Feeling boxed in?
Without putting too finer point on it, I have simple taste in food (ie anything with smoked salmon), simple taste in sports teams (ie any of those that win) and, clearly, rather simple taste in men (refer Scottish-extracted husband-to-be).
In fact if it were up to me, I would do nothing but spend each day watching my favourite Aussie comedian - Dave Hughes - be his simple self. But as regular viewers of Hughie's star vehicle will attest, he is a man perpetually angreeeey. And this week I'm inclined to share his view.
I'm angreeeey the ABC have deemed this week to be Hughsie's last on that great bastion of satirical platforms - The Glasshouse. I'm also angreeeey that it's still at least a month out from Christmas and I am already being bombarded with jewellery gift ideas for Valentines Day. But the thing that's really getting up my goat the most is that I must still cough up a chunk of my weekly wage to live in a house - simply because it's owned by someone else.
And I reckon a similar situation in the retail rental market may be making a few of you more than a little angreeeey too.
However, some Singaporean-based bright spark may just have introduced a new product that could solve both our problems. Said bright spark has introduced a new take on the traditional pop-up store by developing a portable retail outlet in, wait for it, a shipping container.
Now while the concept may initially strike you as a rather budget way to do business, it is worth giving it some thought. No stifling annual leasing agreement, no crippling overheads, and the opportunity to set up camp whenever and where ever the compulsion grips you.
I'm not advocating that flogging your wares from a container would be the right choice for everyone but for those individual boutique owners striving to make ends meet or emerging designers or students struggling to get their name out there, it is an ambush-type proposition worth considering.
Due to its portable nature, the container enables a brand or company to follow an event they wish to align their brand with - do I hear spring carnival anyone? - or pop up where consumers least expect it.
It may even prove a worthwhile investment for some of the bigger brands seeking to capture the attention of a new audience with some of the fashion world's most prestigious names: RAF SIMONS (Prada Group), Japanese clothing brand UNIQLO and Puma designer co-labs by Alexander McQueen, Christy Turlington and Mihara Yasuhiro, having already used the concept to introduce new product to market.
And if nothing else, it would certainly stop the Zambelli and Sass & Bide ram raiders in their tracks.
It may even make a nice home.
And another thing
It is with a heavy heart I announce that those who wait with baited breath for their next installment of Ragtrader may be left sadly disappointed for the remainder of December. After what has proved a rather hectic year for all of us, the Ragtrader team will be taking a break over the next few weeks, returning on January 17 with a much improved version of your favourite fortnightly fashion business magazine. Until then, I would like to thank you all for your support during the year and wish you a very happy, prosperous - and for a select few debaucherous - Christmas and New Year.