YSL Mook

As some of you may know, a YSL mook (Japanese lingo for "magazine book") was published in October by Takarajima, which also publishes many popular Japanese magazines like Sweet, Spring, Steady, InRed. The trademark feature of these magazines is that every issue includes an item done in collaboration with a fashion/beauty/character brand, such as makeup pouches, pocket mirrors, hair accessories. The mooks are usually feature one brand and always include an accesory item as well, with tote bags being the most common.

The YSL mook is very affordable at only 1300yen (about US$13)and includes a black tote bag with a fuchsia pink interior (measuring H33×W44.5×D12cm). It focuses on the YSL beauty brand history and latest news. It has an initial production quantity of 1 million, so like the Marc by Marc Jacobs mook bag, it is by no means rare or hard to find and you are likely to see many people carrying it. Nevertheless, these mooks have proven to be incredibly popular. The Cher Autumn/Winter '09 mook had a production run of 700,000 and sold out in just one month.

Personally, I'd love to see more mooks from my favourite brands such as Paul & Joe, Rebecca Taylor and Jill Stuart!