Louis Vuitton Flea Market

I've been visiting the Dubai Mall very frequently since the day they flung their doors open due to my apartment's close proximity to it, I find myself in the mall for the smallest of needs, like buying stamps to my bi-weekly visits to the supermarket, shopping fixes or funnily enough, even Scuba diving (I recommend the Shark encounter for the brave).

So in short, I've seen the mall transform into a bustling shopping venue which is a far cry from the early days when barely a quarter of the stores were open for Business. My favourite section of the mall is the Fashion Avenue where you will find an atrium with Armani Caffe as the centrepiece majestically surrounded by an impressive collection of the finest designers, namely Hermes, Dior, Chanel, Versace,Dolce & Gabanna to mention a few.

In my search for a comfortable pair of "every day shoes" I had visited Bloomingdales - a must do for any discerning lover of fashion! The search was fruitless but strangely fulfilling in a way, as every one of my visits to the store tends to be, mainly because I get a sense of how the local community and tourists respond to brand messaging and merchandising.

From Bloomie's I made a beeline to the Fashion Avenue only to find that the Chanel store was closed. Despite the windows being boarded up and a sign on the door notifying customers that the store was closed for renovation, 3 Emirati ladies, obviously determined to buy some Chanel that day, still pushed the door open to find that no, it wasn't an April fool's joke, the store was actually empty. It will be interesting to see why and how they have changed the store - strategy strategy strategy!

Next stop...Louis Vuitton!In earlier days, all you had to do was so much as glance in the direction of the store and the doorman will be welcoming you in...NOT SO on this day. Apparently there were too many customers in the store, so they were controlling the flow of traffic. Now this news didn't settle well with a couple who arrived at the door just before I did, because apparently this had happened to them the day before as well. Luckily I didn't have to wait long but once inside I really felt my heart sink!

Where is the exclusivity? Where is the ambiance? Where is that that sense of uniqueness that one seeks when they shell out thousands for a genuine designer product. The LV store, in all honesty had transformed into a flea market - I had to block my ears for fear of hearing people haggling for discounts. The hushed tones and elegance of the store gave way to raised voices and harrowed sales attendants unable to keep up with the demands of each customer....

Disappointing. The brand image is slightly tarnished in my head, although a saving grace came in the form of the new print ads that were produced by Ogilvy featuring Annie Liebowitz and Mikhail Baryshnikov, shying away from the overexposed flashy celebrity endorsements to a subtly styled ode to the heritage of the brand.
http://www.louisvuittonjourneys.com/annie

Perhaps its the thirst for Heritage that the Dubai shoppers are after in a place so full of newness! Perhaps!

Karama!

I remember promising to go to Karama for some field research on fakes but I still haven't gotten round to it. My Aunt however, gave it 2 goes! Well a lesson is to be learned here...Karma took over Karama. The whole idea behind Karma is "what goes around, comes around" Well it went something like this. A fake Louis Vuitton travel case was purchased and as soon as it got home, caused such severe dissatisfaction that another had to be purchased to pacify the offending object's distaste. The replacement was of better quality and less offensive to the eye but a counterfeit remains a counterfeit and as the say...You buy cheap, You buy twice!

I would still like to go to Karama, despite my research having been done for me already.

So as much as immitation is the most sincere form of flattery, fakes wouldn't be so offensive if they weren't so tarnished in craftsmanship and ethics.