The Tunisian factories that make clothes and accessories for Celine, Max Mara, Longchamp and others sell a percentage of their wares locally at rock-bottom prices. But some unscrupulous retailers are smuggling the goods into Europe and selling them second-hand with a high markup.
To set foot in one of the apartments in Tunis's chic La Marsa suburb requires an appointment and is strictly invitation-only. At high-society dinners, those in the know exchange the numbers of the women who host the exclusive private sales there. The hostesses are invariably the wives