Back in the flush Nineties and early Noughties, the point of a designer handbag was to be brash, to let the world know, in no uncertain terms, where you had bought it and how much it had cost. And as most of these bags were promoted by design houses as highly exclusive limited editions, to have managed to skip the waiting list and get one was, in itself, a coup - a real indication of status. Then the credit crunch hit. Suddenly showing off a handbag that cost the same as a family car seemed foolish, insensitive and tacky. Similarly, clamouring to get your name on a waiting list for a handbag seemed out of kilter with the mood of the nation. The craze was over. Sensing this more sombre spirit, and with an eye to the new austerity, designers put the brakes on the expensive bag frenzy. Jil Sander's spring/summer 2011 collection, for example, featured a glorified plastic bag made from red acetate. The Market Bag, as it become known, was yours for just £90. But now the It-bag is back, albeit in a stealthier guise. Simon Longland, general merchandising manager of luxury accessories at Harrods, has certainly noticed a surge in the demand for this type of handbag, despite the fact they're eye-wateringly expensive. No WAG or reality TV star would dream of being seen in public without a giant double-G Gucci emblem or an expanse of the LV monogram pattern on display From Givenchy's Antigona (from £1,095) and Alexander McQueen's Heroine (from £1,395) to the Chancellor bag from label Analeena, which retails for a staggering £8,599, the prices may be overstated, but the designs definitely aren't. To recognise today's It-bags, you have to be in the know as the logo, as on the Capucines, is likely to be very subtle or obscured entirely. This is because luxury consumers, often oligarch's wives or female entrepreneurs, wish to feel like they're members of an exclusive club - and these bags buy them entry. Impressing those with less money simply isn't a priority. And if you want your very own Capucines, the most sought after of these new breed of handbag? Well, even if you can raise the £3,000 starting price you can't have one. Because guess what? They're sold out. Everywhere. When I approach various London branches of Louis Vuitton, both over the phone and in person, the response is the same each time: "Of course Madame is welcome to join the waiting list." And how long would that wait be? We really couldn't say, Madame. It could be three weeks. Or three months. Or longer. Which seems rather odd. But then, maybe mere store staff aren't privy to the details of the company's supply chain. Perhaps the Louis Vuitton press office can help me out? After all, if they know how many bags have been made, how quickly more can be produced and how many people have asked for one, then a relatively simple equation gives us a waiting time, does it not? It turns out it does not. Repeated enquiries to the press office about the Capucines" waiting list elicit detailed descriptions of the bag itself - it's made from Taurillon leather, which is taken from baby bulls, and takes its name from the Rue des Capucines in Paris where Louis Vuitton opened his first store in 1854 - but a deafening silence on the subject of the waiting list itself. Fans of the 2009 It-bag, the Mulberry Alexa, included Kate Winslet and Sienna Miller "We don't discuss numbers," says the head of press firmly. We don't discuss them with journalists . . . or with customers. You would be forgiven for suspecting that these often-invoked waiting lists don't actually, well, exist: that they are simply a very good marketing ploy. Author Michael Tonello has another theory: that waiting lists exist to ensure that only the right people can get their hands on the coveted bag. That way, the company retains some sort of control over who is spotted with the bag - and thus over the brand's image. In his best-selling book Bringing Home The Birkin, Tonello chronicles his quest to lay hands on the Hermes Birkin bag, an accessory with waiting lists of legendary lengths - some women reportedly put their daughters" names on the list at birth - and a reputed price tag from £5,000 to £100,000. What Tonello found was that when he simply asked for a Birkin, he was invited to join a waiting list. Yet when he first spent a few thousand pounds on other Hermes goods, a Birkin was always conjured up from a back room. "If they put you on the waiting list, then they never meant to sell you the bag in the first place," he says. Bottega Veneta, Hermes, Louis Vuitton - they're all on to it. An Hermes Birkin, which can cost up to £100,000 and is carried by Kim Kardashian and Victoria Beckham And, while part of the game is controlling who owns the bag, scarcity pushes up desirability and implies production is limited. They'd have you believe that the shortage is because these bags are such works of art that only a handful can be produced. Indeed, you are supposed to imagine a lone craftsman slaving away in his atelier while the women of the world clamour for these handbags, but that's not what is really happening. These huge companies have workshops all over the world and can produce as many bags as they want to. Louis Vuitton has, in fact, fallen foul of the Advertising Standards Authority after one of their adverts suggested that bags were sewn by hand Louis Vuitton has, in fact, fallen foul of the Advertising Standards Authority after one of their adverts suggested that bags were sewn by hand. While the ASA acknowledged the company's use of hand-crafting, it pointed out that sewing machines were also used to make the bags. So we're back to the days of the handbag boom, despite the fact that (whisper it) the most popular designer numbers don't look much different to a plain leather number from M&S, say. And this surge in popularity is despite the fact that the price of handbags is rising faster than property - partly, say the fashion houses, because the cost of leather is increasing but also because women are once more prepared to part with large sums of money on bags they believe to be a worthwhile investment. If you agree, you'll have to get in line. You'll no doubt be behind many actresses, TV presenters and footballers" wives - just don't expect anyone to tell you how many. Or, indeed, for anyone to be able to immediately spot that you've just spent a fortune on your brand new bag . . .