Hester van Eeghen (11 November 1958 – 8 April 2021) was a Dutch

designer A designer is a person who plans the form or structure of something before it is made, by preparing drawings or plans. In practice, anyone who creates tangible or intangible objects, products, processes, laws, games, graphics, services, or exp ...

of leather bags,

wallet A wallet is a flat case or pouch often used to carry small personal items such as paper currency, credit cards; identification documents such as driver's license, identification card, club card; photographs, transit pass, business cards and oth ...

s and accessories.

Life

Hester van Eeghen was born in Amsterdam, the youngest of five children. Her family has been involved in the arts in The Netherlands in one way or another since the 17th century. She studied literature at the University of Amsterdam, and soon got involved with theatre, acting, and producing musicals. It was during that time she also started designing bags and working with leather. She learned the technical craft of leather construction by working with a suitcase designer who encouraged her to perfect the smallest details. She scraped together money to buy small pieces of leather, and created bags, one by one, which she sold in local street markets. With each bag she sold she would buy more leather, make more bags, and so on, until she finally was able to open her shop at 37 Hartenstraat.

Work

Her designs are for sale in over 150 museums and design stores over the world and are sold in several countries like

Germany Germany,, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It is the second most populous country in Europe after Russia, and the most populous member state of the European Union. Germany is situated betwe ...

, the UK,

Japan Japan ( ja, 日本, or , and formally , ''Nihonkoku'') is an island country in East Asia. It is situated in the northwest Pacific Ocean, and is bordered on the west by the Sea of Japan, while extending from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north ...

and the

USA The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country Continental United States, primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 U.S. state, states, a Washington, D.C., ...

. She is regarded as one of the influential Dutch designers of the 20th century. Van Eeghen has designed collections for other brands such as

Paco Rabanne Francisco Rabaneda Cuervo (born 18 February 1934), more commonly known under the pseudonym of Paco Rabanne (; ), is a Spanish fashion designer who became known as an ''enfant terrible'' of the 1960s French fashion world. Early life and educati ...

, Marlboro Classics, Jaguar, Castelijn en Berens. Her work was published in over 200 interviews in magazines (NRC Handelsblad, Volkskrant, International Herald Tribune, San Francisco Chronicle,

Trouw ''Trouw'' (; ) is a Dutch daily newspaper appearing in compact size. It was founded in 1943 as an orthodox Protestant underground newspaper during World War II. Since 2009, it has been owned by DPG Media (known as De Persgroep until 2019). ''Tr ...

Het Parool ''Het Parool'' () is an Amsterdam-based daily newspaper. It was first published on 10 February 1941 as a resistance paper during the German occupation of the Netherlands (1940–1945). In English, its name means ''The Password'' or ''The Motto' ...

De Telegraaf ''De Telegraaf'' (; en, The Telegraph) is the largest Dutch daily morning newspaper. Haro Kraak,Gaat Paul Jansen de crisis bij De Telegraaf oplossen?, '' de Volkskrant'', 2015. Retrieved 1 August 2015. Paul Jansen has been the editor-in-chief s ...

, Het Financieel Dagblad –

HP/De Tijd ''HP/De Tijd'' is a Dutch language monthly opinion magazine published by the Audax Groep. Its editorial offices are in Amsterdam, Netherlands. Alongside ''De Groene Amsterdammer'', ''Vrij Nederland'' and ''Elsevier'', it is one of the most influe ...

Vrij Nederland ''Vrij Nederland'' (Free Netherlands) is a Dutch magazine, established during the German occupation of the Netherlands in World War II as an underground newspaper. It has since grown into a magazine. The originally weekly and now monthly magaz ...

, Art Aurea,

Holland Herald ''Holland Herald'' is the inflight magazine of the Dutch airline KLM. Launched in 1966 it is the oldest inflight magazine. History and profile ''Holland Herald'' was first published on 21 January 1966. In the first year the magazine was publishe ...

etc..), television and radio. It is listed in an inventory of Dutch Design in the 20th Century (Ton Lauwen 2003).

Foundation

Both in 1998 and 2008 at the occasion of her first and second decade in design, Hester van Eeghen created a collection of 24 unique pieces that were auctioned at

Sotheby's Sotheby's () is a British-founded American multinational corporation with headquarters in New York City. It is one of the world's largest brokers of fine and decorative art, jewellery, and collectibles. It has 80 locations in 40 countries, and ...

Amsterdam, with the proceeds going to the Foundation Hester van Eeghen Leather Design. Every two years, the Foundation organises a competition in collaboration with the

Museum of Bags and Purses The Museum of Bags and Purses ( nl, Tassenmuseum Amsterdam), was a museum devoted to the history of bags, purses, and their related accessories. Located in Amsterdam's historic central canal belt, the museum's collection included over 5,000 item ...

as a stimulus for designers who work with leather. The theme of the competition focuses on the historical collection of the museum, for example the 2010 theme is Dine & Date. The winner of the Leather Design Prize will have their design produced in a series of 30 pieces. It is an opportunity for the designer to become familiar with the entire process from design to end product. In 2008, after 20 years of designing, Hester was made a Knight in the

Order of Orange-Nassau The Order of Orange-Nassau ( nl, Orde van Oranje-Nassau, links=no) is a civil and military Dutch order of chivalry founded on 4 April 1892 by the queen regent, Emma of the Netherlands. The order is a chivalric order open to "everyone who has ...

and given the decorations by the Mayor of

Amsterdam Amsterdam ( , , , lit. ''The Dam on the River Amstel'') is the Capital of the Netherlands, capital and Municipalities of the Netherlands, most populous city of the Netherlands, with The Hague being the seat of government. It has a population ...

Job Cohen Marius Job Cohen (; born 18 October 1947) is a retired Dutch politician and jurist who served as Mayor of Amsterdam from 2001 to 2010 and Leader of the Labour Party (PvdA) from 2010 to 2012. Cohen studied Law at the University of Groningen obt ...

for her contribution to

Dutch Design Dutch Design is a term used to denote an informal artistic school of design in the Netherlands, particularly product design. More specifically, the term refers to the design esthetic common to designers in the Netherlands. History The Netherl ...

References

External links

Bag and Shoe Design: Hester van Eeghen
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RVU Television documentary on Hester van Eeghen 25 minutes in DutchHester van Eeghen websiteHester van Eeghen US websiteWho is Hester van Eeghen
{{DEFAULTSORT:Eeghen, Hester van 1958 births 2021 deaths Designers from Amsterdam Leather manufacturers Knights of the Order of Orange-Nassau