Handbag Designer 101: The Stories Behind Handbag Designers, Brands, and Industry Icons

The Legacy of Famed Dutch Handbag Brand, Hester van Eeghen with Roberta Oriani

• Emily Blumenthal • Season 1

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Join us for an engaging conversation with Roberta Oriani as we explore the captivating world of the Dutch handbag brand, Hester van Eeghen. Listen as Roberta recounts her serendipitous meeting with the brand's founder, Hester van Eeghen, and how their friendship blossomed into a professional partnership. Discover the remarkable journey of this iconic brand, from its humble beginnings in a quaint shop in the Netherlands in 1988 to international acclaim for its unique blend of Dutch design and Italian craftsmanship. We promise you'll gain insights into the creative process behind some of the brand's most celebrated creations, including the innovative "Confetti" and "UFO" bags, and the stylish versatility of the "Feluca," the brand's enduring bestseller.

In a world dominated by mass production, find out how Hester van Eeghen continues to stand out with its distinctive and joyful designs. Roberta shares the challenges of maintaining the brand's legacy while navigating the ever-evolving fashion landscape and adapting to changing consumer habits post-pandemic. We reflect on the significance of the now-closed Tassen Museum of Handbags in Amsterdam and its role as a hub for handbag enthusiasts. This episode offers a compelling look at how Roberta honors Hester's visionary designs, ensuring that the brand remains a cherished name in the fashion industry despite the challenges of modern production. Tune in to witness the delicate balance of preserving tradition while embracing the future in the realm of fashion.

Follow Roberta:

https://www.hestervaneeghen.com/

https://www.instagram.com/hestervaneeghen/



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Speaker 1:

Hi and welcome to the Handbag Designer 101 podcast with your host, emily Blumenthal, handbag designer expert and handbag fairy godmother, where we cover everything about handbags from making, marketing, designing and talking to handbag designers and industry experts about what it takes to make a successful handbag.

Speaker 2:

Welcome to Handbag Designer 101, the podcast with Roberta Artigatmi from Hester van Eeghen. Thank you so much for joining us today.

Speaker 3:

Thank you.

Speaker 2:

Thank you to invite me. It's a pleasure. So you are in Milan right now, correct? Yes, and the brand, however, is Dutch, correct?

Speaker 3:

Yes, the brand was born in 1988 and is Dutch design and made in Italy, and the designer was Hester Hester van Egen and she used to be the designer. She created the brand brand and this is a result of her passion for leather. That was really strong and she was a volcano of creativity. She was a very a person of very huge creativity in several niche, but her love was for the leather. She used to be a piano player, she wrote poems and she used to be an actor in theater. She did a lot.

Speaker 2:

She was an artist. She was a real artist. Yes, she was. So you obviously knew her personally because you have always lived in Italy and the brand is still very much based in the Netherlands and Amsterdam. Can you talk a little bit about how she started the brand, what was its origin story and how you became involved with it? I'm sure it's a story.

Speaker 3:

Yes, actually it's a story. The brand, as I say, was born in the 80s and it started in a very tiny shop, very tiny shop, in a artist street where we are now at number one. And then she became more new around the world because she she attended too many fairs and also the, the magazine. I paid attention to her because it was so different from the usual style that you are usual to see it's not really fashion and it's more and exhibited also in Milan. In the nine weeks she exhibited there and so the shops became two and then three and then she started to design also shoes and she produced shoes for 20 years, very particular shoes, very different shoes. She decided to stop during the pandemic period and now we have only the production of bags and small leather items.

Speaker 2:

How did you become involved with the brand?

Speaker 3:

I met Esther in Milan in 1991. And we became very close friends and every time she used to come to Milan, so every one month or two months to take care of the control, the production, she used to stay at me and we spent a lot of time together and we became very close and so I saw the brand grow up and I was a little bit involved before, but when she got sick I went more involved in the company company and after she passed away I take the company and I am trying to go on on her path, on her creativity, but to not let stop and finish everything, because what she built in these years was very, very nice, very love the letter we said in Italy, and a very big work. She did a very big work. So a lot of people ask me but why don't you go and did you continue her work and I say, okay, why not?

