Warning! This woman will turn YOU into a handbag addict
Women have an intense relationship with their handbag, observes designer emma Hill.
‘When we were young, we never went in our mum’s handbag — something I’m trying to teach my 12-year-old son — because it was a sacred place. You can tell a woman’s story in bags, from dancing round them as a teenager, to buying your first job bag.’
Hill, 49, was christened emma because her artist mother ‘wanted a daughter who could kick ass, like emma Peel from The Avengers’.
And she’s certainly shown flair. She spent six years as creative director of mulberry, designing their It bags (most famously the £750 slouchy leather Alexa satchel in honour of model Alexa Chung) and their ready-to-wear lines.
With Hill at the helm, mulberry, previously best known for its briefcases and wallets, evolved into a global fashion powerhouse. She introduced catwalk shows after launching their clothing line, realising that without a show it’s hard for an accessories brand to gain international recognition.
In 2012 she was awarded a CBe. So it caused a sensation when she quit mulberry a year later, apparently unhappy with the direction of the brand.
But you can’t keep emma down. Three years ago, she co-founded her own accessories company, Hill & Friends, now stocked at Harvey nichols, Fortnum & mason and Fenwick.
Designs are classic shapes ‘for grown-up girls’. made of calf leather, goatskin, suede and calf hair, they’re heirlooms, albeit ones that come in leopard print or candy store colours with fun detailing, including a fastening that looks like a smiley face. To lock the bag you ‘wink’ an eye.
HILL’S mantra is affordable luxury. Having also worked at marc Jacobs, Calvin Klein, Chloé and Gap in the past, she can design for varied price points.
‘You need to have a brand DnA. no matter whether it’s $29 or $2,000. At Gap we made one of the company’s bestselling bags ever, the Trench Bag. It was $29. It was the antiIt bag that became the It bag,’ she laughs.
She understands the ‘ sweet spot’ — creating handmade bags for around £300, aimed at working women. With slouchy totes for £395 and shoppers for £295, she gives mass-produced bags at rivals such as michael Kors and Kate Spade a run for their money.
of course, she knows ‘affordable’ is a relative term. no one really needs another handbag, she cheerfully admits. ‘It’s my job to create things people just really want.’
At her office, in a black blazer and heels, she exudes glamour, but as soon as she gets a new bag, she says, she likes to roll it in the dirt. ‘I don’t want things to be too precious. I’ll take my leather bag to the beach. I like the fact it’s got a splodge of sunscreen on it to remind me of the holiday.’
Her gold script necklace spells ‘Hudson’ for her son. A single parent from soon after he was born, she’s about to dash from the office to watch his swimming gala.
Inevitably there was industry speculation when she quit mulberry in 2013. many believe Hill’s vision of more affordable luxury clashed with the direction wanted by mulberry’s thenchief executive Bruno Guillon.
Today Hill calls her departure from mulberry ‘a divorce’. But the upside was she could spend quality time with her son. ‘I’d never taken any time off. I went back to work when he was six weeks old.’
SHE had job offers. But she and Georgia Fendley, her former colleague at mulberry, decided to start their own label. Hill brings creative buzz, while Fendley is the branding and communications expert. ‘We’re a female-founded brand and we’re a brand for women.’
It’s important to emma that their sourcing is ethical — leathers used are byproducts of the meat industry and they plan to produce all their bags in the UK. She thinks the great handbag designers are women because they actually carry them. So her bags are practical, with room for phone, keys, make-up.
The mini camera bag has a slide pocket on the outside for your travel card, though she jokes that millennials carry a lot less — and no cash.
emma is Welsh but grew up in Kingston, Surrey. Her mother was a ceramicist, her father a maths teacher. The house was full of art and pots and books.
‘All I wanted was mr Kipling’s Fondant Fancies and Angel Delight. But we always had slightly wonky bread.’
All credit to mr Kipling: you can see where she gets her neon colour schemes of pink and yellow.
Today she lives with Hudson in a Victorian townhouse in West london, where the decor reflects her cheerful eclectic style. The front door is neon pink with googly eyes.
Fifty this year, she’s a believer in ‘attitude not age’ and says her secret to business success is ‘ not to look at the figures too much’.
Yes, there are fewer taxis and smaller expense accounts these days, as she grows the brand, but she’s not complaining.
‘my teacher dad adored his job, never had a day off sick and always said: “Just find something that you love.” He never wanted me to rely on a man for money. It’s been such privilege to earn my living doing something I completely love.’
And with that attitude, success is surely in the bag.