Top of my favourite fashion fantasies? To wake up one
morning with a Carrie Bradshaw-esque closet overflowing with designer accessories.
What would I give to have at my fingertips a myriad of super-luxe finishing
touches for every outfit imaginable?
A means business tote for the office. A frothy, macaroon-hued
fascinator for my best friend’s wedding. A rhinestone-studded, impracticably
tiny but impossibly chic, clutch for a black tie charity dinner. A roomy,
leather holdall for impromptu weekends away. A pair of vintage double-c
emblazoned earrings to add a shot of retro-glam to my daily uniform of jeans
and a Breton tee. This season’s it-bag for cocktails with the girls. The
perfect feather-trimmed fedora to pull down low over bad hair days…
The list goes on.
And on.
And on…
The slight flaw in the daydream? Well, my rabbit hutch-sized
flat for starters. I’ve barely got room for the basics, let alone a full on
treasure-trove of handbags, hats and jewels. Oh, and then there’s the normal
person-sized salary to contend with, which is sadly more suited to H&M and
Cotton On than Hermes and Chanel.
But, before we relegate that fantasy to the draw labeled
fairytales and chocolate éclairs that make you skinny, perhaps it’s time I
introduce you to our fashion fairy Godmother. Step up LuxTNT – the answer to all our perfect
accessory prayers.
Luxury fashion accessories rental start-up, LuxTNT, gives
each and every one of us access to the bags and baubles of our Bradshaw-shaped dreams
for a fraction of the cost. Think of it as a sort of library for glam girls
where instead of books, the shelves are stacked with accessories from Fendi,
Judith Leiber, Lanvin and Alexander McQueen. The premise is simple, browse the
catalogue of accessory amazingness, whittle it down to the one and then rent
your designer dreamboat from as little as HK$30 per night. Suddenly boarding
the plane for your next mini-break with a baby blue Globetrotter in tow is well
within your reach. That Chanel lego clutch that retails well over your total
monthly pay check? Yours for the night for less than the cost of a couple of
dresses from Zara. As fashion genius
goes, LuxTNT has got to rank up there with the invention of high heels.
I decided that in the interests of all the accessories
addicts of Hong Kong, I’d have to give the service a whirl and fill you in on
all the details. Cut to a few hours later curled up on the sofa with a large
glass of wine drooling over the sort of handbag candy I usually only see
splashed across the pages of Vogue - AKA heaven. After drawing up a shortlist
featuring a couple of hundred thousand dollars’ worth of Dolce & Gabbana,
Chanel and Bottega Veneta, I eventually narrowed it down to a little piece of
sartorial perfection – the Saint Laurent Classic Logo bag – retails at an
eyewatering HK$14,650, mine for the weekend for HK$586. With a click of my mouse
and flutter across the keyboard, that Saint Laurent baby was being whisked off
the shelf and winging its way towards my front door. Now, that’s magic!
Two days later, on my scheduled delivery day, I woke up with
a distinct Christmas morning feeling. A glimmer of excitement that only
rocketed into full-on out and out glee when a courier came bounding up my
stairs moments later with a sleek black box. I tore off the lid and shredded
through the beautifully wrapped tissue package to find a glossy bundle of Saint
Laurent gleaming back at me. Head over heels at first sight.
For the next 48 hours, we were barely parted for a moment. I
flew around town flashing my new designer sidekick getting cooing comments from
all directions. From a cocktail-fuelled DIY session at the A Pair & A Spare Studio with the Sassy Girls, to a cosy datenight at 121BC and even
through to a sunglasses mandatory hangover brunch the following day, my Saint
Laurent accompanied me giving every outfit some heavyweight fashion punch.
But,
when Monday morning rolled around, I had more than the usual end of weekend
blues to contend with, it was time to bid a doleful farewell to my newfound
love.
Drying my tears as the courier tucked the parcel under his
arm, I settled in front of my laptop to start the week’s work but moments later
somehow found myself logged back into my LuxTNT account… Was I going to cheat
on my Saint Laurent before he’d even left the building? Too right I was. When
there’s Givenchy to be hired for the equivalent of the cost of my usual team
coffee run, it’s practically criminal not to start off Monday with a little high-end
handbag hit. Brushing away the last crumb of doubt, I clicked my mouse and
fluttered across the keyboard muttering to myself, ‘what would Carrie do?’…