Speaker 2:

so did you guys? Did the two of you meet because you were already involved in design and production, or did the two of you meet just casually as friends? And then it became hey, are you a designer, hey, you can help with production, hey, you're in Milan. So I think I'm going to have my bags produced there Because, as you said, she had the brand for three whole years before she even met you. And, coming from an independent designer perspective, three years is a long time. I mean, it might not be in the legacy of a brand, but when you're starting a brand, those three years are. They're big. It's like creating, making, producing, sampling, getting customers, getting a store, getting another store. So how did you become involved with the brand? At a small, because she was staying at your house.

Speaker 3:

Yeah, we met casually.

Speaker 2:

I mean you're Italian, so I assume you know you're very friendly people, so you meet her once and sure come stay with me forever. I know how that works.

Speaker 3:

We met casually and we became friends, but without work together. I was working in another niche at the moment and for the first year I just saw her business grow, but without being involved in it. After years it became, but not at the beginning, and so it was really nice to see, but from outside, not to be involved in it Right, right, right.

Speaker 2:

And then you guys became friends and then she said, hey, why don't you help out? Or you offered and said, hey, I'm happy to jump in while you're not here, kind of thing In the beginning.

Speaker 3:

I met her in 1991 because she used to stay in. She spent three years in Milan. She used to live here for three years and after these three years she went back to Amsterdam and so she didn't have a base in Milan. And so I have a room, one more room, and that's what now is the opposite Every time I go to Amsterdam I stay at her house and her husband is still living in Amsterdam and is very nice to welcome me, and so it's like a big family.

Speaker 2:

Well, again, you're Italian. I feel like I'm part of your family right now. So there's that. You know. How come, even back then? How come she never? Because you know, as I'm sure you're fully aware, production always started domestically, meaning everybody made things locally. Even in the US, like New York City, had a wealth of local manufacturing and local production. How come she never did it? In holland, amsterdam, netherlands, and, you know, as one of the few brands that still exists as a dutch handbag brand. That's quite a responsibility, because the aesthetic is not typical, it's not italian either no, no, the style, aesthetic is not Italian, but the quality.

Speaker 3:

And she started to produce in Italy because of the I mean, in Italy we have a high standard of production and a very long history of craftsmen in leather, works in leather. So she decided to start here, also at the beginning, I think also because she was here in those three years. But she realized that the quality here, the details, are different. And also here in Italy, and especially in Milan, in the big city like Milan, florence, a city that's a lot of possibility to find a lot of color of leather, which is not so, and one of the DNA details is the color.

Speaker 2:

Right, right right.

Speaker 3:

And yes, so she was able to find color cards for hundreds. I show you the white. This is just me.

Speaker 2:

Wow, wow. I want to point out that everybody should check out the YouTube of this video, purely for the backdrop that Roberta has of sitting in a haven of rainbow leathers and the swatches she just showed me of leather colors that people would dream of having access to my favorite background, though, oh my gosh, it's perfect. It's perfect.

Speaker 3:

Do you feel the leather and the craftsman and the product very, very handmade?

Speaker 2:

Oh my gosh. Do you feel, though, again starting a brand in the late 80s and early 90s? It's difficult to you know, as brands you have to evolve, but also you have to maintain strong DNA, right Like people are buying a Hester Von Egan bag specifically because they know what. It is obviously Italian craftsmanship, but how has the brand evolved and also stayed the same?

Speaker 3:

Well, we can say that the main characteristics stay the same are the shapes that are often inspired by architecture or everyday objects or nature or design a really designed object. Colors are sometimes also a surprise, because some bags of Esther they change, they transform, so you can use it in one way or another way, or you can open and then become, for instance, we have at the moment it's not in the collection, but it used to have a clutch, a big clutch that you can open and become a trunk. So it's great. So they have a lot of surprises. This never changed during the involvement of the brand.

Speaker 3:

The brand has evolved For the quality, always because there is a constant research of more property, of the materials, new materials also and for details. We have some models that are timeless is the right definition and we produce these models since 20 years, maybe more, and sometimes we thought to take it out from the collection, but people ask for them. Of course, they are updated every few years we update the materials, but the model is the same and this is one of the characteristics of the brand. Also, we add new models. Esther also left a lot of sketches she was a volcano so we will try to develop. Of course, some of them will not be possible, but some others yes. And also, we have already introduced a couple of smaller models, but we will do other, we will prepare other. So this is the way that the brand has followed.

