Everyone wants them. Not everyone gets one. Nowhere in society is the class system more apparent – except perhaps when doing your supermarket shopping at Nosh – than in the rarefied world of Fashion Week Goody Bags…
Everyone wants them. Not everyone gets one. Nowhere in society is the class system more apparent – except perhaps when doing your supermarket shopping at Nosh – than in the rarefied world of Fashion Week Goody Bags.
They do them in Australia. They are a huge part of fashion show culture in New Zealand. But in Europe, they don’t even do it, preferring the elegant – and perhaps more professional at what is essentially a trade event – approach of show liner notes on an empty chair to the giant bags of loot we Antipodians covet.
So we all know the what. But what about the why? What purpose do they serve? As well as the obvious one of thanking the guests for their attendance by rewarding them with the grown-up equivalent of a piece of cake wrapped in a napkin, a party blower, two Roses Favourites and a limp balloon, there are other reasons for the goody bag.
They reinforce brand alignments; those companies who, whilst perhaps a million miles from being fashionable themselves, align themselves with a designer. Long gone are the heady cigarette days but alcohol, cars, carpet, lawyers, telecommunication brands, butchers, bakers and candlestick makers all give either money or contra in support of the designer and the show’s production.
In the case of the NZFW delegate bags, the goody bag objects are official sponsors and supporters; for any given fashion show the goody bags are not only sponsors but also, in these tough times, may include anything they could secure for free. Believe me, there have been some random things in there. Comments from (possibly ungrateful and entitled) media I asked anonymously have included "lean" and "a single teabag? WTF" to "I miss the clothes and scarves" by way of "I need them to survive" and "Where are the mascaras now L’Oreal doesn’t do it."
It’s also an opportunity for sampling, getting products into the hands of influentials or just potential cutomers who may like your brand sample so much they either a) share word of it or b) purchase more of it. Davines chose to pre-release its new range of Organic & Mineral hair products to guests at the Marr Factory shows prior to Fashion Week.
And last but not least, it’s a bit of an ego trip. It’s a way of saying you are important to those in the front row. Case in point, the massive shiny gold bags at Charlie Brown which in fact had the same paper notepad that Row B got on their seat but in a big shiny and clearly-visible-from-space I am Front Row way.
So, what were some of my personal highlights this year? Let’s take a look…
Above intro image: the Designer Selection Shows goody bag, open to the public ($65 a ticket)
Below: Salasai’s sponsor DFS gave beautiful perfume samples from their duty free stores.
Worthy of note was the good use of technology in QR codes that Trelise Cooper has really got behind this year; printing them on flyers at her youthful brand COOP.
Juliette Hogan’s sponsor Fisher & Paykel may have sounded a tenuous link to fashion but they did this witty take on a laundry bag. Very cute also was the bag of muesli made by Juliette’s dad at www.granpabbs.co.nz
My favourite: The M.A.C media lockers had Amber D’s picks of fashion week must-haves and a very cool notepad with face charts for recording the look of each show’s faces.
Charlie Brown had a gorgeous note book with NICE named for their AW13 collection, Naughty & Nice.
NZ Weddings do a famously-good bag, including a cupcake, pink rose, and a Jo Malone fragrance that had us swooning with delight. And smelling good whilst doing so.
Taylor had a quite-practical umbrella in their bag; perfect for Auckland weather of late.
Generous: Kat Gee gave out silver and crystal necklaces at Kagi jewellery.
Big budget: Trelise Cooper bags had illuminations inside that matched the battery-operated flickering invitations. She also included emergency flats for sore feet!
Megan Robinson 8 September 2012
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