Designist Dream

What started as a small test-run with an $11 strip of leather and seven hand-made bags five years ago has recently turned into an internationally sold and sought-after label for Israeli designer, Tali Epstein Segal. Sumptuous leather replete with subtle details and more obvious studs and fringes have come to define the eponymous TES brand and garner even international acclaim and press. Most recently, TES has appeared in the third season of the popular show, The L Word, about a group of lesbians in LA and media coverage ranges from Marie Claire and WWD to Israeli-based Haaretz newspaper and ISRAEL21c.

From her new shop in Tel Aviv’s Gan HaHashmal, the newest Israeli designer boutique neighborhood, Epstein Segal explains her aesthetic which is neither overly feminine nor minimalistic.

“I don’t like pretentious or over-styled bags,” she explains. “My bags are more primitive and basic in design. I like to emphasize the leather. It’s very important to me. The bags are feminine, but have a rougher style. It’s another sort of chic.”

Call me a purist, but I personally don’t like the combination of leather and studs or metal chains. Nor do I like fringes on bags – reminds me of bad 80s fashion or country western looks. But the two leather hobo bags featured above? Seem pure class. I don’t know what kind of jungle background she found in Israel to photograph these beauties but they speak volumes to the city slicker in me.