// SOUVENIR

The first thing people ask when you return from your travels, is whether you have brought them back a present. Its an old tradition. And sometimes a tragic one. According to custom, many migrants returning to their small towns after years of working overseas have to buy so many presents that they more or less end up exactly where they left. Some souvenir.

Its a funny word. Literally from the latin - subvenīre - to come to mind. I prefer 'sou-veneer' - for the following reason. Despite the fact that luxury brands are more or less globalised - the first thing a well heeled traveller does upon alighting on foreign shores is start buying things they can easily get at home, or anywhere for that matter. Its cheaper you say. But is it? Quite frankly, I don't buy the duty free argument. Half the time, once you adjust for currency, travel costs, and the pain of lugging stuff around - you would be better shopping before you leave. 

And yet the fact that we don't is interesting, and somewhat telling. The language of luxury branding has become so pervasive and flexible, that it is sufficient that an undifferentiated item is bought elsewhere for it to be imbued with all the powers of exoticism once reserved for the truly unique.

Of course, it wasn't always so. God help Marco Polo if he had if left behind the silk and noodles, and strolled through the gates of Venice with a rather fetching Louis Vuitton bag.

Even if it was a fabulous fake.