Have you heard? Fashion is all about the bag . . . (shoes too pg#61, but this post is focused on the bag) . . . . the bag in both style and business terms.
The bag might add dashes of wit, color and texture to an ensemble, but bags are also great business – fat profit margins, devoid of any size issues and somewhat resilient to whims of passing trends.
Michael Kors and Tori Burch are just two brands that have parlayed success in accessories into wider empires.
According to HSBC analysis the apparel market has grown just .08 percent in the last 2 years. However, footwear, bags, accessories and beauty sales have grown a little more than 6 percent. HSBC also noted that stores are starting to reset their footwear offerings, that accessories are taking more floor space and that beauty goods are getting more attention. Since success in marketing is a self-replicating affair – when something works, retailers do more of it.
And, then even more of it.
For some going out with a little bag is an exercise in self-restraint. It forces you to reassess what’s “essential,” pair down to the very primal basics of society (phonewalletkeys), and arrange those true necessities in a game of what I call “a bag of tricks.” It’s a liberating operation, literally and figuratively: Without all that stuff filling a big bag, a teeny cross body leaves both hands free and shoulders unencumbered. Let the good times roll or so they say …
I often see multiple bags on just one individual. People seem to either have a bag fetish or a need to lug all their personal items with them on a day to day routine.
Last fall, the vintage handbag and accessory e-tailer LXR & Co. opened a pop-up shop in Soho that was apparently such a hit, they decided to make it over and reopen as a permanent store. The shop, at 112 Wooster Street, carries vintage bags, jewelry, and other accessories from big-league fashion houses like Balenciaga, Chanel, Céline and Hermès. In fact, there’s an entire wall in the back of the shop dedicated to the latter called the Birkin Bar.
Bags are here to stay – big or small, decorated or tagged, arm or shoulder, old or new –
See which bag is your favorite. . . . .
There is only one companion in your life,
who always offers you what you need,
who makes you feel like important,
who won’t be jealous, if you have others.
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