Visiting Paris a la francaise!
We've just wrapped up four trips to Paris and Provence this fall, and still reliving the memories. When in Paris, we typically brush over the tourist highlights and focus instead on seeing Paris through the eyes of a native, taking public transportation, visiting local stores, touring smaller museums and strolling through our favorite parks and neighborhoods. Inevitably one such stroll will take us to the St. Sulpice area, down the “shoe capital” street of rue de Grenelle and over to one of my favorites, the tiny and hidden rue du Cherche Midi, that winds its way past little boutiques before dumping into the larger avenue Raspail on the other side.
I’m very familiar with this neighborhood because I’ve been going there for years, ostensibly to accompany my husband to his favorite bakery (the original Poilane boulangerie) but actually to visit my favorite handbag store, Loxwood, which happens to be almost next door. I fell in love with the Loxwood brand over ten years ago, and knew that if I could lure my husband to Poilane, I'd be a frequent visitor to Loxwood. And so visiting Poilane, and Loxwood, became a regular activity any time we went to Paris!
The iconic Loxwood store on the rue du Cherche Midi
Loxwood is a Parisian brand of all leather bags that was launched over twenty years ago. Stylish, luxurious and surprisingly affordable, these leather bags are designed and produced by a small group of artisans in a Paris studio, using old fashioned stitchery and finished by hand. Their credo is “less is more” and their designs are classic, streamlined, simple and practical.
The original and iconic Loxwood Cabas Parisien
I bought my first bag in 2004, in a pretty hounds tooth pattern and a signature tassel, and I’m happy to say that the styles haven’t changed much since then.
It didn’t occur to me that we could actually carry Loxwood in the store until we met the owners a few years ago at a wholesale show in Paris. In order to convince them that we would be a good match for their store, I described every Loxwood bag I’ve ever owned and got their nod and a handshake. So we tentatively dipped our toes in the handbag import business and quickly learned that our customers loved the bags as much as we did. Now they’re front and center in our store, with the very latest styles that we saw last week at their iconic store on the rue du Cherche Midi.
A new favorite for 2019 is the Cleo crossbody bag
A classic Loxwood bag: Eden. Also a fan favorite at HH!
Such a roomy interior with a zipper pocket and two open pouches
This year we have the Eden bag in a new fabulous grey color.
Our perennial bestseller is the pretty Victoria bag with bamboo handles
We have the Victoria in a pretty dark camel color too.
Another popular style this year is the cross-body, which comes in several different colors.
The Anouk messenger bag is a yummy new style this year
Our pretty, petite and practical Zippy offers plenty of space to store your phone, money and other small valuables in style.
If you have the urge to live the life of a true Parisienne, come to Paris with us, and we’ll take you to the original Loxwood store. But if you can’t make one of our trips, we’re happy to bring Paris to you at Huff Harrington Home, 3872 Roswell Road in Atlanta. C’est formidable!
Ta ta!
HH
PS By the way, if Paris is always a good idea, we do have a couple of openings on our March buying trip in 2020.
