The Logo Effect

Okay. I obviously LOVE designer bags like any red-blooded girls anywhere in this crazy world. But I do have something I despise about designers who design bags. It's the fact of how proud they are of what they design, shown by attaching way too big or too much logos for the world to see. It's given that Louis Vuitton has been leading the way with their monogram leather -which are nowadays copied shamelessly by other top notch designers- and I've made my peace with that, especially when they finally hire Takashi Murakami to do something to jazz up the boring brown pattern with cherries and small little hotel doormen.

What bugs me is how OTHER leading brands paste their logo notoriously on their fine products. I know that not all brands are as recognisable as Burberry for instance. However, stamping a larger-than-thou logo is -to me- is a tacky act. Fendi did nice on some of its baguettes and spy bags (I don't really know how people see spy bags as 'gorgeous' -but let's talk about that on other post). But they did a blah job on this supposedly nice Selleria. If it's done to 'get attention', well I'd say they pulled it off with this nice little orange wallet. It's flashy, it's fabulous and more importantly, people actually get that it's a Fendi.

Another brand that really went beyond my expectation in showing off its initials is Yves Saint Laurent. Its simple tote bag got ruined with a huge YSL logo. Yeah it's made with beads, and yeah it costs a gazillion more than what tote bags should cost, but it does NOT look like it costs a fortune. I'm still eyeing YSL's white Muse bag like the one owned by Sienna Miller, but never in this freaky world would I be caught dead sporting the hideous tote. Nope.

Prada. Lately I noticed some drawbacks in the designs. I still remember the canvas craze a few years back... and yes I got into it too. But lately the smallish triangular logo have been replaced with a large emboss of 'Prada Milano' logo. And what's more amazing, people actually LIKE it. Wow. I just don't get it. It's like saying: "Don't you just luuuurve my new bag? Oh you don't know what it is? Can't you, like.. uh... READ?"

It's nauseating.

From where I'm sitting right now, I see a very thin line between being bold and tacky. Bold is attitude, while tacky is what a so-called nouveau riche would be whenever they smile and brag about their bags / clothes / shoes / accessories that bear the logo. Bold is carrying your bag wherever, whenever wearing whatever and still manage to get people whispering: "She has the new Balenciaga!"

Don't know about you, but to me, showing 'class' is never equal with showing 'logos'. As long as you know you're carrying a Tod's, doesn't mean everybody has to. And when you start drooling over logos, just be prepared to rot in fashion hell.