Today, the lady who keeps after my building received a piece of mail for me. When I returned home from doing laundry, where I was mocked for having had George W. Bush as a president, I found that my clothes weren't alone in being worked into a lather. Whatever her name is, she gave me quite the dressing down for receiving mail without telling her and proceeded into an incomprehensible (to me) rant.
After about five minutes of this, while she's still yelling – I slinked away to my apartment wishing I had a way to communicate to her. Thanks to the magic of Google Translate, I can. I typed up a quick note of apology, translated it and then jotted down a note on paper, which I slipped under her office door.
"Je suis désolé pour créer une confusion avec le courrier. Je vis ici, à travers Juin et recevoir du courrier de temps à autre. Je vais également travailler sur la compréhension plus français."
Upon returning from not finding the cell phone store an hour later, I received a warm reception and smile. Thank you Google.
Today was my very first full day in Paris and I spent the day walking about the city. I intended to do one of my regular shop-walks, popping into stores and taking note of inventory, service and merchandising… but I was distracted. Paris is staggeringly beautiful. Sure, I was prepared for an elegant city… but not for this much beauty in one place. It's an embarrassment of architectural riches. Of course, I haven't even seen that much of the city before my feet wore out and I had to park myself at a brasserie for a Diet Coke and steak tartare. This will be a fun three months.
While I was growing up, my family traveled all over the United States, but I never went abroad until I was an adult. When I did, I ventured south to explore South and Central America, then explored China and Southeast Asia. I've seen a little bit of Europe – but have never been to Paris because I didn't quite believe everyone's waxing and tend to think I prefer more adventurous locations. Shame on me for taking this long to pay a visit to The City of Lights.
As a kid, I experienced foreign countries through film. I'm an aficionado of old movies and walking around Paris, I couldn't help but think of Charade. Many people mistake this as an Alfred Hitchcock film... it's not. Cary Grant (as a dashing American) and Audrey Hepburn (as damsel in distress) fall in love while trying to recover her dead husband's fortune. Henry Mancini's score is perfection. The film is available on iTunes and tonight I'm rewatching.
More news today on counterfeit goods. The Wall Street Journal reported today on Google and LVMH locking horns in the European courts over Google selling trademark keyword search terms to non-trademark holders for advertising purposes. For instance, the search term "LV handbags" might trigger an ad for fake LV bags or – perhaps even worse – for genuine TOD'S bags. The verdict was leaned in Google's favor, but both sides claimed victory. Google can continue selling trademarked names for ad search, yet advertisers must make clear whether the goods they are selling are genuine.
Few things can focus one's mind on mortality like airplane turbulence. Bouncing around 35,000 feet over the Pacific Ocean, one can't help but think of plunging into the frigid Bering Sea. And so, I blog to distract.
After a visit to East Asia, it's hard not to ponder the impact the fakes market has on designer goods and brands. As I boarded this flight from Shanghai to Chicago, a parade of roller-duffels emblazoned with grand initials (lots of LV's, interlocking G's, bold C's) were stuffed into economy class overhead compartments.
From the Temple Street Night Market in Hong Kong to the Silk Market in Beijing and JJ Market in Bangkok – pirated luxury goods are big business. By some estimates, counterfeit products account for 7% of worldwide trade. Even though imitation is the highest form of flattery, producers of the genuine articles are none too pleased by the rip-offs. Just yesterday, Polo and VF's North Face filed a federal lawsuit against over 130 producers of counterfeit goods.
American and European brands have been crying foul on violating trade dress rules for eons. There are several common arguments made about the fakes market:
Intellectual Property rights are important - Thomas Jefferson asserted that protection of IP was one of the underpinnings of a free society. Protecting ideas is vital for stimulating creation of more new ideas. Growing up in Silicon Valley, I believe this… but much of Asia just doesn't share this view. Some counterfeit producers make an argument that IP should apply only to more developed economies; Western manufacturers are probably fighting a losing battle to convince them otherwise.
Counterfeits divert demand from genuine goods – There's a growing body of evidence out there that this is actually dead wrong. In fact, according to a recent article out of MIT Sloan, purchase of fake goods stimulates demand for genuine luxury bands. Fakes customers either find themselves unsatisfied with owning a counterfeit or use purchase as a trial of owning the real thing.
