Keeping it in the family
Sixties model Elke Ruge and her daughters live, play and now work together. Their eir new handbags are a hit with Caroline Leaper per
T he imminent launch of their bag brand, Montunas, has taken over the Ruge-Hawila family’s Fulham home-turned-HQ. It’s why the mother-and-daughter trio Elke, Elena and Amanda have had to decamp to The Ivy Café in Soho for meetings.
Ordinarily it would be a case of “all round theirs”, as the Costa RicanLebanese clan live together, party together and now work together, having spent the last year developing an authentic family fashion business from their basement. “In Costa Rica, the older generations always hang out with the younger ones, so it’s normal for Mum to be partying with my friends and bringing the tequila shots,” says Elena, 26. “We know a lot of people couldn’t do it, but for us it works.”
The Hawilas are a beautiful, quirky and connected bunch with a stunning ranch to retreat to in the Guanacaste province, complete with an orchid house, acres of nature and d an Elkeenforced ban on TV. It’s a complete contrast to their west London don lives, full of Sloane Club soirées and d appearances in Tatler’s Bystander column. mn.
The sisters went to St Mary’s School in Ascot and the Ivy League ue Princeton University. Amanda, 28, then hen worked in the technology sector andd Elena in the marketing departments of f Armani and Burberry. Both wanted to help their mother pursue her passion, n, though, as Elke had been making ceramics, painting and, you guessed d it, crafting her own bags since her Sixtiesxties youth.
“I used to put my bags on the roof-rack and drive around d Costa Rica in the summer, letting g them age naturally in the sun,” she explains. “I’ve carried nappies, ppies, cameras and fishing rods in n them. We certainly don’t want people eople to take care of them.”
“We knew that Mum was a creative and would never care to do the business side of it,” adds Amanda. “She gave them away to friends!” says Elena. “We used her bags all the time and would always get the same compliments. We said: ‘Mum, maybe you should think about doing this as a business’.”
Montunas’ launch offering comprises three key shapes; two roomy totes (priced at £645 and £575) and a bucket bag (£475) that is sure to be blogger catnip, rendered in burgundy and gold leather. They are produced in Spain and have attracted the attention of Alex Eagle, curator of the Soho House set’s favourite boutiques, who will be first to stock them in the UK.
Printed linings depicting the dense Costa Rican rainforest add a special touch, and a no hardware policy aims to keep them timeless,timeless outliving all the competitor It Bags that flood the market each season. “Hardware dates a bag,” says Elena. “Mum’s bags from the Seventies have none, so they still look modern now.” The name Montunas was a natural choice, as it was Elke’s nickname growing up. “My grandmother called her ‘little Montunas’,” explains Amanda. “It means wild and free, and as a child she was that; a tomboy exploring the mountains.” “I was born on a coffee farm and lived there until I was 10,” says Elke of her childhood spent navigating the region’s famous cloudy rainforests. “Then I moved to the city, which I hated – I was very behind on my schoolwork, but I was the best at climbing trees.”
Elke was 21 when she first came to the UK, planning to take a photography course, then go back after six months. “This was 1976,” she explains. “London was quite a shock. They didn’t even have avocados here and you couldn’t call home easily because there were no mobile phones, no internet. I loved it.”
Modelling, she found, was a way to see the world. Scouted at the age of 23 by an agent from Models1, she worked for five years, gracing the covers of Cosmopolitan and Harper’s & Queen.Quue “It was a lot of beauty and editorial jobs, no catwalks,” she says. “It wasn’t like it is now, there were no supermodels, and I had a baby face, so I could model until I was 28. I never thought of being a model, I am still quite camera shy, but it was great. The moment I’d earned some money, I went straight back to Costa Rica and bought myself a small farm.” Elke’s modelling shots were in a trunk in the basement, before her daughters raided them for inspiration when plotting Montunas. Her “now-vintage” photos have found a place in the label’s marketing material. “I’m just amazed that they don’t think I’m embarrassing any more!” Elke laughs.
Her personal look is, for the record, extremely stylish, and handme-downs are gratefully received. “We asked [ Vogue fashion editor and vintage style expert] Bay Garnett to style our lookbook and she spent a whole day at our house going through Mum’s cupboards,” says Elena, b before confessing that three of the th things she’s wearing right now bel belong to Elke.
“I don don’t buy vintage. These are all just cloth clothes that I’ve had for so many years tha that the girls are now saying they are vintage,” laughs Elke. “Back in the dayda I would buy cargo pants from the Laurence Corner army shop [in Camd Camden], and then wear them with act actual ballerinas’ shoes, which was app apparently an odd thing to do at the tim time.”
“Wh “When I shop now, I will buy from anywhere; Chanel, Primark, TK M Maxx. I have a lot of things made too, from fabrics that I buy at Sh Shepherd’s Bush Market. I like quirk quirky twists and I just go for it.”
He Her girls say that before signin signing off any design now, they must d do a litmus test: would all three o of them, with their differing tastes, w wear this bag, and would Elke’s yo younger self also like it? “She’s ou our woman, then and now,” says Elen Elena. “We look at these pictures of our mum and think, how wou would she wear it? She was and still is w way cooler than any of us.”