A New York success story is always worth celebrating. Several years back, accessory designer Amy Zurek was living in Tribeca and sowing the seeds of what would one day become Savette. On Wednesday evening, she returned to the neighborhood to take over one of her favorite haunts, Walker’s, to toast to five years in business.
“It’s our version of a pub night,” she told Vogue, surrounded by dozens of cascading silver balloon strings. The evening did indeed have that kind of wholesome summer-in-the-city rom-com energy, with well-dressed friends of the brand in midi skirts and kitten heels popping by for a martini and fries after work or on the way to a dinner downtown. Guests stepped into the photo booth giggling in pairs, doodled on table cloths with crayons, and tried their hand at scratch cards hoping to win a Pochette—kudos to Vogue’s Maddy Fass and stylist Solange Franklin, for whom luck was in the air.
Savette’s flagship Pochette family—which considerably pre-dated the leaning towards quiet luxury and logo-less accessories of recent years—was everywhere you looked around the bar, distinctive for both its refreshing minimalism and now synonymous oval-shaped closure. Model Jacquelyn Jablonski debuted her baby bump in baby pink, teaming her co-ord set with a teal-hued shoulder bag version. Others carried the new trapeze update, or iterations in suede, leather, or exotic skins.
A former designer for the likes of The Row, Khaite, and Coach, Zurek was always crystal clear on the blueprint for her bags. Beyond ethical small batch production and responsibly-sourced leather, she admits she was dead set on how it should look and function—and she wasn’t willing to cut any corners. “I was always thinking of the lines and how the lock needed to be simple but really sturdy,” she explained, demonstrating the way the handle easily contracts and expands to go from bag to clutch. “I am such a nerd when I talk about it!” After much back-and-forth—and lots of photos to explain and work around the language barrier—she ultimately found her partners in a third-generation ran atelier in Florence, where the line is still produced today.
For Zurek, a major highlight of the last half-decade has been working with retailers that were always on her vision board and seeing her designs stocked on their shelves. And next up, she’s exploring what her own physical touchpoint could look like. In the meantime, this summer will see the launch of her inaugural showroom—where she’s no doubt ready to welcome fellow handbag nerds to come hang out.
