You walk in to a shop on Madison Avenue. You weren't really shopping but the window display called out to you. You enter and the fragrance immediately engulfs your senses. Someone approached you just to greet you and offers their name. It's the shop attendant. She's warm and welcoming and tells you that if she can be of any service to you while you're in the shop, she won't be far but before she walks off, she mentions all the brilliant new things they've just put out on the sell floor. After a few long moments of browsing, you come to be dazzled by an item -- something you didn't even know you wanted or needed. And with a flick of the wrist, you make a purchase. The shop attendant (your new best friend) ends the dance she's been doing with you by asking you to "please visit again." And just as quickly as it happened, it's over.
This is romance at its finest and once you've experienced it, its hard to shop any other way. When we think of the act of shopping, I'm almost sure that 98% of people wouldn't associate it with romance. But this is exactly what it is! It was romance that initially called you to the window then invited you in. It was romance that tingled all fives senses in a special way. Then it was romance that ultimately encouraged you to make a purchase while you daydreamed while awake and connected all the dots in between to leave you satisfied.
They say romance is the pleasurable feeling of excitement and mystery associated with love. Ardent emotional attachment. And this is how the best brands in the world communicate with you and it started when we were just children.
The first experience of being romanced as a child I can remember is when all I needed to live was a bright blue tee shirt at a local Midwest bike shop. My two brothers took me in and the smell of rubber and oil took me to a place in which I never knew I could travel to. From the way the bikes and clothes hung, I knew this was some kind of new feeling! Within steps I came across the reason I thought I was put on the earth at 11 years old -- a blue tee shirt. Being romanced in that moment, I knew everything in the world would be so different if I just had that shirt. From the way I would brush my teeth to how fast my bike would go up hill. This was my introduction to romance and since then it hasn't stopped. I have to go back to that juvenile example sometimes to still put things in perspective when shopping. How does this make me feel and was I romanced enough before I swipe my plastic? I have to be romanced when I shop!
As of now most of my career centers around found inspiration and romance sets the tone and every story that comes after the purchase. This feeling has to still capture me when I'm shopping today. The difference now is that I need to recognize it daily when I'm shopping for a home or scouting vintage Chanel dresses. Its one quick way to add luxury to life. Its such a pure and unbothered moment and soon afterward becomes a memory. Romance -- the key to making anything last!