in the dead heat of august my dear friend, debby ruth, invited me to lunch with her friend, hester van eeghan, at jean-georges. of course i jumped at the chance. i had been hearing the most wonderful things about hester over the years and debby was just about to launch hveus ~ hester’s first foray into the united states on 10.10.10 ~ so thrilling and exciting. {i love to live vicariously through others’ adventures, it is my guilty pleasure} and to boot…lunch at jean-georges? sign me up!
the lunch was a lovely dream-like scene ~ hester was vibrant and funny and quirky. her luxurious handbags are all her and vice versa. carrying one of her bags is like carrying around a little piece of her beautiful, whimsical personality. i find myself thinking of that lunch often when i need a little color in my day.
photo courtesy of hveus.com
and more recently i find myself drawn to the new website hveus.com daily to read the inspiration behind her designs. my most recent purchase is the woody. i just loved hester’s story about it:
You’ve seen them on a bus, or train, or at church … everyday women clutching their modest handbags to their chests as if to protect their most valuable possessions. Hester has seen them too, but in her homage to these icons, she transforms the humble “anti-bag” into incredibly stylish, edgy and colorful works of art worthy of clutching protection.
Curious about the name? Woody is a nod to the many anti-heroes that populate the films of their namesake director who, in the end, turn out to be quirky, but loveable characters.
the woody, photo courtesy of hveus.com
i encourage everyone to bring a little whimsy to their life with a little hester.
to celebrate the launch, debby has been so gracious to offer our readers a 10% VIP discount on their purchases through October 31, 2010. Simply enter promo code FONM at checkout.
All the bags in the launch collection are signed editions. There are only 10 styles and 10 bags of each color. Each one is numbered and hand signed by the designer, like the works of art they are.
~ natalie
