This season, I revisited the strong, creative, and directional women who continue to inspire me and others – from Elsa Schiaparelli and Maria Callas, to their contemporaries, including the icons I see every day on my living room wall in Jonathan Becker’s 1990 portrait of Martha Graham with Madonna and Calvin Klein. The shot was taken during the final performance of Martha Graham’s company before she died, and was the final portrait of this brave and brilliant woman.
There is a personal connection in this photograph as well… Jonathan Becker is my sister’s other half, and Martha Graham was his Godmother, so the portrait takes on a sentimental patina. There is affection in her eyes as she glances toward the camera’s lens.
A few months ago, when starting to conceive a new collection, I was walking through Barneys when it occurred to me, while looking at all the luxury products, that those that were truly beautiful and special were things that had spirit… the human touch.
This thought made sense with Becker’s portrait as well “the human touch” the personal connection, the craft of making something, and a
relationship with what you are making. If ‘special’ means “held in particular esteem, and readily distinguishable from others” then how can
anything manufactured really be considered special? I sought to achieve that something.
This season, working closely with few workshops, to boldly mix materials: perspex and snakeskin, along with warm, tactile materials, like wood. We used raw brass that was crafted by local metal smiths, not large industrial manufacturers. We looked to the ‘rule breakers’ – Martha Graham and Madonna, and took a journey inspired by the spirit of these women. The glamorous Boulet bag, which combines a Black lacquer frame with snakeskin, brocade or feathers, evokes an evening at Maximes Supper Club in Paris.
The Margo minaudiere, our classic is given a new voice when covered in Black perforated rubber, or athletic mesh and citron colored snake.
And our other classic shape, the Breen, is covered in bold, graphic painted snakeskin, showing that even a small bag can have a large personality.
For the women of Kotur, we hope to deliver special pieces made with passion and utmost attention to the smallest details so that these bag
will have as colorful and amazing lives as the women who own them.