Style Counsel: I had to have it. It spoke to me

'Wear me', 'buy me now', and 'I belong to you, a snip at pounds 9.99' are not t-shirt slogans, yet. But lets not rule it out. Anything can happen in the heady world of fashion, as Melanie Rickey knows, and surprise, surprise some designers are already telling us what to do with their creations.

Fashion and product designers are having more fun with words these days than they are with their products. Take bag company JS Carrier for example. Their simple, velvet clutch bag implores "hold me", (pounds 59). This bag's designers, Jessica and Susannah, both St Martins graduates who started their company in 1994, have also designed a mini handbag in velvet which says "pick-me-up",(pounds 35) and washbags which say "handwash with care".

Fashion's favourite wordsmiths, Antoni & Alison, continue their quest to make us laugh, think, or smile when confronted with their t-shirts and accessories. Next week their spring/summer collection of items inspired by the Blackpool Illuminations is unveiled, and this time we are invited to look at and interact with their clothes. "Press here" says one t-shirt. Press as requested and the t-shirt begins to laugh, ha, ha, ha, another one squeaks. Look at the inside care label and it requests us to "be there, be modern, thank-you". Their knickers also suggest we should "take care".

On a more subtle note, functional street label Holmes, which does clothes for both sexes, has helpful, handy hints on how to look after the clothes. The care label inside the knitwear has "moths don't like lavender" printed on it, and the shirts suggest "warm iron this if you want to look neat". The most literal of this suggestive clothing comes from Ann Demeulemeester, whose sheer tops and leggings for spring/summer actually tell you how to wear them by printing "right leg", "left arm" and so on in either English or French.

Antoni & Alison 0171-833 2002. Holmes 0171-437 1259. JS Carrier 070 500 49191