As worn by the stars
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Celebrities turn their old handbags over to Brandname Society. Fans flock forward
Fans of designer brands are blessed with a huge choice of shops – both on the street and online – offering nearly new goods at more or less affordable prices. But the big concern is whether these items are genuine.
Brandname Society, a tiny shop in the J Avenue mall on Soi Thonglor, offers a guarantee of authenticity. Its chief selling point is that celebrities previously owned about 80 per cent of its products.
“And these are people who hardly ever used these items,” says owner
Siratcha Patcharasopachai. “Some of these bags were used only once before they came to us, and of course celebrities never have to use fake goods.
“Celebrities like to change bags frequently and then find they have too many, so they give them to us to resell on a consignment basis.”
She’s delighted that some of the stars, like Cherman “Ploy” Boonyasak, say it’s fine to tell customers she once owned a particu
lar item. Having a famous name attached invariably helps seal a sale.
Many of the “non-celebrity” items at Brandname Society come from regular customers of Momoko, Siratcha’s shoe-and-bag “spa”, which has a branch at J Avenue. Repairing their expensive totes and footwear for resale on consignment was what led to Brandname Society in the first place.
“We were reselling the bags at Momoko but soon ran out of space, and meanwhile we realised there was a demand for a dedicated store,” Siratcha says.
Brandname Society is indeed tiny – not much bigger than a fast-food kiosk – but it certainly grabs people’s attention with its booty of Prada, Chanel, Luis Vuitton, Gucci, Balenciaga and Mulberry bags.
A glass cabinet also displays smaller purses, wristwatches and other accessories.
It’s a steadfast rule that no fakes are accepted. Nor is anything brand new. “We also do business with exclusive distributors of these products, so we don’t want to compete with them,” Siratcha explains.
Customers are also coming in who have heard the
word on Facebook and Instagram, she says. “We actually sell products faster online than from the store. Anyone who’s interested can also inquire at the WhatsApp and Line chats, which makes things very con
venient for them and us.”
The shop will deliver online purchases to your home – or bring them around so you can see them in person before you buy. “Some customers want to make sure they really like a product first, so we send over our guy with them for personal inspection.”
FIND IT
Brandname Society is in the J Avenue mall on Thonglor Soi 15, on Facebook at “brandnamesociety”, and on Instagram at “brandname_society”.
