Style Cults

I meet a lot of wonderful, stylish and inspiring women in Los Angeles but when I met interior designer Andrea Gibbin at a PS ARTS meeting a few years ago she struck me as having a special kind of allure. Before I was actually introduced to her, she reminded me of my Parisian sister-in-law with her effortlessly chic way. She always had a little twist that made her classic outfit something special - like wearing a string of bright blue beads with an otherwise plain white shirt, or carrying a beautiful, simple leather tote by Anya Hindmarch, before anyone really knew who the designer was (pre the "I am not a plastic bag" freakshow.) She now carries a Trop. Here she is at my Soho House trunk show, with fabulous hair, a cute army green shirt dress, a woven belt and a whole lot of great jewelry.

At one meeting, she had on a navy blazer with a little brooch pinned to the cuff. It was such an unusual place to pin a brooch but so cool, I knew I would be appropriating that small gesture myself.

A few nights later I wore my black blazer to have dinner with friends at the Chateau Marmont and donned the brooch-on-sleeve look. During a trip to the restroom, I crossed Cameron Diaz, who was wearing an almost identical blazer, we looked at each other with the same twinsies realization and she said, "nice blazer." And then without missing a thing she added "I like your pin." Pointing to my cuff. I said, "thanks, it's cute right? You should do it too." Unbeknownst to Andrea, I'd joined her style cult (and was recruiting celebrities.) To this day, the same pin hangs on the same black velvet jacket - without it, it's just a plain old blazer...

So when Andrea and her friend and colleague (and equally lovely) Wendy Riva decided to open a temporary interiors shop called R&G Collective in Brentwood and asked if I would sell my bags there, I was thrilled! I knew it would be a gorgeous place. A few days ago, it was featured on the very popular blog A Bloomsbury Life.

Bloomsbury Life is artist Lisa Borgnes' blog and R&G also sells a few of her cheeky embroidered tapestries like the one below.

I've never met Lisa, but I like her blog and I especially like the way she ended the entry on R & G Collective: "Andrea and Wendy are planning upcoming trunk sales from Minnie Mortimer, Soledad Twombly (whose striped caftan can be seen on the right) and cult handbag designer Clare Vivier (that's her leather tote hanging off the bench)." Cult?! Cool! Wanna join? No black sweatshirts and sneakers required. But there may be a pin on your sleeve in the future.

Photos of R&G Collective from A Bloomsbury Life