With the launch of a website for online sales and the opening of a first boutique, Barbara Rihl, designer of bags and accessories, certainly has had good news to smile about of late.

Barbara Rihl collection

Born to a mother who was a stylist and model and a father who was a public notary with a passion for classical music, Barbara Rihl went on to study at the University of Applied Arts in Vienna (Austria), which was directed by Karl Lagerfeld. With her diploma in the bag she then flew over to New York where she was accepted at the Parson’s School of Design. She started to work with brands like Takashimaya and Yagi, Rodier and Kookaï. Later on she directed the Kenzo Jeans collection, and it was there that her passion for accessories developed.

Barbara Rihl created her own brand in 2000. “The concept: a product personified with patches of colour, of materials, of prints in harmony with off-the-peg trends.” This has proved successful and her bags can be found in L’Eclaireur, Colette and Bon Marché in Paris, Neiman Marcus, Bergdof and Sak’s in the USA, Joyce in Hong Kong and Isetan in Japan. In sum, Barbara Rihl’s creations are present in over 1,000 locations around the world, with 15 concessions soon to open in Japan, Moscow, Dubai and Canada.

By Jonathan Fulwell (Source: Sarah Ahssen)