NEW YORK — Tocca, the fashion house known for its floral themes, feminine embroidery and cheeky colors, is hoping to reach full bloom with handbags.
The company has hired Muriel Favaro to design the line, and fall is her first season.
A former designer for Kate Spade and design director of accessories for Kenneth Cole, Favaro has created 30 styles for Tocca, taking influence from the eclectic romanticism that embodies the brand. Favaro’s entry to the company follows president Gordon Finkelstein’s decision to take the handbag category more seriously.
Favaro has made an effort to be true to Tocca’s core spirit rather than following the latest craze, as Tocca considers itself a company that doesn’t jump all over trends.
Offerings include a selection of nylon totes embroidered with a sprinkling of tiny gold sequins, creating a modern, yet sari-like feeling, evoking the sari sundress that put the line on the map. An oversized shopper is made of burgundy suede circles with spiral trapunto stitching in a shingle-like arrangement, its closure, an antiqued-gold rose finial mimicking the doorknobs of the company’s showroom in the West Chelsea area of Manhattan. Another style is constructed in what Favaro calls a “Byzantine-print upholstery fabric” in Mod contrasting colors of pink and green with leather handles.
Signature pieces in the line include leather-covered rings connecting the handle to the body of the bag, exaggerated leather-covered gussets with a pointed arch motif and amplified hand-sewn leather-covered buttons. Each bag is lined in signature Tocca light blue and lavender cotton. Slated to hit stores in July, the collection will be sold through the Cynthia O’Connor Showroom. Wholesale prices range from $36 for a cosmetics bag to $175 for a larger piece.
Favaro, originally from Geneva, had many incarnations in accessories before taking on her role as handbag designer for Tocca. She was a senior designer at Kate Spade from 1996 to 2000, where she brought her millinery skills to the handbags. She also had her own accessories company that sold in specialty stores primarily in Europe, and consisted of handbags, hats, jewelry and soft accessories. Until 2004, she was design director of accessories for Kenneth Cole.
By giving serious attention to handbags, and perhaps other categories such as jewelry and shoes eventually, Finkelstein wants to make accessories a significant part of the business. The privately held company has been producing clothing since 1994 and is now in 200 specialty doors including Barneys New York, Bergdorf Goodman and Scoop. Finkelstein projects handbags to account for 5 percent of the business this year and expects that number to double in 2006.
Related Articles
You May Also Like
Tocca has been doing accessories for eight seasons now, but Favaro’s appointment signals that the brand is looking at it as a growth opportunity.
“To make [accessories] a serious business, we had to bring on a serious designer,” Finkelstein said.
Tocca also has retail on the brain. Its SoHo store closed shortly after Sept. 11, 2001, and now the firm has only one store in Japan.
Finkelstein said, “We would love to pursue a retail strategy, maybe [a store in] New York would be sooner rather than later….We’re always looking to expand distribution.”