Fakes manufacturers use unfair labor practices – While this is probably true in some instances, this is a sweeping assumption that probably doesn't apply to most producers. Because of the scurrilous nature of counterfeit manufacturing, it's difficult to trace practices if you don't know who is producing which goods.
This inability to trace and account for labor practices in the fakes market – indeed for most low-price manufacturers – gives me pause at purchasing fakes at the markets… but this is mostly a disingenuous concern. I've probably purchased plenty of goods that have been produced with questionable labor practices without thinking twice.
The primary reason I shy away from purchasing fakes is twofold: craftsmanship and vanity. For me, what makes a good special and worth the expense is a mastery of craft; fake goods are almost always mass manufactured and display poor quality. I also shouldn't sell short my own vanity and the modest pleasure derived from knowing I'm wearing a genuine article or brand.
To better understand more about why the market for fake goods is so large and how to craft successful anti-pirating marketing, MIT Sloan conducted a study of purchase behavior in five major markets: Brazil, Russia, India, China and the United States.
What the city has in scale and vision, it lacks in polish. We had problems checking in, getting seated for dinnerProblems with service operations – hospitality is but one example – exist throughout China – often the people providing a service experience have no personal experience with it. The idea of fine dining in restaurants, staying overnight in hotels or visiting spas is totally unfamiliar to the people staffing these establishments.
Taylor and I completely enjoyed exploring the old colonial center of Macau, a UNESCO World Heritage Site. We also got lost in an old neighborhood full of men playing checkers, women playing mahjong and markets selling everything from dried fish and produce to herbs and teas. I stopped in one shop filled with Qing Dynasty scrolls and spoke with the shopkeeper. The commercial success of the colonial alleys has resulted in sharply higher rents in surrounding areas. After admiring his collection of antique portraits and learning he'll be evicted from his shop soon, I made a purchase.
Sunday was spent lollygagging by the pool and eating at Fernando's on the beach, which served wonderful Portugese/Macau fare. We had a delicious meal of fish, prawns, pork and morning glories; their fried rice might be the best I've ever had.
I began my trip to Hong Kong yesterday as I do all my visits to new places – by searching for an ATM that accepts American Express for cash withdrawals. Admittedly, I am loyal to a weird bank that offers an AmEx debit card, which offers many benefits, not among them access to cash machines abroad. After visiting a dozen or so banks on Queen's Road, I gave up until I headed across Victoria Harbor to Kowloon. There, I sauntered into the Peninsula Hotel, doing my best to look like a posh guest, and grilled the concierge on the whereabouts of a nearby American Express office. It turns out they closed all their offices in Hong Kong within the last two years – however, he was fairly sure there was an ATM just around the corner from the hotel that would work. Sure enough, I followed his instructions and found the only ATM in Hong Kong I've found to accept AmEx… the Circle K.
After grabbing some cash, Taylor and I did a shop-walk around Kowloon. Since I discovered Shanghai Tang in Beijing last year, I've been eager to return. David Tang's inspired and luxe twist on traditional Chinese goods (apparel, silks, lacquers and porcelains) is a revelation – glamorous, relevant and comfortable.
Yesterday, the New York Times ran the loveliest obituary for Fr. Robert Carter (pictured at right), a Jesuit priest who helped found the National Gay and Lesbian Task Force and Dignity USA, an activist group of gay Catholics. Fr. Carter's work in social justice and tending to the earliest victims of the AIDS epidemic represented the Catholic Church at its best. I spent my high school and college years at Jesuit schools which taught me not only how to think analytically but to be service-minded. I've long admired Jesuits' independent thinking in what is often (and mistakenly) assumed to be a single-minded institution. I found the last lines of the obit particularly wonderful:
"For him (Fr. Carter), there was no contradiction between homosexuality and Christianity. In his memoir, Father Carter wrote: "Since Jesus had table fellowship with social outcasts and sinners, those rejected by the religious establishment of his time, I consider myself to have been most fully a Jesuit, a 'companion of Jesus,' when I came out publicly as a gay man, one of the social rejects of my time. It was only by our coming out that society's negative stereotypes would be overcome and we would gain social acceptance.""
