Aug 17, 2009

Paper Bags as Fashion StatementsBy Kaori ShojiNYTimes.com

Tokyo — In a city once known as fashion addict central for Asia, the shop-till-you-drop lifestyle has not only become passé, it’s now also an object of ridicule.

Examples of excessive consumerism no longer draw envious sighs; they are now a cue for laughter. Early this year a 33-year-old woman had so crammed her studio apartment with designer shoes, bags and clothing that she couldn’t find the front door and called in a television crew (armed with a crowbar) to come wrestle her out of the choking mass of luxury products while the whole process was aired on a variety show.

Still, the Tokyo Girl insists on having fun, and that has manifested itself in the trend of carrying paper shopping bags in lieu of backpacks and briefcases. And not just any bags, but ones marked with brand logos — the more upscale or upbeat the better.

In Harajuku, Japan’s famous teen stomping grounds, Ayaka Nogami, 17, was toting around a lumpy Prada shopping bag on a recent day. Inside were her school gym clothes, a plastic canister with a vitamin drink and her lunchbox. “It used to be my older sister’s,” Ayaka said. “But it got a little creasy, and so she let me have it for ¥300,” or about $3.20.

Ayaka also has a shopping bag from Cecil McBee, a popular girl’s brand, whose flagship boutique is in the famous 109 Building in Shibuya. She procured the bag two months ago when buying a dress and pair of black summer tights, with money earned from working the register at her neighborhood convenience store.

“This is the bag I save for weekend dates with my boyfriend,” Ayaka says, adding that after each outing she irons the bag — after turning it inside out to avoid burning the logo. And then she folds it away. “For me, shopping is a special occasion,” she says. “The bag will be a reminder of that day, how I felt when I bought the dress, the whole experience.”

The trend, as it were, is not new. In the early 1980s, teenagers used to carry their school things and sports gear in designer shopping bags, mainly to broadcast their social standing (showing that they could afford these boutiques). Now, the meaning behind the paper-bag syndrome is more nuanced, and tinged with parsimonious romance. Adults and teenagers carry them around partly to bask in the memory of a shopping (splurging) occasion, partly because the “eco-bag” trend has run its course.

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