Joanna Lhuillier
Joanna Lhuillier is a child of design. Born in London and raised in Hong Kong, Lhuillier is the daughter of furniture designers Paul and Diane Maitland-Smith and the younger sister of eveningwear designer Monique Lhuillier. Now she joins the design crowd with her 3-year-old line of hand-beaded purses.
Made in the Philippines, where Lhuillier lives when she is not at her home in Beverly Hills, the bags resemble trendier, hipper versions of the crystal-encrusted handbags made by Judith Lieber. Wholesaling from $160 to $300, Lhuillier’s bags are designed with tiers like those on a flouncy flamenco dress or with suede handles and lining for use as a tote.
The designer uses beads sourced from the Czech Republic, Germany and Japan. Sometimes she skips the beads and attaches 645 metal charms engraved with the company logo. Because of the embellishment, the bags can weigh as much as two pounds.
With each collection, Lhuillier said she has become more daring with colors. In the beginning, she used at most three colors. Now, she blends more shades into pieces such as a 10-color bag named “Spring Snake.” Lhuillier said each bead is sewn on by hand, so if one bead breaks, the entire strand will not unravel.
It takes up to six weeks to make each bag. Lhuillier said she sold about 800 to 1,000 bags last year.
Though Lhuillier also makes beaded belts and slides, which she sells in her two stores in the Philippines, she focuses on marketing her bags in the United States. A dozen stores—including Mahsa in Scottsdale, Ariz., and Cassis in Newport Beach, Calif.—stock her purses domestically.
“They’re like jewels,” she said. “They’re something that will be passed on from generation to generation.”
For more information, contact Stacy Eric of The Agency Showroom at (213) 624-3629. —Khanh T.L. Tran
