A few months ago I lamented in this space about needing something a little snappier than my tattered Chucks for adventures outside Austin. I bought a fancy pair of Ferragamo Varina flats, had a stern talk with myself in the shoe closet, and felt relatively prepared for a civilized gathering. Then came the call that my husband and I would be traveling to Miami for a family visit and then on to the Bahamas for four days. Rummaging for our dusty passports, I suddenly had the feeling that I wasn’t as put-together as I had imagined. Never having been on a strictly fun-in-the-tropical-sun vacation, I knew that this time I was going to need more than a guidebook and a good pair of sneakers. I bought two swimsuits and some sunblock, but something was still missing. Another hopeful appeal to the Shoe Closet Gods yielded some sparkly evening shoes, but no revelations.
Then one afternoon came the very equipment I lacked, in the form of a birthday present from my groovy stepmother, who can be counted on to define the cutting edge of anything. Whistling through the front door via express mail, it was tokidoki to the rescue! Check it out: The venerable brand of sport-utility bags, LeSportsac, teamed up with tokidoki designer Simone Legno and toymakers Toy2R to produce six seasons of tokidoki-themed bags. Inside the box were three bags, pictured here. The gew-gaws! The qee man charm! OMG, the rainbow-teethed zippers! One of several patterns created for LeSportsac, the one seen here is our tokidoki girl as Tattooed Pirate Girl. See her pillage exotic destinations with her barrel of TNT, then relax to examine new tattoos and ogle her loot! Tight.
Italian designer Legno was fascinated with Japanese art and originally created tokidoki (“sometimes” in Japanese) as an online portfolio. He chose “sometimes” because “everyone waits for moments that change one’s destiny.” LeSportsac, meanwhile, is teaming up with different designers on a seasonal basis, and the much-needed shot of fun and sex appeal shows. The collection for Spring 2008 is from Stella McCartney, debuting new colors and patterns on the first week of every month. The lines of Classic and Boutique products are updated similarly, replacing the oldest designs with the newest. Tokidoki is no longer available through LeSportsac, but can be found at the tokidoki site, as well as some other online retailers.
I put all three bags to vigorous use on our trip, and they were commented on everywhere they went. The messenger bag has two sets of rings, allowing conversion to bucket-style (for the pool!); the briefcase has plenty of zippered and net pockets and accommodates a laptop nicely; and the little bag makes a fly wallet to grab out of one of its larger, pirate sisters. If you want tokidoki, and you don’t have an ultra-cool fairy stepmother, go directly to the source. If you don’t want tokidoki, do check out the designer’s eye candy here.
This article appears in February 15 • 2008.