The tag97

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THE TAG

In the 80s brands started to put labels on the outside of their clothing, partly to make their brand better known, and partly because it became cool to show off what you were wearing among certain groups. What you wear and how you wear is strongly infl uenced by your social group. People who denounce the vulgarity of being seen with your labels showing probably belong to a group of people who feel the same way, and vice versa.

In some countries it’s the done thing to leave on the lightly stitched label that suit manufacturers put on the sleeve so shop assistants can fi nd them easily amongst the rails of other dark coloured suits. (I once mistakenly pointed out to a chap that he had accidentally left his label on. He thought I was a complete idiot. Why would he take off a label that told the world he had bought a Dior suit?)

In China, women leave the price tags on their Louis Vuitton handbags to show that they’ve paid full price for the real thing, rather than buying a counterfeit. Naturally, the counterfeiters responded by adding fake price tags, and will even supply you with a fake receipt.

This is one part of branding that appears to have taken leave of its senses, the part that guided London’s rioters and looters to smash windows and steal brands that were cool among their social group, and completely ignore silver jewellery or expensive gifts that didn’t have the right label on them. But the brand owners must be

doing something right because if people will go to the trouble of stealing your goods, at least it proves that they’re desirable.

The idea There are ways of saying, “this is one of ours” without broadcasting your brand identity to the watching world. It’s halfway between being anonymous and putting a huge logo on everything you do.

One of the earliest was Steiff’s “Knopf im Ohr”, now translated for the international market: “Button in Ear”. The German company distinguished its toys by putting a little stud, with an elephant on it, into each the ear of each toy. The elephant was the fi rst toy that the company’s founder made. They now have a less subtle golden stud, with the Steiff name, not the elephant, and a yellow ribbon so you can’t miss it. They’ve been doing this since 1904 so that people could recognise the Steiff brand and the quality that came with the button. The fi rst bears that were made now sell for tens of thousands of pounds and the fi rst thing that experts look for is the stud. Radley bags all have a Scottie dog mark on them, either as a metal stud on the luggage, or as a leather tag, in a contrasting colour to the main bag. Second hand Radley bags retain their value on eBay, as long as they still have the dog tag with them.

Kickers boots and shoes have little daisy-shaped tags. When children wear out their old ones, they keep the tags and add them to the new shoes.

Paul Smith’s smart grey briefcases have a luggage tag in his signature striped leather. His shirts have different coloured buttonhole embroidery. His canvas shoes have one brightly coloured eyelet for the laces.

Mont Blanc pens have a snow-capped pen top. These are details for people who already know the brand; they are for people who are quite happy for others to recognise their belongings, but don’t want to be used as an advertising medium.

In practice • People like quirky. If you can fi nd an original way to identify your products, and you can also trademark it, you can walk the path between anonymous and overt. • Here we’re talking about something other than a logo; it’s an extra bonus, something that other brands haven’t thought of or would fi nd too much of a bother. • This is branding for introverts; people who like to please themselves and aren’t that bothered about making a big statement.