Spring/Summer 2009 marks the United States launch of Gretchen, the innovative European handbag and leather collection quickly gaining international popularity. For designer Anne Hofmann, leatherwork is over a century old family tradition and Gretchen, launched in 2006, a subsequent step.
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Stylistically influenced by the modernist Bauhaus movement, Gretchen handbags, gloves and belts are a unique blend of artistic design and sensible utility. Using simple geometric shapes in hues of natural, black, cognac, violets, and greens, Gretchen incorporates complementary elements of weaving, piping and quilting into soft luxurious leathers. Each piece is meticulously crafted for superior form and function.
Standout pieces include the effortless “Opera” hobo bags; the lavender half-moon-shaped clutch in quilted napa leather; the “Actress” bag, a large square tote with patent leather paneling and fingerless motorcycle gloves in purple with green stitching and buckle detail. The collection retails from $150-$630.
Gretchen has been featured in over 80 publications including Vogue Germany, InStyle Germany, and Elle Germany.
Standout pieces include the effortless “Opera” hobo bags; the lavender half-moon-shaped clutch in quilted napa leather; the “Actress” bag, a large square tote with patent leather paneling and fingerless motorcycle gloves in purple with green stitching and buckle detail. The collection retails from $150-$630.
Gretchen has been featured in over 80 publications including Vogue Germany, InStyle Germany, and Elle Germany.
The Classic Handbag
With each year comes a new must-have handbag seen first on the arms of celebrities and everybody who’s anybody, trickling down into the most fashionable arenas, soon hitting the trendistas (the aspiring fashionistas that only catch on to the latest look once everyone else is already wearing it thus just missing truly fashionable status) until eventually you know the trend is dead when wealthy soccer moms in tracksuits are carrying it into PTA meetings. We are a fashion obsessed culture, seduced by a society that flashes trends before us and throws them away so fast it’s nearly impossible to keep up. Just as you’re getting used to the way your perfect new bag sits on your shoulders, right when you found the perfect shoes to match, you see its twin pass by forlornly coupled with a lycra jogging suit and you realize that your time together has come to an end.
As the designers compete to create the bag that will become the newest craze of the year, we tend to forget that some of the best things in fashion, like the color black or a Chanel suit, are classic. Some of the most cherished and exquisite handbags are vintage, having stood up to the test of time and their design is as stylish and chic today as ever. Certain designers have remained committed to creating handbags that emulate the sophistication and class associated with their label, not just according to what’s in vogue that season, but what will represent them throughout the years. And when you’re spending that much money on a bag, isn’t that what you really want? So while your fabulous bag du jour is collecting dust in the back of your closet after only a few turns around the block, rest assured that your still stylish classic will be ready to make an appearance time and time again. (Source:www.designerhandbagsforwomen.com)
