Some designers try to create chic with scarcity, positioning and celebrity clientele. For others, the products simply do it themselves.
Kendall Conrad is clearly one of the latter. Which is why the Montecito-based designer’s first freestanding boutique, on Venice’s Abbot Kinney Boulevard, is something to cheer about.
Talk about exclusive. Every one of Conrad’s handbags is not only hand made locally, but produced in limited numbered editions in a wide range of styles that manage to balance trendy and classic with artful grace. Her haute City Collection comes in exotic skins including alligator and python, finished with Swiss gold-plated zippers and hardware. The casual bags have brass hardware but still excellent hand stitching and durable saddle leathers built to last.
Accessories include a cute fuschia iPhone case, and one of my personal favorites, the sexy leather strap cuffs.
Conrad’s designs are also sustainable-friendly. All of the leathers she uses come from animals harvested for food, right here in the US.
And yes, her bags and accessories have been spotted on top celebs–including Cameron, Angelina, J-Lo and Gisele. But in this instance, I think that reflects more on those girls’ good taste than anything else.
Conrad, for those who don’t know, is far from a one-trick pony. In fact, the former model and actress—whose family goes back five generations in California– even authored Eat Well Feel Well, a cookbook designed for persons with Specific Carbohydrate Diet issues, like her daughter. We should all be so multi-talented!
Kendall Conrad Design is located at 1121 Abbot Kinney Boulevard, Venice (310) 399-1333
