Allow yourself a last-minute spree

By Tyler Brûlé

Published: November 24 2006 17:02 | Last updated: November 24 2006 17:02

At about the same time that this newspaper was coming off the presses across the US this morning, bleary-eyed shop managers, sales assistants and security guards were getting into their cars to man the tills and exits of America’s retail centres for one of the biggest spending days of the year.

By now, Christmas shopping should be a pretty straightforward drill. Well-tuned consumers should know exactly what their wives, husbands, mistresses, assistants, children and clients like. Retailers should know how to stock and style their shelves so items almost wrap themselves. Sadly it is not that easy.


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Stores are overheated, serious shoppers always wear too many layers, commission-driven sales staff sell rubbish to the weak and unwitting and it is next to impossible to find everything you want under one, well-edited roof.

While there’s a certain rush that comes with buzzing through a city helping cash registers ring, it can also be a bit depressing and soul destroying – particularly when gift-wrapping comes with a service charge and the overall execution looks more like a promotion for adhesive products than an elegantly wrapped present.

If you were relaxing (on a big, overstuffed Josef Frank sofa, with Bauwerk parquet floors, low lighting and Koop’s new CD playing softly in the background) with me right now you would have trouble seeing me for all the boxes and packages that have started to pile up in corners and on available surfaces.

Sometime back in August I subconsciously started buying my Christmas gifts and over the past few weeks all the special orders and bespoke solutions have started clearing customs at various ports across the UK. While there are many things that frustrate me about Britain’s points of entry, HM Customs and Excise isn’t one of them.

One of the best things about living in the UK is that you can return home from a shopping spree abroad and be almost guaranteed to glide through customs – so long as your flight hasn’t originated in Montego Bay or Kingston. The same goes for most forms of mail-order. It’s rare for a package to arrive from outside the European Union with a duty demand stamped on it.

Having just returned from my three-week Tokyo-Osaka-Seoul-Hong Kong-Stockholm-Paris-Berlin-Munich tour, I’ve started to open up the boxes and identify who hasn’t been covered on my Christmas list. For the most part, everyone’s been catered for but I reckon there’ll still be a two-hour dash around the shops some time around December 23.

If you’re finding yourself pressed for time or short on inspiration, here’s my list of what I think will work wonders in stockings and under trees:


1. Super-chic, failsafe client gift: Valextra’s jotters are the best thing going in luxury goods at the moment. Flexible enough to sit in your back or breast pocket and available in a range of juicy colours, the paper stock is also just the right shade of white.


2. An addictive electronics device that improves life: The Apple + Nike iPod meets pedometer device really works. In fact, it’s something I can’t quite live without. If you have a serious runner or walker to buy for, this is the perfect tool. If you want to
skip buying the Nikes, pop me an e-mail and I’ll tell you a simple way to get around being sucked into the total concept.


3. An easy accessory: If your travels are taking you anywhere close to a branch of Tomorrowland in Japan, grab a bundle of Fattori scarfs to share among the men in your life.


4. A perfect all-rounder: Bag maker Orobianco has developed a tote-cum- shoulder bag that easily works as an overnighter, a chic laptop carrier, an oversized purse or generous briefcase. Made of super light nylon and supple leather, it looks best in chocolate or midnight.


5. A serene scent: A candle might not be the height of originality but for the hard-to-buy-for or for those who don’t quite meet your “swaddle them in cashmere” criteria the next best thing might be Lucien Pellat-Finet’s bespoke bougie.


6. Watching your numbers: An Amadana calculator in caramel and mocha tones for keeping track of your forecasts and profit and loss.


7. Mobile security system: A custom Goyard dog carrier and a well behaved Shiba-ken to go inside. For an additional fee Goyard can also put your pet’s initials on the outside.


8. Global understanding: True global nomads will like to plough through Felipe Fernández-Armesto’s “Pathfinders” – a broad history on the golden age of discovery.


9. Keeping up appearances (men):

For a smarter take on style and looking your best, Dutch magazine Fantastic Man is top of its game and a subscription would fit neatly in even the most crammed stocking.


10. Keeping up appearances (women):

For the ladies, a subscription to the Saturday edition of Italy’s la Repubblica – complete with a copy of its still chic supplement D.


tyler.brule@ft.com


More columns at www.ft.com/brule

Copyright The Financial Times Limited 2006