Touched By Oprah
The Hermes sample sale’s been going on here in New York this week. I’ve gotten amazing things there before — some great riding boots for like $180, a bracelet, ties for my dad and scarves galore — but this year I’m sitting it out.
Sure, part of the reason is I’ve been way too overbooked this week to deal with the crazy lines, but that never stopped me before. (In fact, one of my partners in crime one year took such a long lunch “hour” that she was convinced she would be fired — and her boss was convinced she’d been kidnapped.)
But could it be that Oprah’s keeping me away? If you recall, her BFF Gayle King told reporters back in June that Oprah had been, horror of horrors, turned away at the Hermes boutique in Paris, shortly after closing time, even though others shopped inside. And Gayle was convinced that it happened because they were black. Worse, the apology Hermes issued days later was less than heartfelt. They even claimed to be in possession of a security tape that would prove their innocence — but of course it would not be available to be viewed by the public.
So was Oprah really having a Crash moment — or was she having a “Do you know who I am?” moment?
I decided to take a very unscientific poll: I went straight to a French friend — a very chic, very connected publicist who works with the couture houses — and asked what she thought of it all. She pointed out that (1) most French people don’t know who Oprah was; (2) the French aren’t anti-black, because there just aren’t that many black people there, and besides, they’re more anti-Arab than anything; and most importantly (3) the help at Hermes are simply rude. All very good points indeed.
I’d venture to guess that the Oprah incident (and the show she’s going to do about it this fall) will cause a bigger dent in Hermes’s U.S. sales than the French opposition to the Iraq war ever did (remember “freedom fries”?). Just losing Oprah’s business probably did — I mean, let’s think about this. She’s worth what, $1.3 billion? Do you know how many Birkins that could buy?
In any case, whatever my true motives are — and I can’t say I know for sure — I’m skipping the sale (and my checkbook thanks me for it). But that doesn’t mean that if the Hermes store calls me tomorrow to say that I’m finally at the top of the waiting list for my Birkin, I wouldn’t be there in two seconds flat. I have a conscience, but I also have needs!
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