Speaker 2:

It's so interesting because who she was was such a. I mean, I never met her personally. I walked past her booth a hundred years ago, vaguely remembering, because the booth was so bright and so colorful and so special. It's especially the way brands are now, because it's a brand that is as close to a heritage brand as one's going to get for a handbag brand that's Dutch. Isn't it interesting that, with the rise of social media, how her story would have been so interesting for her to be able to have shared it, you know.

Speaker 3:

Yes, you should have met her because she was so particular and it's difficult to describe, because she was so particular and it's difficult to describe. But on the 1st of November a new book, the third book on Esther Van Egel, has been launched in Amsterdam and is an overview on all her journey, the creativity in this brand, and if people read this book can understand a lot because she was really special, but not because she was my friend, absolutely All the people that met her, all the people remember her because just if you met her, just once, you could not forget about her. It was so particular, very, a lot in every way.

Speaker 2:

Did you think, though, after she passed, that that would be it for the brand I mean, I think, anybody who deals with loss, especially when there's a business involved? There's that hard decision. We interviewed, we had this week's episode. I know when this airs it's going to be some time, but Ori Lahavi, who took over his mother's brand, daniela Lahavi, who had also an unfortunate passing out of nowhere, got sick, and you know he was left with this very difficult decision Like what do I do? This is her brand, this is who she is Like, the brand is her and she is the brand. So to try and continue this legacy without this person, who was such a force of nature, far beyond what the brand could ever be, to say how do I honor that? What should I do? So I'm sure that was challenging for you as a human.

Speaker 3:

It's a big challenge and I confess that I was afraid at the beginning and sometimes I still be afraid, and it's a big challenge, but I don't know. I felt something that I've always said go go ahead and try. And that's why I don't want to change a lot. I mean, something will change, of course, because there's another person, another personality, but I want to continue in her path and in her creativity, absolutely, because I think it's not good to change. I will never be her, I will never be there, her. I will never be her, of course, and I will never try to be there, of course, to be her. But I want to try to follow her path and for the moment I'm happy.

Speaker 2:

Do you think with the way customers are shopping now that you have had to make changes in terms of pricing, in terms of how things sell? If you speak to any person who has been in the business of fashion or retail, you know, I tell my students they're also cranky, they're also like angry and bitter and like, oh, no one's shopping and all you know. But people, much like anything with evolution, people are just shopping differently. You have to find these customers, especially the new customers, customers, especially the new customers, elsewhere. So has that been a difficult transition to follow this path to keep the old customers happy but still find new ones at the same time?

Speaker 3:

Well, it is hard, especially in this moment, after the pandemic, after she passed away, there was a lot to rebuild.

Speaker 2:

I can't even imagine what you went through. I cannot even imagine like sitting with the leather behind you and being like what am I supposed to do? Oh my God.

Speaker 1:

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Speaker 1:

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Speaker 3:

And this is just a part of the leather she left. So it was, and it's still been, hard work to do, a lot to do, but I had a very nice feedback from all the customers and I'm happy because new customers are coming and they appreciate a lot that unique style. I mean unique. You can love it or not. This style, you can items or not, but you can't say that they are not different, they are really different. So people if love, they love a lot, but they really love our items and we.

Speaker 3:

There were a lot of people that came and I were Astana. We have shop, showroom and office and a lot of people came, a lot of tourists, and they appreciate that we are not everywhere, that we are not the big brand so recognizable with the big logo, and they are looking for something that you cannot find in every airport, in every mall and everywhere. And we are happy when they say, oh, I found what I want because you are like this. Of course, we are not for the big, big market. We will never sell for the big market. We are a niche, but this is what we want. Also, we don't want to be for big numbers and for everybody.

Speaker 2:

Do you think, though, you know the way history repeats itself, especially after a pandemic? At least you know. If one was to go back 100 years when we had the Spanish flu, I don't know what it would be called. I don't even know if it went on in Europe at the same time. I'm sorry, I follow American trends. I'm somewhat familiar with how things went in Europe.

Speaker 2:

I can go so far as the plague about what happened years and years ago, but when the Spanish flu took over in the United States in the 1920s and then that was our first pandemic, I guess, and then we had the Great Depression and the Roaring Twenties, and that's when Louis Vuitton had its explosion, because it was very similar to what's going on now, that the middle class was pushed down and luxury skyrocketed, and what spawned from that was novelty, things that made people happy, diy, people making things at home and color, because color became so special because everything was a sea of blah blah, but people look to color for joy, for something. So did you find, where you are today, that there's a greater interest in the brand purely because of, possibly, the color and the unique shapes and the joy that it brings? Because I would think, if anything, this would be a great moment to be Hester Bonne again.

