Mandy Coon & Collina Strada

My favorite bag of the night, the Collina Strada Mandy Coon leather bunny purse!

Yesterday night I had a date with two of my favorite boys, Jimmy and Brandon, to hit up a bunch of events. We started the night at EVA, one of my favorite spots to find up and coming local designers and avant-garde pieces, to preview Mandy Coon's Fall 2010 collection, as well as Collina Strada's line of handbags and leather accessories. Coon is a fellow downtown designer who wears many hats, DJing as one half of Two Mandy DJs. She started her career working for Camilla Staerk, and it's wonderful to see her strike out on her own. For fall, her collection was inspired by anatomical drawings, and to highlight the effect, she paired the work with a video displaying the clothes through an x-ray machine.

I was less familiar with the Collina Strada collection, but very impressed by what I saw. Designer Hillary Taymour combines traditionally ethnic textiles with sharp details, bold color choices, and geometric shapes to impart her work with a distinctively modern spin. My favorite pieces were the highly covetable leather vests, and the noirish-adorable black leather bunny bag. EDIT: the bunny bag was actually designed by Mandy Coon! Anyway, EVA will be offering up to 50% off of Collina Strada and Mandy Coon's Spring collections and their latest collections until Monday, so I suggest you stop by and take a peek yourself--after the discount the pieces are quite reasonably priced!


Two of the Mandy Coon fall looks with accompanying x-ray photographs

My favorite boys, Brandon and Jimmy

I loved this electric blue Collina Strada vest

Ikat print hobo and clutch bags

Another Ikat print in blue and purple

I love the way the construction of the vest makes it look like leather pleats

It's a little hard to see in this picture, but the ribcage shaped trim on this Mandy Coon jacket iw made of covered chain.

Pastel Ikat print bags combined with leather deets

-Tiffany