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Style Chat Fridays

February 13, 2012 By Leave a Comment

Belen Echandia is introducing a new concept: Style Chat Fridays.  We love chatting about the latest trends and comparing notes in the office and we also get lots of questions about the latest fashion trends, how to wear particular styles of bag and how to incorporate different looks.  So we decided to make a Style Chat part of our regular Facebook line-up.

Each week we will be discussing a different style topic – something that has caught our eye or a question raised by one of our customers.  We’ll be asking questions as well as answering them, showcasing different looks and ideas and also showing how bags can be incorporated into different trends.

Please send your questions to janelle (@) belenechandia.com. The more the merrier! And please join us every Friday on Facebook – the chatter will be going on throughout the day.

Have a great week!

The BE Team XOXOX

Filed Under: Belen Echandia, Fashion, Style, Things We Love

Winter 2011 trends in pictures

September 1, 2011 By Leave a Comment

Row 1, left to right

1. Kara Ross Cuff, now on sale via Matches Fashion:

2. Amazing Burberry Coat in bright orange

3. Belen Echandia Warm Red Milan medium satchel in chevre (goat skin)

Row 2, left to right

1. Leopard Print heels

2. Shoe boots (Prada, what were you thinking?)

Row 3, left to right

1. MIH Jeans

2. Gold

3. Fur

Filed Under: Belen Echandia, Colours and inspirations, Fashion, Style

Animal prints and pony skin – AW11

August 15, 2011 By 1 Comment

Animal prints and fur are hot news again for the AW11 season, but this time we’re seeing subtler prints like milky-white snow leopard alongside their flashier cousins.  We’ve used pony skin for the Belen Echandia handbag collection before, but this is the first time we’ve ever incorporated leopard and zebra into our larger handbag range. Only a small number of pieces are available and we’re very excited with the results.

It has taken me a while to get here. I have never been keen on animal prints.  But a couple of months ago, I was at a museum with my son when I spotted a woman wearing a velvet leopard-print crossbody bag which was a very similar shape to our Covet Me Mini.

The bag was quite simple, so I don’t know if it was the otherwise chic Scandinavian style that did it, or the fact that I could suddenly visualise a BE leopard print Covet Me Mini, but this woman rocked her animal print bag.  Animal prints suddenly seemed very wearable.

And now for a few pieces from the up coming animal print collection:

1. Clutch Me in leopard with black super soft matte trim

2. Milan Satchel in snow leopard with black super soft matte trim

3. Covet Me Mini in snow leopard with black super soft matte trim

 

Filed Under: Belen Echandia, Fashion, Handbags, Style, Things We Love Tagged With: , ,

Brightly coloured chevres

August 9, 2011 By 1 Comment

Ever since I wrote that post (this one) we’ve been inundated with emails asking us about available colours of chevre.  So we’ve started taking pictures of the chevre colours that are available now.  Today, we’re posting the bright colours. If you’re looking for a brightly coloured goatskin bag, here’s a run down of what we have (please not that these colours are fully-stocked and available now, but leathers frequently go out of stock so if there is a particular leather that you know you want, the best thing is to put down a deposit on it):

PARIS

We’re calling this colour chart “Paris”.   The colours look (on my screen at least) exactly as they do on the colour chart. This is an extremely soft, beautifully uniform leather. It does not show marks easily.  The colours are saturated and deep.

 

DIXAN

This is a washed chevre, meaning that it is a little more matte and has a little more texture – and the colours are a bit less saturated than Paris and Guanto.  These colours are my favourites, just because I like that “washed” look.  Here is a close-up of the texture of that leather in red, with all our linings:

Here are the bright colours from the Dixan colour chart:

GUANTO

This is a glove-like leather, the most classic of the three and as saturated and uniform as Paris, just with a little more gloss. This colour chart is a little harder to shoot, but we’ve had a go!

Please email Janelle (@) belenechandia.com – removing brackets – if you have any questions or would like to know more about these amazing leathers.

Jackie XX

Filed Under: Belen Echandia, Colours and inspirations, Fashion, Handbags, Style, Things We Love

Rock Chic Style for AW11

August 9, 2011 By Leave a Comment
Rock chic style

 

 

Otis Maclain short sleeve shirt
$128 - new.amrag.com

 

Oasis cropped denim jacket
£45 - oasis-stores.com

 

Balmain black leather pants
$3,020 - stylebop.com

 

Supertrash gladiator sandals
£94 - theoutnet.com

 

 

Filed Under: Belen Echandia, Fashion, Handbags, Style, Things We Love

Inspirational women design their dream bags

August 6, 2011 By 2 Comments

I recently read an article in the Sunday Times about girl power.  Although female emancipation occured a long time ago and gender equality has been a hot topic since the 60s, it is only really now that companies are actively seeking a high proportion of women as directors and non-executive directors.  “Girls, your time is now”  the headline said.

I went to London to meet one of the fashion editors of Grazia recently for a new project we’re working on, which ties in nicely with the topic of girl power.  With our all-girl team and our focus on customer interaction, participation and feedback, girl-power has always been a big theme for us.  I remember how excited we all were when we first started offering custom orders, at the prospect of handing back some power to our customers to decide many aspects of their bags for themselves.

