ANYA HINDMARCH

Anya Hindmarch and I

Like lots of women, I love clothes, shoes, jewellery and handbags.... and when one spends a lot of time reading, living and breathing fashion, I can't help but have a few favourite designers/ brands/ places to shop..

One of my favourite designers is Anya Hindmarch. I had the pleasure of meeting this talented designer about 3 years ago when she came down to Malaysia to launch her 'BE A BAG' campaign at Carcosa Sri Negara.

I like Anya's designs for a number of reasons. Her designs are beautiful but with quirky and fun details.... example, one of her evening bags that I have is a beautiful leather gold clutch with red stones on the clasp... it's elegant and timeless... but INSIDE the bag which makes up the lining is a very graphic and colourful image straight from the KAMA SUTRA!!!!

The last time I used this clutch, I took all the contents out of it to show some friends the image inside. There were many squeals of laughter... It kept being passed around that at one point I was worried I might actually not get it back!!

Another bag I have of hers, is a picture bag with a very vintage looking photo of two women playing chess. except that there were no king of queen statues on their chess board.. they were playing chess with tubes of lipstick on the chess board!

It's fun, cute and quirky details like this which are totally unique to Anya Hindmarch and you can't help but smile when you see things like this... this explains why I have 3 of her bags! and with more to come I'm sure...

After meeting Anya personally while she was here, I can also tell you that she is an incredibly down -to-earth person, soft spoken and just a pleasure to be with.. I hope I have the privilege of meeting her again...

Shopping is not only about trying to find new things to add to an ever expanding wardrobe, it's also about the experience and the customer service received while in the store or boutique.. and I can confidently say that the service at the Anya Hindmarch boutique at KLCC is superb.

I have to thank Shea Pin, Yvonne and Lina for always looking after me and for going to the effort of making sure I received this priceless photo with Anya.... I'm sure there was some time spent looking for this photo as it was over 3 years ago that it was taken... thank you so much. I really appreciate it...

Let me tell you about a little experience I had at a very upmarket boutique in KL recently. I won't mention labels but it's a high end brand favoured by many, many people. There was a particular item I liked but they didn't have it in the colour I wanted. Being such a luxury brand, I asked if they could try getting it in for me from nieghbouring stores or even neighbouring countries. Their answer? NO.... Why? I don't actually know why... I got such a lazy answer, eg their other stores have to keep their stock.... basically, they were not going to try..

At first I thought I was expecting too much... so I mentioned it to a few friends who are shopping junkies. They were all horrified when they heard this!

"WHAT?! They won't call around for you and see if they can get it?! This is not customer service..."

Seriously, they didn't even bother to pick up the phone and try..... My shopping junkie friends tell me they should!

Compare this to the service at CHANEL. A few years ago, I saw a gorgeous top in the CHANEL boutique window. I went in and asked to have a look at it. They took it off the mannequin. It was a size 38. I mentioned that I'm actually a size 36. Immediately the salesgirl said that they have a size 36 in Hong Kong and will have it sent down for me if I wanted it. One look at the price tag and I knew I couldn't afford it, so I told her it wouldn't be necessary. But my point is that without me even asking, she was willing to make sure I got my size in the top if I wanted it...

That is customer service... and from high end luxury labels, I expect this kind of service from the staff...

Again, I will mentin that the staff at CHANEL are very good to me. I'm greeted by name when I walk in and they really make an effort. Special thank you to Cindy Chua and Julie...

So there... my little chatter about shopping.. more stories as and when they happen...