I’m already lamenting the end of the shopping bag – the gorgeous kind, you know, with maybe satin or grosgrain handles, like from Hermes or Donghia or Laduree in Paris. The kind you may hold onto for years, can’t bear to toss.
And the whole ritual of having your purchase lavishly swathed in tissue paper, held in place with a beautiful sticker, and then gracefully placed in its coordinating carrier suddenly feels sinful.
That graphic/branding indulgence is coming to an end – I know it and ruefully admit I will really miss it. Carrying bags will always be with us but will reusables ever be as glamorous as their wasteful and glorious predecessors?
Sure, we are all declining shopping bags and bringing in our own, recycling the plastic ones, etc. In my store we keep reusing them (except for gift purchases of course), without the shame we might have felt a couple of years ago. All these new practices are good and necessary and I wholeheartedly support them but I can’t imagine what, if anything, will recreate that little note of luxury when our packaging becomes truly minimal?
August 25th, 2008 at 6:41 am
Thank God! Who has the time to wait for all the fuss? Then you take it home and have to fill up your trash container with it. I think its the end of indulgence and luxury as we know it. The Creative Class are turning away from logos and conspicuous consumption to smarter, greener and more authentic. I know I am.
August 25th, 2008 at 7:47 pm
Take a look at traditional Japanese gift packaging. Among other techniques, one can use a lovely piece of cloth instead of paper. You can reuse the cloth to wrap a gift, turn it into a cloth napkin or part of a quilt, and so on. This could be a good strategy for packaging a high-end product (well, maybe not chocolate…).