Wednesday, January 06, 2010  4:04 PM
Demise of my green and white
For the longest time, I was ever so enchanted by kate spade.
Now two bags and a wallet later, I'm saying goodbye to my old colourful friend that first enticed me into the world of branded bags.
They have the most eye-popping colours on every type of basket bag, clutch and handbag imaginable. Their masterful play of green and white, reds, pinks and hues of orange, polka dots and stripes always transported me to another world during the later part of my teenage years. Their advertisements and whimsical taglines found their way many times to my desktop wallpaper and MSN nicknames.
On my twenty-first birthday, I skipped my way into a kate spade store in Hong Kong and almost keeled over in excitement when I purchased my first (birthday present from the relenting mum, of course).
Perhaps my wise father knew I would grow out of it in time and he never fails to nag against spending more than $50 on a bag. He never has believed in buying branded items, and never casts new buys around the house a second glance. Maybe he knew that the desire will always be for something greater as how life is continuously aspirational.
But with five people carrying the similar-looking label within 10m of each other on the train in the morning, kate spade is becoming the icon of every Jane or Mary as they strut around with their prized possessions swinging off their shoulders. Magazines have stopped featuring their bags; I now see pages stocked full with their jewellery instead. Charles & Keith did a whole season on blatant copies of kate spade designs a year ago, which almost drew the line for me then. And with more and more citizens of our island popping by the US for that cash-saving trip to a kate spade factory outlet and coming back with buys costing a quarter of what we pay here, it's high time to move on.
The demise started with the huge store opening at Raffles City - nobody knew what it was when the delightful numbers were housed in little store tucked away in the massive Takashimaya department store. No, I will still use my bags because they were wonderful buys and I still love them. But I'll stop buying more and focus my fancies on another designer instead; after all, what's fashion if it isn't an ever-changing experience?
We were talking about labels in the office yesterday, and this conversation can only happen when three girls on the third floor are browsing through style.com and net-a-porter at the same time. It always happens when the day is about to end and we're tired from sending emails and talking to the SPH receptionists. So after much deep thought to "Which brand personifies us?", we now have a Calvin Klein, Alexander Wang and Marc Jacobs collaborating together and wishing we could one day set up our very own business.
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