Cartier, Louis Vuitton, Chanel, Jimmy Choo, and Hermes are just a few of the many brands I feasted my eyes upon as a young girl.  I grew up overseas in Singapore, a luxury focused society that threw me head over heels in love with haute couture.  I used to take cabs after school to stores like Louis Vuitton to gaze and wish upon all of the items they had in store.  As a middle school girl, I obviously didn’t have the money for any of the items that I went to see after school; but, I never forgot about them.  When we moved back to the United States and my parents began to drive me to and from school, my afternoons at Louis Vuitton then ended.  I began high school and eventually started my first job.  I worked and saved money to buy a plane ticket to Singapore and while there I did some shopping.  I went into all the stores I visited as a young girl; but, nothing made my heart flutter like it once had.  So, I ventured over to a few second hand stores and eventually bought my first luxury piece, a Cartier Love ring.  When I first slipped on the ring, my heart fluttered and the world stopped for a second.  A ring that I couldn’t afford if bought in the Cartier boutique across the street, could still be mine.  Ever since then, I have been stricken full in love with luxury items.  I began my journey home fully set on buying more of the gorgeous, highly coveted items.  I launched my designer resale business, Chicago Consignment, so other men and women could experience that same feeling I felt when purchasing that Cartier ring in Singapore so many years ago. 

~ Allison Hess