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Happy Holidays honey, here is this wonderful personalised gift that I spent hours scouring international territories for in the exact colour and style that you love ... except, well, actually my gift concierge found it.”
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12/12/2009 09:18FT.com / Style - Why gift concierges are thriving
Page 1 of 2http://www.ft.com/cms/s/2/57b602c4-e515-11de-9a25-00144feab49a.html
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Why gift concierges are thrivingBy Lucie GreenePublished: December 12 2009 00:41 | Last updated: December 12 2009 00:41
Happy Holidays honey, here is this wonderful personalised gift that I spent hours scouringinternational territories for in the exact colour and style that you love ... except, well, actuallymy gift concierge found it.”
Last month a flurry of gift concierges, experiential gift companies and services launched, allaiming to help the cash-rich and time-poor find poignant gifts for loved ones. While there’snothing particularly new about the gift adviser, the level of product, and the help available, hasincreased exponentially. These aren’t mere gift-recommending services that offer suggestionsbut still put the onus on the gifter to pick; these are gift-getting services.
Bokks (www.bokks.com), the new London-based experiential gifting company that offerseverything from private planes (Edése Doret Boeing Business Jet for a cool £85m) to intimatelive performances by Lenny Kravitz, opened its Mayfair store last month with an accompanyingonline retail site and plans to roll out the concept globally; Net-a-porter.com has launched agift-finder service with same-day delivery (for residents in London) and gift-wrapping in additionto its existing fashion advisory service; the personal concierge service, Quintessentially, hasintroduced Quintessentially Bespoke (www.quintessentially.com), a collection of luxury limitededition products from brands including Richard James, Michael Kors and Matthew Williamson;and stores, from Selfridges in London to Barneys in New York, are expanding their customerconcierge services for the busy holiday period.
As to why, consider the fact that Quintessentially’s gifting arm grew 30-40 per cent last year.There is money in solving other people’s problems. But aren’t such time-saving services kindof cheating?
“Au contraire!” says Simon Doonan, creative director at Barneys (www.barneys.com). “Ourcustomers are obsessed with finding nifty gifts. If that means using a service, then so what?Personal shoppers help them get it right. Cheating is when you re-gift and just shove lastyear’s freebie bottle of cheap sherry in a bag.”
“People usually default to a boring choice when they’re giving gifts. It takes a lot of time to findsomething different and special. We just do that for you,” says Walter Bugno, chief executive atBokks. The company has tapped Karl Lagerfeld and Dustin Hoffman to curate luxury giftranges, and collaborated with designers including Tom Ford and Neil Barrett on limited editionpieces. Bokks’ USP, it says, is the price, the service and the theatrical delivery. (All gifts arepresented by special Bokks bellhops and service and delivery is included in the price.)
Lee Coleman, Quintessentially Gifts’ managing director, sees no shame in getting help to buythe perfect present (in the past this has included popcorn machines with personalised popcornbags and watches with the world bezel altered to a person’s country). “It’s very easy to buygeneric gifts so, in a way, using these services proves that you care,” she says. “Lots of peoplehave family in different places, and it’s hard for them to get good presents to their loved ones.Often they’re very involved too – we’re just the facilitators.”
Many gifting services are aimed primarily at men; executives whose busy lifestyle leaves littletime for gift sourcing. Should they be blamed for thinking laterally? “I work an 80-hour week,and on my days off I don’t want to trawl around the shops,” says chef Tom Aiken, who hasused Net-a-Porter’s advisory service for several years to buy gifts for his wife. He adds: “I alsothink men find it harder, as quite a lot of them get fashion very wrong. This way I get someonewho understands what I want, it comes gift-wrapped, and there’s no stress.”
That may be so, but there are some sticklers who believe the effort – and, indeed, the stress –is all part of showing you care. “When you buy a gift you should do it with pleasure. It shouldn’tbe an imposition,” says shoe designer Manolo Blahnik. “I love to touch and see gifts; there’s nopoint in giving me something divine if you haven’t done it yourself.”
Anya Hindmarch is a fellow gifting enthusiast, and launched Anya Hindmarch Bespoke(www.anyahindmarch.com) this month in part because of her desire to personalise gifts suchas leather goods and trinkets. “I think it’s possibly the most uncommercial venture I’ve everworked on, but I had to do it,” she says. “We’re all busy, and of course, everything has itsplace. I would make the gifts you give much more personalised, about shared jokes or personalmemories. It’s more special that way.”
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