The Rando Report: The Vintage Site Crawler Boom, Louis Vuitton x Murakami Resale, and More
Plus: LIVE SUBSTACK SALE SUNDAY December 8th…SHOP what you SEE
The Rando Report is a weekly roundup of observations…some longer than others.
Louis Vuitton and Murakami Is Back: Watch the Resale
This past week, Louis Vuitton announced that the glorious early aughts Murakami bag is back. If there was a bag that defined the maximalist ‘00s, it’s this high-octane piece from spring 2003. The piece is a product of Marc Jacobs, who was at the helm of Louis Vuitton from 1997 to 2013, and the Japanese artist Takashi Murakami. I love that bag and all of its saccharine delights.
Jacobs long had his finger on the pulse when it came to remixing bags. He worked with Stephen Sprouse in 2001, in which the artist doused graffiti over the House’s monogram. Jacobs also worked with Julie Verhoeven in 2002, whose retro, triptastic scenic Alice and Wonderland-style illustrations of animals were translated into patches and then stitched onto the bags.
But the Murakami take on Louis Vuitton was as if a tectonic plate had shifted in the bagverse. You couldn’t miss the pieces—and their designs were radical for the storied House. The optic white with the candied monograms and those googly “jellyfish” eyes! You just want to lick that juicy canvas…the bag is like a delicious white jawbreaker! (There was also a black version). Not to mention, the standard brown canvas versions were covered in cherries that gave the monogram a pop of yum.
Jacobs was initially inspired by Murakami’s “Hiropon,” a fiberglass cartoon sculpture with an explosive rack and a single hoola hoop stream of milk pouring out from the nipples. According to a 2003 article in The New York Times, “something snapped” when Jacobs saw busty Hiropon on the cover of a Christie’s catalog. The designer then contacted Murakami and et voila: The century-old house received a candied makeover.
All of the gals of the ‘00s carried a Louis Vuitton Murakami bag: Paris Hilton, Nicole Richie, Lindsey Lohan, and Kim Kardashian. Jessica Simpson’s own Murakami be-buckled bag landed her in Vogue in 2004, with the headline subhead: “With an incredible knack for sourcing the best accessories, could Jessica Simpson be the next SJP?”
So, how will the relaunch fare for vintage Louis Vuitton Murakami? The price will only go up—and Louis Vuitton Murakami bags aren’t cheap to begin with. Louis Vuitton’s Murakami is far different than other once sleeper hit bags like the Yves Saint Laurent Mombasa or the Balenciaga City bag, which, before their social media resurgence, were floating around the internet for zilch. Those LV Murakamis have long been collector’s items and have long been expensive. Nonetheless, there are still relative deals: I found a Murakami Alma PM for $985 on The RealReal—while its standard edition retails for $1960. A Murakami Pochette can go as low as $1,280 on Fashionphile, while the standard, new non-Murakami Pochette retails for $1,550.
Now, if only they’d make a Murakami Neverfull…
The Toe Report
Thanks to Balenciaga’s shoeless shoe “The Zero” that they released this week, I’ve never seen so many articles come out this week about feet. The shoe has a toe sheath that wraps around the phalanx like a phalangeal column.
There is a piece in The Cut titled “Who Let the Dogs Out?” by Laura Pritcher, in which I was quoted saying: “I think the toe is leading us to the sexual soul of the person.” Perhaps not my finest moment—or perhaps my finest moment! I also wrote a foot-friendly article for I-D Magazine. An
foot criticism-banger about The Zero is tucked in the piece: “‘It’s giving me cursed flashbacks to the Spy Kids thumb people,’ fashion writer Emilia Petrarca texts me. ‘Would absolutely never wear.’”We’ve reached peak foot, aka the tippy top of the big toe. The piece for I-D touched on Balenciaga’s shoeless shoe and then splayed into other foot moments: that nasty Khaite peep toe gash that I love, the Alaïa V-slit (beloved by
!), and Tory Burch’s impressive big toe glory hole pumps. You can read it here.Also, more foot articles here for you freaks!
