Tiny baubles -An odd but growing fashion niche these days: accessories for accessories

Many women covet a $6,000 Hermes Birkin bag. But for Amanda Miller, who carries one to work, the appeal lies not in the exclusive bag but what's on it.

Hanging from her Birkin are unusual charms, including a skull from Prada and a plastic bunny in a space suit that she bought from a vending machine in Tokyo.

The doodads convey "not only do I have style and a perspective on history, but that I have a real sense of whimsy," says Miller, a 28-year-old travel-industry publicist in New York.

An odd but growing product niche in the luxury-goods business these days: accessories for accessories. The items, first popularized in Japan, appeal to an increasing appetite among consumers — and often younger consumers — for personalizing the way they look.

With luxury-goods companies now making handbag charms, they also provide consumers with a lower-price entry point to the world of Coach, Louis Vuitton, Hermes and Prada.

Other accessories are getting accessories too. For Christmas, Bottega Veneta is introducing a shoe with a change purse attached to it. La Loop, which sells $85 to $500 necklaces to hold sunglasses at Bergdorf Goodman, will unveil a lower-price line at J.C. Penney early next year. And Kodak last week started selling jeweled wristbands and necklaces to hold its cameras, along with camera clutches in pink and green.

But brands say the importance of these doodads is out of proportion to their size. Creative displays of the charms and other small items like iPod holders spruce up stores and broaden the product line.

"We don't want the whole store to be just handbags," says Reed Krakoff, president and executive creative director at Coach.

Following the success of last year's $28 alphabet charms, Coach this fall added 23 new styles, including the 12 signs of the zodiac, peace symbols and heart-shaped picture frames.

Prada, which calls its charms "tricks," just started selling crystal-encrusted versions priced as high as $195, in shapes like skulls, hearts and bears.

And Hermes charms in the shape of its signature bags have shown up lately on the outside of the bags themselves, instead of on necklaces and bracelets as the company intended. "People want to put a signature statement on their bags," says Robert Chavez, chief executive of Hermes U.S.A.

Also on the market are nonluxury items like Jibbitz, $2.49 studs in shapes like pilgrim hats, stars and American flags, designed for inserting into the holes on Crocs rubber clogs. (Crocs bought Jibbitz earlier this month for $10 million.)

And Pepper Face of Chicago sells pepper spray canisters that look like charms for handbags and key chains, including a $295 Swarovski-crystal style in an argyle pattern.

The trend also represents a reaction to the ubiquity of "It" bags, says Clare Sauro, assistant curator, accessories, at the Fashion Institute of Technology's museum in New York. "We are all very much aware of the latest handbags because we see celebrities carrying them in magazines," she says. Having a charm on an expensive bag "is like saying, 'I have this little extra bit added.'"

Some of the doodads function as leashes to retrieve small items, reflecting the increase in the size of handbags in recent years. Tomas Maier, creative director of Bottega Veneta, says he added $170 woven lariats to his large $3,900 Cabat bag a few years ago because they were necessary "from a functional standpoint."

For Alexandra Mathews, 24, hanging items she finds at street fairs on her Prada bag is more of an academic exercise. She views items like the feather, silver money clip and antique Tibetan coins that adorn her bag as "the quintessential random expression of the postmodern era."

The trend began in Japan, where street fashion emphasizes "kawaii" — or cute — style. Several years ago, teenage girls started attaching figurines of Hello Kitty and other characters to their backpacks, cellphones and bags.

Le Sportsac, known for nylon bags that sell for under $100, last year introduced a pricier collection called Tokidoki, which feature different Japanese-style cartoon prints and come with plastic charms.

"It's really important to have a personal identity to your accessories," says Elizabeth Kiester, chief creative director at Le Sportsac. "People need to feel special and unique."

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The latest in little things

BOTTEGA VENETA LARIATS

Price: $170

Braided leather leashes attach to cellphones or wallets for quick retrieval from big handbags.

HERMES LOCK CHARM

Price: $290

Hermes says sales of charms have exceeded expectations, partly because people are buying them for their bags.

COACH CHARMS

Price: $28

Signs of the zodiac can dangle from the handle or zipper of a handbag; they also provide a lower-priced entry point for the brand.

JIBBITZ STUDS

Price: $2.49

To draw more attention to the colorful rubber clogs called Crocs, these studs from Jibbitz can be inserted into the shoe's holes.

LA LOOP EYEWEAR NECKLACE

Price: $370

La Loop's necklaces, with a loop for hanging your glasses, sell for $85 to $500 at Bergdorf Goodman and Fred Segal.

Source: bonitanews.com