Luxury Bags on Hand

A few weeks back, I featured Bagaholic—a store that sells pre-owned designer bags. I believe it has created quite a stir, as some of my friends sent me text messages on how the post was heaven-sent to them. This time around, I'm featuring another "establishment" that also sells pre-owned luxury bags, on a much smaller scale.

I discovered Urban Flair, an online shop via multiply.com that sells designer/branded bags and accessories. What started out as a super small time business blossomed into a self-sustaining one. Imagine, they started with only about two to five bags, and grew from there. Below is a short Q&A I had with UF:

Style Scout: Are all your items pre-owned?

Urban Flair: Our designer bags are all preloved, as we would love to say. Some of our items are like new or mint condition. We also have brand new non-designer items that are hard-to-find.

Style Scout: Where are your bags from?

Urban Flair: From abroad or from personal collections.

Style Scout: Do you accept consignments?

Urban Flair: Not really, except if it's from the actual owner since we are very careful with regards to authenticity. If they're not designer items, yes, we are open for consignments.

Style Scout: Do you buy bags for clients when they are in search of specific bags?

Urban Flair: We do, and we do pre-orders. But there are specific bags that the client would have to wait for depending on availability.

Style Scout: What's the best-priced bag you've sold?

Urban Flair: We sold a loop LV monogram bag for P20k plus only, it retails for P60k plus...and the conditon's very good. We've also sold LV epi bags (photo below) for about P25k; retail price is also about P60k.

Style Scout: What's the best "find" you've ever sold?

Urban Flair: Best find would always be a Chanel, whether vintage or not.

UF's TIP: It's recommended for interested buyers to give us their e-mail address as we update people of new stocks every so often. The people in our e-mail list get first dibs, that's why some bags don't get a chance to be posted in our multiply account :)

A Love Story in the Superflat Monogram World

I miss watching anime; they never fail to bring the pa-cutey-tootiness in me.  Which is why I want to share these short video clips with you (thanks for the tip, ST!)  If you love fashion, luxury, and cartoons; you'll surely enjoy these :)

Remember the colorful versions of Louis Vuitton monograms?  Well, for those who aren't familiar with them, these are the works of Japanese artist Takashi Murakami... thus, the collections were named after him.  LV Creative Director Marc Jacobs was fascinated by Murakami and invited him to work on a special collection back in 2003.  Along with the launch, a short film animation was released entitled "Superflat Monogram," and is about a young girl named Aya who was swallowed by a big Panda into the superflat world of Murakami.  Here's the video:

Six years have passed since the successful launch of Murakami's super cute collection.  In between those six years, he has produced limited edition lines such as Cherry Blossoms and Eye Love You.  Now, he's back with new characters, a new collection for Spring-Summer 2009, and a new short video, too!  The giant Panda reappeared, with his son in tow, at that same place outside the Louis Vuitton store in Omotesando.  Now, it's the cute li'l panda who swallows Aya, and is transported back in time where she meets Gaston-Louis Vuitton.  Find out what happens here:

So, what's next?  I hope we don't have to wait for another six years to find out where this "love story" goes.  

After watching the clips, I'm hooked on these adorable pandas :)

*photo taken from http://www.louisvuitton.com

The Japanese sure know how to tempt and excite us.  It's all in the details.  But more than LV-Murakami's latest collection, I fell in love with the characters in his Monogram Flat Universe.  Aside from the two pandas, the onion head fairies are my next fave.  Plus, the colors are just too bright and happy to resist!  How about you?  Who's your fave character? ;)