About one in six presents today are from people pooling their dollars together to give someone a nicer gift or a gift certificate.
THE pursuit of designer labels has led women to starve themselves, miss rent payments, shoplift and even, as The Post recently revealed, turn tricks.
But there’s an easier, legal way to get designer gear: Ask your friends.
Gift-givers are pooling resources to buy big-ticket designer items for pals, an increasingly popular trend.
Fashion designer Nicole Romano would never buy herself the $685 J.P. Tods’ “Candy Bag” she lusted after, so she did the next best thing and took up a collection for a pal’s birthday.
“Jennifer was never one to go out and grab a drool-worthy designer accessory. I figured she would be the perfect candidate for a group gift pool. Although it took about eight people and some serious financial negotiating, she got the bag . . . and, oh, what a beauty.”
What’s more, she added, “this would make it all the easier for me to get my naughty little paws on that bourgeois bag.”
And after hearing her boss obsess over a “stella” Marc Jacobs bag for the 93rd time, publicist Daisy Hu finally got the hint – and got her colleagues at a Manhattan marketing firm to pitch in $100 at birthday time.
“I know how much she loves Marc Jacobs and we were looking for something cool and meaningful that she could use everyday,” she says.
The boss, 29-year-old Tammy Brook, admits to dropping not-so-subtle hints. “I talked about it every minute. I was literally obsessed about it,” admits Brook. “I called my financial adviser and I was like, ‘Please tell me I can get this bag.’ “
Now it’s not only her favorite accessory, it’s a talking point.
“Anytime I sit down in a meeting, it’s the first thing we talk about,” says Brook. About one in six presents today are from people “pooling their dollars together to give someone a nicer gift or a gift certificate,” says C. Britt Beemer, chairman and founder of America’s Research Group, a consumer research and strategic marketing firm.
“When the stock market crashed, you saw luxury take it on the chin and since it’s rebounded in the last couple of months, luxury has really taken off,” he says. “It’s the growing category of retail.”
So whether it’s a $350 Comme Des Garcons wallet or a $900 Frette slip – if you want it, it pays to advertise.
Paulita David, a 26-year-old marketing strategist, told a friend she was admiring a $155 Elsa Perretti ring from Tiffany – and the friend listened.
“It’s nice to get something you really love, but you would never get for yourself,” she says.
And who wouldn’t want a pair of Manolo Blahniks?
When a buddy decided to leave New York for a rural life, publicist Pedro Lebron wanted to get her a pair of classic black Blahnik pumps.
“We were going for impact,” he says. “The shoe says New York to me, and we decided that would be a good gift and something to remember us by. When she opened the gift, she was so excited. It felt really good.”