It was the unique handbags in the window display that lured me into the elegant Santa Monica boutique, Arm Candy, but it was owner Lynn Plummer and her infectious passion about her work and personal connection to all the designers that made me want to stay. And buy handbags.
“I always wanted to be in fashion,” says Plummer, who also recognized she also had a practical tendency. “I like to analyze things,” she adds.
Her well-harmonized left brain/right brain has served her well in her new endeavor as owner of the charming Santa Monica shop. In fact, as I listened to Plummer’s genuine warmth and affability, I understood that along with a keen sense of style and fashion, she had equal conviction rooted firmly in values of personal reasonability.
Plummer shared with me her background and what led up to her decision to open Arm Candy.
“When I was a kid,” she admitted, “I would pretend to sell things in my house, to whoever would listen.” Her early sales pitches perhaps foretold her future major in Apparel Merchandising at Indiana University.
From her first job as a buyer at Target, Plummer landed a position at Abercrombie & Fitch, but as much as she was groomed “to be a tough girl and climb the corporate ladder,” she realized that work could also be fun and rewarding. She headed for the West Coast for a more relaxed environment. In Los Angeles she got a job at Oliver Peoples, a luxury eyeglasses retailer.
“I’m ready to take on many roles,” she soon realized, where she might be more genuine and involved with something that she could really relate to. “What am I passionate about, what would be really heartfelt for me?” are the questions she asked herself.
During this time, she saved and put up all her life savings and saved some more.
Frustrated with the situation of the U.S. economy, her first requirement was to only sell American-made merchandise. She consciously has chosen to support only America-based artisans, seeing this as a strong commitment to sustainability and economic growth.
She also knew she wanted to work with independent designers rather than corporations.
“The last piece of the puzzle,” she concluded, of how she came to chart her course, was to determine the product. “I’m not a shoe girl. I’m not a jewelry girl.”
Now handbags on the other hand—“There is so much personality! It’s what you have with you every day.” She explains the specific types of requirements women have for their bag: weight and size, pockets and zippers, a practical or traffic-stopping.
“I try to ignore the trends,” says Plummer, of the designers and bags she chooses for her shop, “It’s either functional or amazing, based on the feeling or fit.”
Plummer then led me on a guided tour of each designer around the store, explaining what makes each one distinctive and exceptional in their field.
Nina Perrera uses vintage frames. Clara Kasavina is a husband and wife team incorporating his fine crystal work and her leatherwork. Lui Antinous, from New York, derives his inspiration from art deco and seashells. Plummer notes as she models a Lui Antinous, “It decorates you,” she demonstrates.
Hammitt, a quintessential L.A. company, Plummer tells me, is flawless with perfect construction to last forever. Hammitt has cleverly and aptly named their various styles after different L.A. neighborhoods with distinctly different “vibes,” including the “True Blood” limited edition.
Plummer also carries Arza, an Israeli artist who plays with geometric shapes; Julie K, very wearable popular bags; and my favorite, Dean. Also an L.A. company, Dean creates clean modern shapes with a vintage feel from supple leather that is hard to resist.
I may have found the perfect bag.
“It’s rewarding when you link the person to that magic bag—what a fantastic life,” she beams.
Arm Candy, 2717 Main Street, between Ashland Avenue and Hill Street, Santa Monica, Calif. (310-392-7492 or bagsrcandy.com).
