Meet the Designer Behind Edie Parker—the Favorite Bags of Taylor, Reese, Katy & More
Edie Parker clutches. Photo: Courtesy
Those plastic, rock candy-like clutches that Taylor Swift, Katy Perry, Lupita Nyong’o and Sofia Vergara are carrying on red carpets from the Grammys to the Met gala? They’re by Edie Parker, a four-year-old line of hard case, acrylic bags that was founded by Brett Heyman in 2010. On Friday she showed her fall collection at New York Fashion Week. “There was a lot of new shapes and materials. We did a lot of suede,” says Heyman who named the business after her daughter, Edie Parker Heyman, and stylish Edies (Sedgwick, Park Kerouac, Bouvier Beale) throughout history.
Formerly director of public relations for Gucci, Heyman, who also has a son, Oscar, says, “I’d always wanted to do something more creative. I figured I made a human so making a handbag couldn’t be that hard.”
An underestimation, she admits, but the 2014 CFDA/Vogue Fashion Fund Finalist, who grew up in Los Angeles and lives in New York, has two solid advantages: a background working under former Gucci creative director Frida Giannini—“She’s one of the greatest bag designers ever, so I got great insights”—and a good sense of humor.
Kesha with Brett Heyman at the Edie Parker Fall 2015 presentation. Photo: Getty Images
After all, when so much in the world is grim, who wouldn’t want to waltz into a party carrying a clutch that reads Happy or Hot Chick? Celebrities like Reese Witherspoon are in on the joke. After hearing the Oscar nominee tell Vogue.com that her rapper name would be Lil’ Spoon, Heyman made a case emblazoned with the moniker and sent it to the actress on a whim. Cut to Witherspoon shortly thereafter Instagramming a selfie with her new accessory. “When a celebrity gets the humor and will put it out there, that’s my favorite thing,” says Heyman. So she also couldn’t have asked for a more perfect moment than what occurred during last year’s Screen Actors Guild awards when Bryan Cranston showed off his co-star Anna Gunn’s Breaking Bad logo clutch during his acceptance speech. “We had no idea if Anna would wear it,” Heyman says. “It was a surprise.”
Stars like Suki Waterhouse, Alexa Chung, Dianna Agron and Jessica Alba have gone the more traditional route carrying clutches bearing their given names while Rita Ora flaunted her Hold It bag all along the MTV Movie Awards red carpet last year. One VIP, however, was a harder sell. When Heyman made a monogrammed clutch for Oprah Winfrey to wear on the cover of her magazine last year, the media mogul reportedly looked at it and said, “I know who I am. Do I really need a bag to tell me?” Heyman takes the story in stride. “She didn’t wear it on the cover, but they ran a picture inside,” she says gratefully. “It was very exciting.”
Related: New York Fashion Week Street Style
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