In addition to Mrs. Prada, the instigators of this playful accessory look are as follows: Balenciaga (“Fashion should be fun!” believes Demna), Coach (Stuart Vevers is betting big on “I Love NYC” merch) and even Londoner Stefan Cooke, who revamped Mulberry’s prim and proper totes with tacky-cool bits and bobs, including–bizarrely–foam fingers. “It’s a way to interact with fashion in a personal way,” content creator and charm aficionado Heather Hurst recently told Vogue Business, while flagging that individual curation is key. “When it becomes something that can be mass acquired, that’s when it gets into a place of being antithetical to the original purpose of the trend.”
Make not like Miu Miu girl Gigi Hadid, who clips climbing cables, beads and hearts to her yellow Arcadie, or indeed Elordi with his canine companion, but original bohemian style muse Jane Birkin, who loved to attach tokens from far-flung travels and even stickers onto her namesake Hermès tote. Like the friendship bracelet movement, you can certainly buy your way into this trend, but authenticity matters more than any brand logo.
