We asked interior designer Patrick Mele to choose avant-garde fabrics to be presented as this season’s fashion-forward handbags. With tenures at Ralph Lauren, Kate Spade and his eponymous design firm, Mele is always ahead of the trend in both fashion and design. His curated selection features iconic textile houses Brunschwig & Fils, Fromental, Jim Thompson, Osborne & Little, Perennials, Pierre Frey, Rogers & Goffigon, Schumacher, Zoffany and passementerie from Samuel & Sons. Mele’s cultured aesthetic is evident in the artful compositions on display in his newly opened Westport studio. These exclusive Cliff + Soph handbags will be sold during May and June at Mele’s Greenwich shop, with a portion of the proceeds going to charity.
Stephanie Errickson, the creative force behind Cliff + Soph Design handbags is an accountant by trade and has worked as a bookkeeper for interior designers for years, but she discovered her artistic calling in handbags. Founded in 2020, her first creations were upcycled from clients’ workroom scraps. Today, all the Cliff + Soph handbags are made in Connecticut with designer fabrics. Errickson creates the hardshell pieces herself and relies on her talented sewing director, Sue Fow, to fabricate the soft clutches, totes and market bags. Errickson’s favorite part of the process is dreaming up new designs and finding adornments to make extra special or one-of-a-kind pieces. “I am a big accessory girl,” admits Errickson. She is always on the hunt for unique items like vintage jewelry, including earrings and necklaces, as well as newer items like Swarovski crystals and unusual hardware pulls. This is truly a passion project for Errickson—she named the company after her cats, and, as a huge animal lover, she donates a portion of each sale to charities benefitting animal welfare. The Sophie Top Handle bag is her bag of choice, but she admits they are like children, and it is often hard to say goodbye to her original creations.
A fanciful grocery bag is fashioned from Schumacher’s My Little Radish cotton print and accented with red faux leather handles.
A bejeweled pomegranate patch adds colorful bling.
The coordinating coin purse in Sasha, also by Schumacher, is a high-performance fabric suitable for indoors or outdoors, featuring a textural weave with a strié effect.
A front-flap clutch (top) flaunts Ladder, a chevron weave from Zinc Textile—shown on the wall in Hunting and as the liner fabric in Tobacco. The chair cushion is also covered in Ladder. Perennials’ Shadow Stripe (bottom) in Chartreuse on the clutch and fabric roll is a micro chenille in an easy-to-maintain 100-percent solution-dyed acrylic.
Cliff + Soph’s front-flap clutch bags are embellished with vintage jewelry by designer Piscitelli.
Cliff + Soph’s front-flap clutch bags are embellished with vintage jewelry by designer Piscitelli.
The Perennials bag is lined with Common Ground in Cypress, a reversible multicolor grid from the brand’s spring Down to Earth collection.
The Sophie bag with bamboo handles wears Pierre Frey’s Farrah Sprinkles with rope and ribbon embroidery. The OG front-flap clutch (on table) in Fromental’s Ukiyo-E Block in Blossom is hand-painted and gilded on Italian velvet, inspired by the delicate colors and bold graphics of Japanese woodblock prints. Topping off the bag, a vintage enamel leopard brooch.
Pierre Frey’s Shoji (used as an inside liner) is a ciselé velvet in a contemporary stripe.
A gold Lion brooch adds extra dimension.
The pouch in the Birdcage bag is stitched from Jim Thompson’s Prima Vera cotton and silk in Lilibeth and accented with Samuel & Sons’ Trianon Key Tassel in Marzipan.
A green eyed Cobra protects Fromental’s Ukiyo-E Block velvet. Samuel & Sons’ Trianon Key Tassel in Marzipan dangles from the cage.
The lining and pedals of the pouch are fabricated from Jim Thompson’s Nuance, a Coral silk and linen vertical strip with an ombre effect.
A dragon brooch adds intrigue.
A Top Knot Minaudière clutch in Zoffany’s Artisan Palampor fabric in Primrose is embellished with an embroidered lemon patch. The alligator evening bag is fabricated in Osborne & Little’s Monteverde linen in the Leaf colorway. The acrylic clear clutch holds a zippered coin purse in Schumacher’s Jardin De Louis in Printemps.
An alligator necklace serves as the handle of the evening bag.
Osborne & Little’s Karuna linen is used as a liner and sports a classic toile pattern.
The “door knocker” horse drawer pull adds a decorative accent to the acrylic clutch.
The Frankie totes are crafted in Brunschwig & Fils indoor/outdoor Le Spritz Weave in Indigo and lined with Brunschwig & Fils Les Cigales print in Indigo. The large tote features Samuel & Sons’ Aspen Cable Holdback handles.
The Top Knot clutch from Cliff + Soph’s Minaudière Collection is wrapped in Zoffany’s Papaver Stripe in Indigo/Madder and lined with Zoffany’s Dabu Stripe in Wedgwood Blue. Swarovski crystals outline the leaf design.
An ornamental Lion drawer pull resembles a door knocker.
Cliff + Soph’s Harry market bags are sewn in ZigZag, a Gert Voorjans for Jim Thompson flame-stitched, ikat-inspired jacquard weave. The large bag wears ZigZag in Sapphire, and the small market bag is ZigZag in Emerald paired with painted wood bead handles. The large Cliff tote (on the stool) with bamboo handles is fashioned from Pierre Frey’s Patti in Sérénité.
Gert Voorjans for Jim Thompson’s Turban outdoor Trevira fabric in Lemon.
Pierre Frey’s Blason outdoor fabric in Acajou.
Gert Voorjans for Jim Thompson Turban in Lilac Trevira.
