An Anya Hindmarch for every woman

Taking a detour from college at the age of 19 in order to go to Florence and study handbag design is probably a whim you’ll allow yourself, if you’re lucky, for about a year, after which you’ll anticipate a reality check and hit the books before your friends take on too many units ahead of you. But not if you’re celebrated handbag designer Anya Hindmarch.

“My mother gave me, when I was 16, one of her old Gucci bags, and I remember how it made me feel. And I remember thinking that it was actually an exciting business and perhaps there was something I could do with it. And I was going to university and I was going to start a year off before, so I decided to go to Florence… and I never actually got to university, so I’m a rather ill-educated handbag designer,” she recalls in a past interview.

Barely a year out of high school, Anya ended up selling over 500 pieces of her very first handbag design commissioned by Harpers and Queen magazine. Today, Anya Hindmarch is a global brand with 54 shops and presence in leading department stores worldwide. As successful as she is, however, she eschews the outdated convention of stiff, boxy businesswomen and gives off a more bohemian, too-cool-to-care vibe that can be expected of a woman who was brave enough to do what she loves. 

To get an idea of Anya’s je ne sais quoi, imagine effortlessly chic yet accomplished women like English actress Rebecca Hall, sisters Charlotte Gainsbourg and Lou Doillon (daughters of Jane Birkin, no less), and throw in an impossibly cool wild card, like Vogue Italia’s fashion editor Giovanna Battaglia. Add these muses to little ideas from men’s clothing — exceptional hand stitching, a beautiful button — and a surprising inspiration from glamorous skiing ensembles from the 1970s, and you have the basic elements of the Anya Hindmarch autumn/winter 2011 collection. The line focuses on the soft, warm colors of autumn, like auburn, camel, lavender, taupe and deep violet, and introduces Velvet Calf, a new material that is smooth and buttery leather in its most natural form.

The slouchy shape of the Maxi Zip satchel complements any outfit and comes with a detachable cross body strap making it an ideal hands free bag. Anya Hindmarch is available at Adora in Greenbelt 5.

Centered on the idea of “luxurious functionality,” the main collection is comprised of the Huxley tote and clutch; the Alban tote and shoulder bag; the iconic Nevis tote and Carker top handle re-worked in luxe leather and raw edges; the signature Maxi Zip structured Ebury top handle, shoulder bag, cross-body, and backpack; the Maeve tote, top handle, shoulder bag and clutch; the Rhodes top handle and shoulder bag; and the Fergus top handle and tote. Since Christmas is right around the corner, reach for something festive, like their bestselling Valorie clutch in eye-popping disco glitter variations, and keep your affairs in order with her ever-popular zip-around wallets and handy leather loose pockets.

As much of a free spirit as she is, Anya, like most women, is also a multitasking working mother with five children, which is why she takes all of the little concerns of everyday women into her designs. Her Oakley bag is known as the ultimate “nappy” or diaper bag with labeled pockets and compartments every mother can think of, disguised as a stylish black nylon tote with black patent trim. However, all modern working women, not only mothers, will appreciate the careful thought and consideration that Anya puts into her handbags. Each handbag includes detachable key fobs and pockets for pens, phones, music, etc. Her coats include hidden pockets in the inside lining with “lipstick” and “coins” embroidered on them. Anya’s loose pockets, individual pouches stamped with words such as “receipts,” “camera” and “girlie stuff,” are an imaginative filing system for the bag.

The Nevis was previously produced in canvas and nylon and is now available as a luxe leather shopping tote with raw laser- cut edges, which creates a strong silhouette.

Even her line of canvas bags do well for women who want cute yet practical totes for their everyday items they lug around outside of the office, like groceries, newspapers and magazines, even laundry. Continuing from the monumental success of the “I Am Not A Plastic Bag” canvas bags, which indubitably put Anya Hindmarch on the map, Anya produced a line of similarly quirky, tongue-in-chic canvas totes — the Household Totes and the Lucky Charm Totes.

Of course, season after season, the classic Anya Hindmarch Core Collection will always be available for women who just want to get through the entire week without changing their bags, and not worrying that it won’t go with whatever they’re wearing. “I suppose I’m quite selfish and I design what I like… so if it works for me, as in it’s not heavy, it doesn’t cut into my arm, it makes me feel great, and it works for meetings, home, and parties, then… that’s probably the starting point,” Anya once said of her design process.

Having everything you need within arm’s reach is perhaps what makes most women feel confident enough to run the world, like Anya bravely did 25 years ago. 

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Anya Hindmarch is available only at Adora, 2/F Greenbelt 5. Call 217-4029.

No more digging around at the bottom of your bag! Anya’s line of wallets and leather and nylon “loose pockets” are wonderful for organizing anything from makeup to medicine and pens.