Mass-media promotion is another.
“You can't have things become across-the-board explosions if you don't know about it and have access to it,” White said. “Media like eBay, celebrity magazines, like Sex and the City ... all the really modern-day entities contribute to the making of ‘it.’ I don't think ‘it’ could exist without that pop culture continuum in which we live.”
Ugg boots are a good current example of “it,” White said. Celebrities seen wearing the Australian-made sheepskin and suede boots incited Ugg passion a few years ago. Now the boots, and their ripoffs, can been seen everywhere, in all weather.
“Could they look any stranger. Could they be any more specific to a particular function,” White said. “That's the power of the ‘it’: It's, like, 21˚C, girls are wearing them, and it does not matter.”
Categorical quality
Though the end of “it” is not near, its meaning is shifting further from specific items to “it” brands and categories.
The brands of the moment include Chanel anything, Christian Louboutin shoes and Coach bags. “While the stars may not be carrying Coach, it's a brand really coveted by young women in particular,” White said. “It’s high-priced ... and prestigious enough that they want it, yet the price is affordable (the top price is around US$800; Birkin bags start at around US$6,000) … And Coach does tend to stay right on top of trends and really make its handbags, in design, in interesting ways.”
Popular “it” categories are vintage, Acree said, and pieces that carry on the Murakami bag tradition of mixing cultures, periods and influences.
One more basic “it” ingredient runs through them, she said:
“The common denominator is quality.”
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