Our 98 year old Ibu Ambassador, Iris Apfel, sits next to me at our trunk show in Palm Beach and admires my clutch. An Ibu clutch, of course, embellished with a face. We ought to do a clutch with your face on it, I say casually. I think that's a great idea, she agrees, and calls me a few months later wondering what has happened with the clutch idea?
What has happened is that I've been invited to a luncheon by a woman I do not know, (because, why not?) and seated next to another woman I do not know, (it was all arranged, I learn later) and quickly dive deep into conversation. Dayanne Danier has flown from New York to Charleston for this occasion, and is seated next to me because she is a fashion designer working in Haiti and who would like to meet her more than me?
She reaches for her beaded bag and I am caught staring. Now I am the one admiring her clutch glowing in a lovely chartreuse design. The women I work with in Haiti bead this, she tells me. All of this. By hand. Read More