Lulu Guinness

It all started with a brief case, in 1989, when its then 29-year-old founder and creative director designed a ladylike attaché case containing convenient pockets for just about everything. How subversive! ‌ Driven by her own style - vintage-inspired and ladylike, with a tongue-in-cheek twist - Lulu began creating the hand-held treasures that made her name. Her first foray was a basket of red roses. ‌ “My life changed in 1993 when I designed the Florist Basket”, remembers Lulu. “It was a black, silk satin handbag shaped like a vase with red velvet roses on top. It caught everyone’s imagination. The success of that bag taught me to dare to be different.”As well as daring to be different - a phrase coined by one of her heroes, the Surrealist couturier and fashion designer Elsa Schiaparelli - Lulu was carving out another niche with the Rose Basket and other handmade playful creations. “I very much liked the idea of my bags being a conversation piece. Handbags you put on the table not the floor. Also, these bags were very tongue and cheek. Life’s short so you may as well cheer people up if you can.