Speaker 3:

Yes, I find people love colors. Also. I have to say that during the last years the fashion trends help us because, for instance, in Italy we used to wear and sell only black, black, black, blue, brown, gray, black, black, black. During the last few years also, the big brands introduced the colors, so they help us in a certain way, of course, and so people are a little bit less scared to dare in colors. But also we always have also black in store, because if you come in our stores like to get in a candy shop because you have to, oh my god, range is really is really impacted.

Speaker 3:

It's special people come in, attracted to the color, and they look around and some of them not few at the end don't dare and they buy black. They appreciate all the color, but they buy black. So we always have black. But during the last year, also Spanish, italians, the countries that they didn't use to appreciate a lot of the colors, to wear colors. I think they are more open now. Yes, and it's probably what you say. What you say is after this very bad period, a very dark period, people search for something that can transmit happy and lights, and also some of our shapes are also attractive in this way because they are not so serious, or maybe it's the combination of colors and shape that maybe they attract because they are not so normal as useful.

Speaker 2:

Do you think, based on your sales, that people are gravitating more towards the party shapes, the unique shapes, more so than before?

Speaker 3:

shapes, more so than before. Yes, more and more people is looking for something different, and the unique shape could be one of the something different they are looking for.

Speaker 2:

Oh, my God, there you go. I've taught you so much. She's a quiet laugher, but she's laughing too. I'm not laughing by myself, I just want to point that out. I'm just.

Speaker 2:

You know, when I met you at your booth and you were so shy and I had to basically beg you to do this interview, saying you're saying no, no, no, no, and I said no, no, no, you have to, you have to. It's just such a special brand that and I know you get sales from the United States and from other countries. But I just felt like you know what this podcast is about. It's so much about you know what goes on in retail and fashion and trends, and I interview a lot of big designers and a lot of new designers and a lot of designers who are obviously not from the US.

Speaker 2:

But I just feel that, as someone who is a spokesperson in some shape or form for the world of handbags, that I wouldn't be doing my job if I wasn't able to get you on here to talk about this brand and truly what makes it so special, because it is really a unique, cool brand of great color, really cool, unique shapes that all go back to who she is. I mean, I'm sure do you remember her showing you some of these shapes and you being like are you kidding? Like, no, no, no, this is crazy.

Speaker 3:

Yes, I remember Happy to hear what you're saying. And yes, I remember I'm happy to hear what you're saying. And yes, I would say I'm happy to be here. I was shy because of my English is terrible, but step by step I improved my English, but I need to work a lot. This was the reason for my shyness.

Speaker 2:

No, no, you are absolutely perfect, you're perfect.

Speaker 3:

I was afraid to not be able to explain and describe her creativity, because it's so, as you say, it's so unique and so unusual that it's difficult. You have to know a lot of very well this language and a lot of adjectives. It's not my case. But anyway, I think that people can have a look around on the web and there is a lot about her and I would say that also, I'm really proud of her job, because her work, because she was also very well appreciated from the design world and the art world, the museum world. When we met, we spoke about the museum in Amsterdam and, unfortunately, it's.

Speaker 2:

What a loss that was, what a loss that museum was, unfortunately. What a loss that was. What a loss that museum was. It was for anybody who missed out on the Tassin Museum of Handbags, that gosh. I don't even think it was around for that long, but 15 years, maybe 10, 15 years, not even 12.

Speaker 3:

More or less. Yes, I don't know exactly, but it's such a pity, and also I don't know about other specific bad museums around Europe.

Speaker 2:

I really don't know to Fay, and that's it. So, the fact that there was one dedicated, because I know with the Handbag Awards we worked with a man on the founder and we did so much with her and we had designers' bags featured there that it was just such a pleasure to know that as a world, we had a home base. Yeah, that's true.

Speaker 3:

But when, after Esther passed away, the Reich Museum, the National Museum of Amsterdam, asked to have a couple of bags of Esther, and her husband donated two bags, very particular bags, 16th century leather. 16th century leather and it's very particular. So if you have the occasion to come to Amsterdam, visit us. But also the Rice Museum.