Yesterday, after an unnecessarily grueling day of travel from San Francisco – with a four hour ground delay in Philadelphia – I finally arrived at Josh's apartment in Chelsea. I don't know how I would have maintained my sanity if I hadn't been seated next to Ed F., a banker who happens to share several friends with me. While parked on the tarmac, Ed rented a car to drive from Philly to New York and offered to take me with him. In travel, we often rely on the kindness of others… thank you, Ed!
Today has been spent on Josh's sofa napping, organizing my life, tracking down luggage and firing carefully worded missives off to American Airlines. Tomorrow I'm off to Hong Kong to catch up with my good friend and fellow KFBS student, Taylor Miffleton… the final adventure in our business school travels. I cannot wait to get back to Asia and explore. As befits a Southern woman, Taylor has perfected the art of sitting side-saddle on the back of a motorcycle (this pic is from Hanoi.)
Last week, American Eagle announced the closure of Martin + Osa, its apparel brand for the 30+ set.I’m a late comer to M+O, never having lived terribly near their stores (which always seemed to be in posh malls, not in cities.In February, I happened to be in Century City and was delighted to have a chance to explore their sleek and expensively appointed store.Falling into the brand’s target (30s, gay, conservative dresser) I liked the clothes, but the product range imitated J Crew’s styling and the brand had no real identity. J Crew has the corner on the poet/artist/traveler/adventurer, but M+O had no clear direction.
When I was in New York week before last, I went on a shop-walk to several newish men’s apparel stores I had neglected to visit and an old favorite.All of these store are representative of a movement in retail to create incredibly personal shopping environments.Ralph Lauren has been doing this for years – communicating his brand through carefully curated store environments.Perhaps as an antidote to the scaled up brands of the late 1990s and early 2000s - or to complement these brands’ successful, but impersonal internet stores, all are aiming to cultivate a very intimate portrait of the brands and their identity.
John Bartlett’s West Village outpost sells sensible, modern apparel to gay men.He has some accessories that made me smile, like the matching pattern shirt/tie combo and the sherbet orange windbreaker.The store is accessorized with aggressively gay paraphernalia – like the massive Tom of Finland book.
J Crew’s Liquor Store has been on my radar since it opened two plus years ago, but off my usual path (I rarely go below Canal.)The staff is friendly and Andy Spade’s uber-personal store design is a love letter to the brand - chock full of well chosen artifacts from the life of an urban gentleman. It’s been said before and will be said again: Mickey Drexler is a genius.
Billy Reid’s Bond Street store is actually not the base of his operation.That distinction goes to the fashion capital of Florence, Alabama, which serves as muse for his inspired and very personal line of tailored clothes for the modern Southern Gentleman (not prepster.)Reid just won GQ’s best new men’s designer, his star is on the rise!
A stroll into Paul Smith’s lower 5th Avenue store always makes me rue the day I donated clothes to the Goodwill… because they will always come back in style.Of course, who needs a magical wardrobe when Paul Smith exists to fill in the sartorial gaps.This store is brilliant…. my very favorite place to go for pocket squares and clever accessories.
In San Francisco, I had the opportunity speak with Erik Joule, head of Men’s Merchandising, Design and Licensing at Levi’s. We spoke at length about the effort at Levi’s (and Dockers) to reinvigorate the brand and innovate product development processes.His explained his vision for a purpose-driven brand – this isn’t exactly new, Benetton has long advocated through advertising, Patagonia has a longstanding commitment to the environment and American Apparel’s support for immigration reform and gay marriage have been widely noted.However, Levi’s brings a great deal of scale to this concept – none of these apparel companies rivals Levi’s in history or in volume.Joule is helping lead the organizational transformation at Levi’s and I’m very excited to see how the brand strategy shapes up.For a mass brand like Levi’s, it’ll be incredibly difficult to select a cause that aligns with the brand and resonates with consumers.
My perfect world? One where experiences and products always exceed expectations and are (in a word) delightful. Here I share my thoughts about my never-ending quest to discover and create memorable customer experiences.
