BOKKS London: The Art of Luxury Giving is Born

If anything, Davies Street, located in the midst of my home of Mayfair, London, seems to be the street for innovation, or at least of two very notable ones: the store version of one of our favourite eCommerce websites Couture Lab, and the newly launched BOKKS London retail space. It is nice to see such concepts burgeoning in a street also strong with traditional luxury as this is where Claridge's side entrance is located, where Berkeley Square and its private clubs lay to the bottom and where the sumptuous store/home of Alfred Dunhill can be found.

"It's a genius idea." Karl Lagerfeld

Clearly BOKKS is more than a shop, it is the slick and stylish headquarter of a global luxury gifting service. As I met with CEO Walter Bugno, he shared with me that what I saw was only a stepping stone for the concept store in the making. The next version of the shop will have three private consultation areas for Very Personal Assistants (VPA), a term invented by BOKKS, who are already present to assist buyers in their choices -- while Gift Imagineers go away with briefs collected from the customers by the VPAs and invent whole new collections.

The store in the making will also offer a Microsoft Surface product consisting of a touch screen, as you might have seen in Minority Report or James Bond. Members (and membership does not cost money) are given a card which will save their brief on what they seek to offer and to whom. Based on that brief, BOKKS will create a list of options in accordance with the budget set out. Walter sums up his company mission as follows: "We create amazing gift collections, starting with flowers and champagne boxes, which is our entry price, all the way to these amazing epic experiences which are multi-day adventures around the brand or product".

 

"Crafting the perfect surprise is a gift of love." Dustin Hoffman

With ambassadors as prestigious as Karl Lagerfeld and Dustin Hoffman, the new name in luxury is everything but a delivery company. Instead, they help their customers customizing a gift in the most luxurious ways. Every possible combination of products and services is possible. For example, a recent customer wanted to offer his wife one of the store's Woman Boxes. He bought the box and asked if it was possible to add an airline ticket to the box to give his wife a surprise trip, a request which BOKKS catered to immediately. The delivery is simple. They don't like other people opening the box and they also don't like other people handling it, a rule which is respected at least in the UK even though they have done deliveries to Cyprus, Russia and elsewhere around the world where they can ship too.

 

 

The online boutique has also recently been launched on bokks.com, and obviously the company is reachable on the phone and on the ground at their innovative store. Product categories include every area from jewellery and watches to beauty and leather goods. Ready-to-wear clothing is too difficult to customise and so instead, the company has opted for a 'fashion experience', based on a retail value card with which the recipient can get a fashion retail experience in a chosen fashion store. The company has a large range of boxes readily available, or as Walter calls it their 'collection', and a selection of the hottest products of the moment available individually for customers to create their own box. The 'Refined' service offers the ability to create bespoke versions of an existing product with BOKKS. The store has over 100 brands already.

BOKKS makes the online buying experience much more personal using their VPA's and their direct availability on the site. Many brands which might be reluctant so far to the eCommerce model are embracing the customised approach BOKKS offers. Not only luxury brands, but luxury concierge service companies come to BOKKS to subcontract their luxury gifting service. American Express is one of BOKKS's new recent strategic partners of such kind.

Browse through the gallery below for a selection of gift packages from this exciting new company in London, and go to bokks.com for a full list.