Speaker 2:

I absolutely will. One more question before we wrap up. Out of all the silhouettes of Hester Van Eggen, which one do you think is the most unique, and why?

Speaker 3:

It's difficult to choose. Well, there are two. One I really love is it calls out Also, then I have to say that all the bags that Hester designed have singular names. The name's very funny. This bag that I really love is Confetti. It's made as a clutch, as a pochette, but our bags you can also wear with the long strapping crossbody, because the Dutch people ride a bike every day, so they want to have this possibility.

Speaker 2:

You could get killed by the bikes in Amsterdam, like you got to look both ways. You have got to forget the cars, the bikes forget it.

Speaker 3:

They are very dangerous and you need your hands free. So absolutely yes absolutely.

Speaker 2:

You need your hands free, so absolutely.

Speaker 3:

Yes, absolutely so. All our bags have the long strap, but this is a clutch and it's made from five little pockets in I don't know how to say the big and small, and small and small and smaller, different colors and graduation, or all in the same color but different leather. So it's very unique. And also another one that is I love and people love a lot is a ufo, because it has the shape of a ufo. I have one here I can show you because it's this one the best, best, the best.

Speaker 2:

It is the coolest bag ever.

Speaker 3:

Red on the backside like a lips.

Speaker 2:

Yep, it's so cool, and that has a crossbody strap too.

Speaker 3:

Yes.

Speaker 2:

The other one is this one. Oh my gosh, that is amazing. And what's the silhouette called?

Speaker 3:

This is confetti, that's the confetti called this is confetti. That's the confetti. This is one color with just a different leather, but there are also five different colors in graduation. Yeah, yeah, yeah, oh, in contrast also.

Speaker 2:

Confetti for the win. What a delightful little bag.

Speaker 3:

What a delightful little bag. I love it. But the bestseller at the moment I have it here in dark color is the bestseller since ever, in a larger size. But since three years we produced the smaller size and now it's the bestseller. It's the feluca.

Speaker 2:

And you can wear it like this. Does it have a crossbody strap too?

Speaker 3:

And you can take it out or not, and it's beautiful Oof, oof, oof, oof, oof, oof oof. We have one which is a sumo and is inspired by the sumo fighter, right yeah? Yeah yeah, and is folded on a you say a shaping wood, molding wood. So it has to be folded on this wood, on a shaping wood, molding wood. So it needs to be folded on this wood and then sew. So it's one piece and this you can wear it in five different ways Cross body shoulder, body, waist, waist and backpack.

Speaker 2:

I mean, I strongly recommend everybody watch this on YouTube just to see, for the bags alone.

Speaker 3:

Most of them need to be really explained because they change, so someone has to explain what you can do with these bags.

Speaker 2:

Do you think that made it more difficult to sell them? Because they required an explanation or people knew when they were walking into the shop that it was to be expected?

Speaker 3:

Well, for some of them, not For some others, it would be difficult, but I can say that I have great stuff in Amsterdam, a very great stuff, and they are very well prepared. A characteristic of our staff is that they love the product. They love the product. And those that are working in Estepanagan since Esther was there, they used to love her and the product and they know very well that her creativity is the best way to sell.

Speaker 2:

Roberta, I want to thank you so very much for taking the time to speak with us. How can people find Hester van Eggen? How are they able to find these incredible bags?

Speaker 3:

We have an online store and a webshop. Of course hestervaneggencom, and also Instagram and Facebook. They can also hestervaneggencom.

Speaker 2:

So, and that's Hester H-E-S-T-E-R van V-A-N. E-e-g-h-e-n. Hester Van Eken, correct In the spelling.

Speaker 3:

Why? Thank you to her. Help me in the spelling. It's a very difficult name, but it's her name.

Speaker 2:

So it's blah blah, dutch for the win, thank you, thank you. Thank you, roberta, for joining us today. Much pleasure, I'm Dutch for the win, thank you, thank you. Thank you, roberta, for joining us today. Thank you very much. I'll see you in Amsterdam. Oh, don't worry, I'll find you in both places. Don't worry about that. Let's get to that. Ciao, bye, ciao.

Speaker 1:

Thanks for listening. Don't forget to rate and review, and follow us on every single platform at Handbag Designer. Thanks so much. See you next time.

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Emily Blumenthal

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