Leigh & Luca – Swoon-Worthy | Must Love Boutiques

Serendipity brought Gillian Leigh and Susann Luca together a little more than a year ago. A chance meeting over a scarf on a downtown Manhattan subway station, set them on the ambitious course of reinventing “the scarf”. Luca envisioned a new fashion category: an over-sized rectangular or square piece that could be worn as a shawl or sarong and also as a travel blanket. They succeeded wildly and you can find their designs in a limited number of fine boutiques throughout the world.

Luca, the creative Director travels the world for inspiration. Her spirit is seen in exotic influences from Africa and Asia. Cashmere, silk, and cotton are hand-woven on century-old wooden looms in India and then limited edition hand printed art and hand embroidered designs are added. The designs are modern and edgy, dominated by a color palette of neutrals (blacks, greens, and creams). They merchandise the scarfs using a tone-on-tone look, and spice things up by pairing them with slightly darker or brighter tones. The result, irresistible.
For Fall 2010, they’ve added handbags with the same beautiful artwork and craftsmanship you find in the scarves. The hand-printed crushed cotton canvas totes are swoon-worthy and even though the buttery leather totes are not imprinted they are definitely “no plain jane”. Every detail from the lining to the hardware is exquisite. Best of all your customers won’t be mortgaging their houses to buy one. The prices at retail start in the $24o’s for the canvas and the $560’s for the leathers. Worth every penny!