Time Stamp: Tuesday, November 13, 2007
Location: The Dooney & Bourke showroom
601 West 26th Street, NYC, The Forbidden Zone
Text, Vivian G. Kelly
Images, Richard Spiegel
Dooney Carves Out a Fresh New Image for Itself
Admittedly, until we made it to the spring 2008 preview, we hadn’t paid much attention to Dooney’s recent endeavors towards modernization. Their preppy all weather leather structured handbags with the Duck company crest prominently displayed on an elliptical leather tag were wildly popular in the seventies and eighties. If a woman wasn’t carrying a Coach Bag on her shoulder, she was carrying a Dooney.
Our pre-preview visit to the glossy boutique in the tony Westchester Mall brought us squarely into the present. There were of course, logoed bags [they sell] but there were also some great red/black/white zebra and giraffe prints bags that the salesman confirmed were the store’s best sellers.
At the spring 2008 preview
*Dooney maintains a gorgeous showroom deep in the Forbidden Zone, in one of Fashion’s most prestigious addresses – 601 W 26th Street. We still remember tripping over a sarcophagus at that address pre-911. We’d accidentally stumbled into an art storage space next to the makeshift runway in the space 100 yards away where WINK was showing that season for a long-ago NY Fashion Week.
Dooney’s Showroom was filled with a mouthwatering display of colorful bags in many different leather textures – a far cry from “all weather” leather.
Dooney’s Andrea Mathewson led us through the many groupings starting with the company’s high end ALTO Collection, This sophisticated collection is only available in Dooney & Bourke boutiques and retails for up to $1,200 for an oversize satchel, large enough to fit your laptop.
We can’t say enough about the new Limited Edition items on the line. This season, Dooney has collaborated with starlet Hayden Panettiere [nominated for a Grammy in 1999 for Best Spoken Word Album for Children for A Bug's Life.] The line sports a large HP metallic logo tag and is already on backorder.
New also this season: the Chiara bag, available in both gold and silver in a moderate price range, [around $400]. Also available in metallic, a little tissue holder and ultra-chic jewelry box.
What we loved: the new patent leather “Ashley” satchels available in just about every color of the rainbow. Our favorite: the patent leather bag with metallic handles. The shiny jewel toned bags are the perfect complement to the jewel toned clothes that were on the runways.
Also of note: the hot pink medium sac in pearlized leather with a twist strap.
Last but not least: Animal prints! Save some of your holiday budget until the spring deliveries start coming to the stores in January. We’ve all read numerous accounts of the madness Robert Cavalli’s limited edition collection for H&M engendered earlier this month when it hit only 500 stores, worldwide. Mr. Cavalli’s known as the king of animal prints and the madness that ensued in H&M locations around the world proved once and for all that women love their animal prints. Dooney’s medium sacs and oversize watches in pink/green and black/white zebra are sure to be a hit at retail this spring. We missed out on the Cavalli craze, but we’ll make up for it by picking-up one of Dooney &Bourke’s zebra watches in January.
Endnote to Dooney Duck lovers: The Dooney & Bourke duck is alive and well, but he’s gone into hiding! He’s hidden in the metalwork, but don’t look for him in the Alto Collection pieces.