This ongoing project will involve championing girl power by working with inspirational women from various fields to design their dream bags, inside and out.  We have always placed as much importance on the inside features of our bags as we do on the outside, with the aim of making them luxurious and as practical as a busy woman needs them to be.  But of course, what you need from a bag will depend on your lifestyle, your job and what you need to carry around with you all day as well as what you would like it to look like.  So instead of asking these women to simply design their dream bag, we are asking them to design their dream bag as a fashion editor, or singer, or lawyer… the bag that will fulfil their daily needs both in terms of aesthetics and practicality.

The meeting in London was fantastic and we can’t wait to show you the results later on this year.

Stay tuned!

Jackie XXXX

Filed Under: Belen Echandia, Fashion, Handbags, Inspirations, Style

Belen’s Scrapbook… The world through a designer’s eyes

August 2, 2011 By Leave a Comment
Filed Under: Inspirations, Interior Design, Style, Things We Love

Belen Echandia AW11 Trend report: Denim and leather

May 15, 2011 By 1 Comment

I’ve spent most of the last few years in a pair of jeans.   They are easy to dress up or dress down and there are so many ways to wear them.  Every time I find a favourite pair of jeans I buy multiples, convinced that I will never again find a pair that fits me so well.   Currently my favourites are these True Religion’s Misty Super Skinnies, which I bought from Shopbop and own in several colours.  I’m slightly nervously awaiting a pair in white.  Nervously because I’ve always looked ridiculous in white jeans.  Let’s hope these are the exception.

I’m not a slave to fashion. Skinny jeans in particular can go out of fashion and come back in again and I wouldn’t notice because I can’t imagine life without them, but it’s still fun to look at current trends.  In fact I’ve found some of my favourite pieces trying styles which “will never suit me” just for fun.  So here’s a round-up of what’s next in the world of denim:

Coated Denim

Denim that is coated to look like leather is this coming season’s hottest trend.   Not being a fan of leather trousers, I’m undecided about whether to try it.  The full-on ‘leather look’ of these infinity metallic gold jeans may not be for me, but I quite like this Ellie Tahari pair so perhaps I could pull off a subtle version of this trend.

 

Photo courtesy of Fidelity Denim www.fidelitydenim.com

Photo courtesy of www.elietahari.com

Trouser-style jeans

Touted as “the next step in jeans after the flare” this style looks suspiciously like a “reinvented flare” and my first impression is that they could be quite unflattering unless you’re very tall and/or super skinny.  I think I would look frumpy in some and clown-like in others.  They are quite cute but this one is not for me.

Photo courtesy of Lucky Brand Jeans

Denim shirts

Denim shirts are not usually my thing, but they are big news for AW11 and much to my surprise, I actually did find a few cute ways to wear them. I love Ashley Olsen’s look with her low-cut black jeans.

Photo courtesy of www.injeanous.com

And the season’s colourful jean fashions mean that men can get away with them too. I’m not saying every guy could rock this look but I think Kanye pulls it off quite well.

Photo courtesy of www.livedrjays.com

Button up

Embellished jeans are all the rage again for fall 2011, particularly button embellishments. Look out for ankle buttons, more-crotch-buttons-than-necessary and buttons all the way down your thighs.  This photo by George Chinese shows a pair of beautiful Sinclair cotton jeans with button detailing.  Mind you, it could be the amazing sweater, bracelets and boots which draws me to this look.

 

Photo Courtesy of womensweardaily.com

Satchels

All this denim calls for a cute satchel and for this of course I’ll be selecting a Belen Echandia, the only problem will be deciding which one.  For a relaxed day look I’ll be choosing our Belen Echandia New York satchel in Oak leather or Chestnut chevre leather.  For a darker, more glamorous look I’ll be going for our new bubble goat skin satchel, probably the mini version which transitions beautifully from day to evening.

Photo courtesy of www.belenechandia.com

Which just leaves me to ask you: how will you wear your denim this autumn?

 

Filed Under: Belen Echandia, Fashion, Style Tagged With: ,

Spring 2011 colours and inspirations

March 13, 2011 By Leave a Comment

I love spring.  Dark days suddenly give way to sunlight, birds begin chirping the smell of damp grass and fresh earth fills the air.  One of my favourite parts is the abundance of colour.  Here are some of my favourite spring sights and colours…

Tulips

My house is always full of tulips in the spring.  I love the rich, block colours and the simplicity of the flower itself.

Painted Easter Eggs

One of my early memories is of my mother’s chocolate Easter egg nests, handmade by mixing cereal with chocolate and putting tiny eggs inside. I’m looking forward to doing the same fun things with my son.  This year we’re going to paint Easter Eggs.

Spring fashion

I love the colours of spring – this season yellows, greens and pink clothes often call for (in my opinion) a neutral accessory, but I like it just as much switched to the other way around – neutral clothes and a bright accessory. Oh to live in Paris, where sunny spring comes early and chic shorts are a possibility even in early springtime.

Photograph courtesy of www.styleandthecity.com

The Countryside

I’ll  leave you with a couple of my favourite images of the English countryside in the spring, shot by my father.  My family loves to walk and (with the exception of me) spend as much time in the countryside as possible in the spring and summer.  I love hiking and I love the countryside, but I am a city girl at heart.  This year we will spend one week in the Lake District later in the spring and I’m very excited about introducing Theo to the prettiness of that part of the world.

Filed Under: Colours and inspirations, Fashion, Style Tagged With: , , ,