INSIDE

Just look at this season’s extravagant Habibati clutch, perhaps the most enticing example of the original Leiber MO – the brighter, the better. Take this bejeweled genie-in-a-bottle-style clutch to an evening event, and guests will be rubbing your accessory, less for the fabled three wishes promised and more for the thrill of getting their hands on $5,995 worth of pure glam.

Trying times

Leiber’s beginnings were far from a fairy tale, though. Judith Peto was born in 1921 in Budapest. She originally studied to be a chemist at London’s King College before World War II sent her home, where she learned to make handbags to earn money.

In Budapest, she became the first woman to join the handbag-makers guild and developed her passion, sure that the craft would become her career.

Leiber was fortunate enough to escape the Holocaust when her father obtained a Swiss schutzpass, granting a safe-conduct pass to Switzerland. Today, that document is on display at the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum in Washington D.C.

But Leiber lived in Switzerland desperately, albeit briefly, sharing a one-bedroom apartment with 25 other people. Eventually, she was able to return to her badly damaged home in Budapest, alive but with her spirit broken.

World War II, however, did bring Judith one gift. She met her husband, modern artist Gerson Leiber, who at the time was an American GI living in the apartment below hers. The two were married in 1946 and moved to America in 1948.

In New York, Judith worked in the handbag industry as chief pattern-maker for Nettie Rosenstein for 20 years before moving to Koret. As the story goes, Gerson recognized the true art value of his wife’s one-of-a-kind creations and told her he simply wouldn’t let her work for anyone else anymore. So in 1963, Judith Leiber, the brand, was born.

With no one to answer to, Leiber was able to evolve into a luxury accessories designer, learning to embellish a single purse with so much beading and rhinestones that it could take up to a week to make. The clutches were lavishly pricey and at the same time, artistic and unique (like a tomato minaudière). Because of this, Leiber developed a special and loyal fan base. She’s remained a Hollywood red carpet staple for more than half a century and in 1994 received a Lifetime Achievement Award from the Council of Fashion Designers.