New York - May 12, 2009

The Element Nichol

Wendy Nichol’s First Bag Collection

Accessories are your broad expanse of prairie. Wendy Nichol is your cattle rancher, roping you in with her first collection of leather bags.

The local designer, known for her vanguard jewelry (the latest set features leather braids and horsehair), looks west of the Mississippi for insight into saddlebags, envelope clutches, and satchels named after Native American tribal chiefs. Indigenous resources are used to craft every inch of the bags by hand — like the buttery leather from Canyon, New York; tiny bits of signature hardware cast and finished in Greenpoint; and organic dye from a gal in Red Hook.

Graze the line and appreciate the details: strips of leather woven into shoulder straps, fringe trim that detaches for a bracelet, a small purse that can be wrapped and tied at the waist.

These are our prairie home companions.

Available at No. 6 Store, 6 Centre Market Place, between Broome and Grand Streets (212-226-5759 or no6store.com); Bird, 220 Smith Street, at Butler Street, Cobble Hill (718-797-3774 or shopbird.com).