I Bought the Heinous-Chic Vibram FiveFingers
Nasty-Sexy Thong Heels Are Back
The Freakiest Shoe I’ve Seen Yet
Rando Report: Mesh Toe Shoes, Foul-Chic Pit Bags, Uzbekistan Fashion, and More
Balenciaga’s Toe Shoe Heels Are Finally Here
Against All Odds, I’ve Fallen in Love With Balenciaga’s Toe Heels
Thong Heels—Spring’s Sexiest Sandals—Are Back
Sunday 12/8 AT 7PM A LIVE STREAM SALE ON SUBSTACK LIVE…BATSHEVA AND NEVERWORNS
A few months ago, I did a beta test of NEVERWORNS LIVE! Shopping at the Lynn Yaeger and Chloë Sevigny sale. Note: It was very beta and very fun. We had a whiteboard with a number to call and a Venmo to send the moolah. Now, this Sunday, I am officially launching NEVERWORNS LIVE! Shopping with New York City fashion darling Batsheva Hay of Batsheva. It starts at 7pm. You’ll be able to buy what you see in real-time on Substack, Instagram, and TikTok.
The show will run twice a month, every Sunday at 7pm until 8pm, but maybe a bit later because some things do get saucy. I know a lot of the people who follow NEVERWORNS are resale heads so don’t worry: We will have glorious vintage dealers and closets that you can shop from.
See you there!
Vintage Site Crawlers Are Popping Up
I have been using the vintage search engine Gem.app constantly. It’s easy: I plug in my good ole search terms in there, and I can find whatever my heart desires, whether it is a neon pink Anna Sui shearing and leather coat (jokes on me, it sold!), a sleazy Dolce & Gabanna tiger stripe print top, or a Fendi Oyster bag. Gem never fails, and the search tool is easy with filters that include price points, sizes, and dates added.
Another resale site crawler that has entered the market is
, which was founded by the daughter of Bill Gates, Phoebe Gates, and Sophia Kianni. The ladies are plugged in and appear to understand the Substack world of vintage lovers: Gates collaborated with the beloved of Thanks It’s From eBay on a post in which the pieces were sourced on Phia.The app is simple to use. On Phia, you search for the item, and the app shows you an item that fits the terms, followed by other items that could be related to that item. Think of it as a tree of a tree of items!
In addition to Gem and Phia, the vintage search engine Encore (shopencore.ai) has also cropped up. One stellar benefit is that Encore allows the searcher to search terms with the price in the search bar. Example: I looked up “Prada gloves under $150” and was shown a range of results. At the bottom of the screen, another “refining” search bar allows you to add terms after the initial search. I plugged in “suede,” and Encore served me suede options. Sure, not all under $150 and not all suede, but I can’t be mad at a pair I found in suede: black gloves with the bedazzled Prada logo at the cuffs. There were also other options near the “refining” search bar, all powered by AI, like “only from The RealReal” and “check for leather gloves alternatives.”
A piece on Encore in TechCrunch from November highlighted that there was the option to search the site for specific terms like: “Show me a dress that Emily wore in ‘Emily in Paris’ Season 3 Episode 4.” I went the more annoying route and searched “coat like in like A Perfect Murder” and Encore actually served me up some great, affordable shearling options that remind me of the street scene from the film when Paltrow’s character is swaddled in a frothing shearling coat smack dab in winter.
Some more info: Encore was developed by big tech brains, former Apple Engineer Alex Ruber and former Twitter engineer Parth Chopra. It’s powered by AI (as it says in the title) and relies on affiliate links, and a subscription plan is available. Here’s a sweet quote from Ruber that will give you more insight on the roots of the app: “‘For me, there was also personal interest because my mom used to take me to flea markets every Sunday. I bought a lot of stuff from those places, including a piano, when I started to learn the instrument. The core idea behind both flea markets and Encore is about finding a hidden gem,’ the former Apple engineer noted.”
NEVERWORNS: Marketplace
As mentioned last week, I’m introducing a new listing component to the once-a-week Rando Report for paying subscribers who want to list one GREAT item they want to part with. Up today? An Alexander McQueen skull-print scarf.
Tiktok failed to load.Enable 3rd party cookies or use another browser
Who wants some of that noughties goodness? A slice of Kate Moss at Glastonbury? Nicole Richie doing her best step-and-repeat? I’m selling this raunchy skull print silk Alexander McQueen scarf. It can be yours for…$95. It’s gargantuan. Also, I love the idea of a thin, useless scarf! It’s like thin frosting for your neck.
Watch NEVERWORNS here
Love this article, we’ve been building Phia.com to make finding resale items easier, would love your thoughts xoxo