Onboard Courier Joelle Delivers Luxury Fashion
Fashion reflects the zeitgeist. One luxury fashion brand took this very seriously and had an elegant dress delivered directly from the catwalk in Tokyo to its Paris boutique.
The purchase was finalized in advance, giving the DB SCHENKER OBC team a few days to plan. Onboard courier Joelle received the request before she left for China. She was on her way to make a delivery between two industrial sites. After her confirmation, her return flight from China was canceled, two nights in a hotel were booked, and her onward travel to Japan was arranged.
Enough time to compensate for jet lag and get to know the city.
“I love to take small impressions of the places with me.”
However, Joelle does not plan any major tourist activities. The visa-free transit stay is only approved if the courier stays within the city.
When she arrived in Japan, Joelle went straight to the backstage area of the fashion show. Several layers of special packing material and the suitcase had already been prepared for the fragile dress. Although the dress was as light as a feather, the size and extra packing material meant that a large, sturdy suitcase had to be used.
“It got a lot quieter just before the show. But also very tense.”
As the dress returned from the catwalk to the backstage area under a flurry of camera flashes, two people took it off the model and brought it to Joelle. A brief hectic moment: one of the struts in the dress was too long for the suitcase. A short phone call between the designer’s assistant and the boutique in Paris resulted in a quick solution: the strut was removed to be replaced with a new one in France.
From then on, everything went very smoothly: a driver to the airport, final entries in the customs documents, check-in, security check, and then the almost 15-hour direct flight from Tokyo to Paris.
Due to the time difference, Joelle landed in Paris before 6 a.m. local time. Despite a slight delay at immigration, Joelle was able to deliver the dress to the boutique before the store opened. There, everything was ready to replace the missing strut and set the dress center stage. For Joelle, the job was done and it was time for the first coffee of the day.
Disclaimer: Based on a real OBC commission. Names and details have been changed for the purpose of anonymization.