What’s the point of an exotic bag if you’re just going to cover it with beads?

Exotic leather are usually something to behold. Because they make a bag so expensive, most consumers want their snake, lizard or croc front and center where they can see it, and in order to justify the inflated prices, designers are usually more than happy to oblige. When even a bit of an exotic trim can raise a bag’s price by hundreds of dollars, they better be.
Which is why I can’t really understand what happened with the Fendi Mini Snakeskin Beaded Peekaboo. According to the bag’s description, the exterior body is made entirely of snakeskin…and then beaded over the top with beads of the same color. Only a little or the exotic peeks out around the trim, and the texture on the interior is embossed. Say what?

I was so excited when I saw this little bag – sparkly neutral outside, patterned fun inside, a great bag for those evenings that straddle the line between casual and dressy. But to use an exotic skin and then obscure it almost entirely seems wasteful, possibly even vulgar. From photos, I don’t see how the bag would have looked any different if the beading had been done on regular leather and the snakeskin included as the trim, which could have saved customers a little money and put the snakeskin to more appropriate use, right where it belongs: up front. Buy through Neiman Marcus for $3740.