Why I bought my MCM

I've never appreciated  monograms. Hence even when my schoolmates were going gaga over Louis Vuitton, I held back. Likewise, with MCM, I loved the street approach because it was edgy, flashy, and had yellow gold accents across many of their products. BRING ON THE FLASH. However, I held back because it just didn't fit in with my "no brand logos" approach to designer goods.

Nonetheless, that didn't stop me from casting a longing look into the MCM store each time I took a budget flight from Changi Airport. Until 26 July 2013.

Was feeling pretty proud of myself  that day, because for the first time in two years, I was taking a full-service (Singapore Airlines!!!) flight for a leisure trip. I was obviously feeling like a baller. As luck would have it, I spotted a few lovely snakeskin bags with tight stitching and clean lines inside MCM. And without monograms As a fan of tight, clean lines, I would describe those bags as "Orgasm in a Clutch". Of course I walked in.

"This is on sale, Ma'am. 40% off" said the helpful saleslady.

40% off?? At that point, I didn't know much about MCM (i.e., that it was Korean backed, or popular mostly with Chinese teens). But I did know it had my ex-StyleMeister-Colleague's seal of approval, and that I'd fallen in love with a dead animal, and that I wanted it to grace my lap at every function I attended from that day forward. Furthermore, I figured that at Changi Airport, nothing much could go wrong. #fansofchangi, yo.

"Is this snakeskin?" I enquired, knowing that a snakeskin clutch at $800 would've been an absolute steal.

"No, ma'am. It is embossed calfskin"
"No?" I enquired. "It looks real though"
"No ma'am. If it were real snakeskin, it would be much more expensive."

Right. So my gate was closing soon, and I ended up buying the bag.

"This is your warranty card ma'am. Don't lose it because you need it for warranty to be effective".

Standard stuff. And also, the beginning of a nightmare. You would note that at this point, the woman:

• Called the bag embossed calfskin, and even told me outright that it wasn't a snake
• Didn't tell me about the bag's warranty period
• Didn't tell me that I needed to keep the receipt as well

Can you guess what happened?
I shall update...soon.

About MCM (Modern Creation Munich)

MCM (at this point) is arguably a cult designer brand. It can be difficult to get a full understanding of what the brand is like, so here are my learnings:

The Basics about MCM
Get your MCM 101 at the brand's wiki page. TLDR: The brand launched in the 70s, failed in the 90s, was bought by a Korean (Kim Sung Joo) in 2005, relaunched in 2006 with RAIN as its spokesperson.

The Lady Who Revived MCM

What MCM looks like
Monograms and patterns rule this house. 80% of their products are all about the logo. Else it's the studs. They work very hard at looking good though: Check out their Instagram. I think it looks at best, it looks like KENZO, at worst it looks like BONIA.

What MCM feels like
Despite having a store in Hong Kong's Entertainment Building (situated at a busy intersection in Hong Kong's traditional CBD area), you'd be hard pressed to find Western-influenced people toting an MCM. Most of its fans are either influenced by East Asian pop culture. The brand also seems China focused - probably a strategic business move, but I guess on most days, I'm just not ready to align myself with 富二代 Chinese teens. 

Welcome to MCM's flagship (Pic from mylifestylenews)

Who carries MCM
Well I've only ever encountered Mainland Chinese TEENS (!!!!!!) in all their stores, accompanied by their reluctant parents (haha). Meanwhile, in the English speaking world, the forummers don't get it, and seem to think it is overpriced.

That said, the people whom I know to personally love MCM are all working professionals with a sense of style themselves. So - my take: Style Connoisseurs (They go for the studs) and Chinese Logo Loving Teens (they go for the logo)

Where you'll find it
Bloomingdales! Bloomies has always been a personal favourite because of their creative flair, and good curation of products. But looking at Sung-Joo Kim's professional history, am pretty sure that her past experience at Bloomingdales helped play a role in getting MCM stocked at the iconic U.S. retailer.

And Hong Kong's Entertainment Building, and of course, my dear Changi Airport. #fansofchangi yo.

According to Wikipedia, "Today, MCM products are primarily available through wholesale accounts, franchise partnerships and directly-operated stores." Well bully for you if you manage to shop at directly operated stores, as one would imagine the experience to be the product of a more stringent process. As an avid MCM fan, I found the team at Changi Airport's franchise outlet quite lacking in product knowledge and service quality. Their outlet was managed by Nuance-Watson (yes the folks who got ousted by Shilla Duty Free), and in each of my encounters with them, they gave me different product information.