Doodad Couture

Everything Alabama: Many women covet a $6,000 Hermes Birkin bag. But for Amanda Miller, who carries one to work, the appeal lies not in the exclusive bag but what’s on it. Hanging from her Birkin are unusual charms, including a skull from Prada and a plastic bunny in a space suit that she bought from a vending machine in Tokyo.
The doodads convey “not only do I have style and a perspective on history, but that I have a real sense of whimsy,” says Miller, a 28-year-old travel-industry publicist in New York.
An odd but growing product niche in the luxury-goods business these days: Accessories for accessories. The items, first popularized in Japan, appeal to an increasing appetite among consumers – and often younger consumers – for personalizing the way they look. With luxury-goods companies now making handbag charms, they also provide consumers with a lower-price entry point to the world of Coach, Louis Vuitton, Hermes and Prada.
Other accessories are getting accessories too. For Christmas, Bottega Veneta introduced a shoe with a change purse attached to it. La Loop, which sells $85 to $500 necklaces to hold sunglasses at Bergdorf Goodman, will unveil a lower-price line at J.C. Penney early next year. And Kodak recently started selling jeweled wristbands and necklaces to hold its cameras, along with camera clutches in pink and green.
Doodad couture the latest trend for accessorizing the accessories [Everything Alabama]