The L.L.Bean Tote Was Already Perfect. And Then It Turned Japanese
Very few complaints can be directed at L.L.Bean’s Boat and Tote bag.
For a design to remain unchanged for over 80 years and continually find itself being adopted by stylish folk, it has to be an ingenious creation. Some might even say the L.L.Bean tote is the single greatest tote bag ever created.
But nothing is perfect. Nitpicking tote enjoyers will have observed the constraints of the company’s customization service.
For a charge of just $8, L.L.Bean will add a custom monogram to your bag. However, there is a limit to what its customization workshop in Maine can work with: A maximum of 10 characters and only alphanumeric characters (those are letters and numbers from the English alphabet). And, you can no longer write "Balenciaga" on it. Tragic.
L.L.Bean’s Japanese contingent is making the classic Boat and Tote a little less classic.
At the brand’s flagship store in Kichijoji, Tokyo, L.L. Bean's Boat and Tote customization options are leveling up. The Japanese store now allows a maximum of 20 characters, including Hiragana and Katakana (two of the alphabets that form written Japanese, not including kanji).
For some folks who use L.L.Bean’s service as a means for irony-laden fashion statements — there’s a popular Instagram page for these — more customization options open up the chance to create new kinds of amusing embroidery. For others, it means finally having the option to embroider in their native language or to add their full name onto their tote bag.
Either way, it's the first improvement in a long time for the tote bag to rule them all.
The Boat and Tote's tough canvas exterior and practical shape remain untouched because they were already peak. But peak gone Japanese? Unbeatable.
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