Bess & Loie

Mireya Acierto

Bess & Loie

1015 W. Lake, 312-226-2247

April 13, 2007

ALLYSON HOLLEB’S OBSESSION with bags started in 1997, when she went to Paris for the year: she couldn’t always fit into clothes sized for little French women, so she sated her consumer lust with accessories. Now she has so many bags that her own mother refers to her as Imelda. A former buyer for Eileen Fisher’s retail stores in New York, she opened Bess & Loie last week to feed other people’s jones for arm candy. Named after her grandmothers, the former bakery-equipment shop is furnished with old family photos, vintage suitcases, and even some of her ancestors’ furniture, and the kitchen is stocked with free snacks and drinks for browsers. Holleb doesn’t pay too much attention to designer labels (“Who cares, as long as you like it,” she says), so while she does carry an unusual bright blue pear-shaped leather bag by buzzy Brooklyn label Hayden-Harnett, you’ll also find a log-shaped white leather specimen decorated with stripes and a metal eagle by the relatively unknown Laura Matthews Designs and roomy, rope-handled totes made from old sails by Maine’s Sea Bags. The small jewelry collection includes simple necklaces with cloisonne pendants and semiprecious stones by local designer Joann Lysiak. The bags run from $200 to $800 and the jewelry tops out at $250. Holleb’s also planning to stock men’s accessories, like ties and cufflinks, and has considered expanding into shoes—“but then I’d have to deal with sizing and all that.” —Heather Kenny

Belmont Army Lakeview 855 W. Belmont	Phaiz West Town 673 N. Milwaukee	Andersonville Galleria Andersonville 5247 N. Clark	2 Sisters West Loop 1167 W. Madison
Golden Age Pilsen 1500 W. 17th	Pivot West Town 1101 W. Fulton	Charlotte Russe Loop 10 S. State	Renegade Handmade Wicker Park 1924 W. Division
Gray Old Town 1361 N. Wells	Florodora South Loop 330 S. Dearborn	A.Okay Official Lakeview 3720 N. Clark	Intermix Gold Coast 40 E. Delaware
Bess & Loie West Loop 1015 W. Lake	Gamma Player Wicker Park 2035 W. Division	Malabar Bucktown 1880 N. Damen	Mia Mora Logan Square 2639 W. Fullerton
Roslyn Bucktown 2035 N. Damen	Ouest West Loop 1063 W. Madison	Kaveri Lincoln Park 1211 W. Webster	Lissa on Maxwell University Village 729 W. Maxwell
TK Men Bucktown 1909 W. North	MNG by Mango Downtown Water Tower Place	Doggy Style Pet Shop Wicker Park 2023 W. Division	Sweden Shop Albany Park 3304 W. Foster
Permanent Records Ukranian Village 1914 W. Chicago	Michelle Tan Wicker Park 1872 N. Damen	Akira Bucktown 1814 W. North

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