The Heirloom Collection

The heirloom collection is a line of bags started as a tribute to a gentleman by his daughter. Four years after the 2001 World Trade Center death of Michael San Phillip, his daughter Jill Abbott has created beautiful memories of his life using his "snappy" ties in the creation of 5 handbags for his wife, daughters, sister and granddaughter. See the New York Times article below for even more details of this story.

Heirloom Collection

Please email Molly about creating your own heirloom bag using ties, shirts, hankies, buttons, patches, medals, brooches or anything that has meaning to you.

This is also a great opportunity for you to make a donation to a charitable cause that is significant to you. A portion of the sale price of your creation will be donated in your name to the reputable charity of your choice. Clients are requested to provide all contact information. The prices are determined on a project by project basis.

Basic Heirloom Collection Sizes and Pricing
(please note all sizes are approximate)

 

Mini Tote (4 -5 ties):	7"W x 5"H x 2"D	$99
Small Tote (7 - 9 ties):	9"W x 8"H x 3"D	$139
Medium Tote (9 - 11 ties):	13"W x 10"H x 4"D	$159
Large Tote (11 - 13 ties):	15"W x 12"H x 5"D	$179

From New York Times METRO Tuesday, Sept. 13, 2005

Carrying an Echo Of a Lost Loved One On Their Sleeves

By ROBIN FINN

This is one daughter’s tweak of a traditional theme: Blessed be the ties that bind. In this case, the ties are tangible, made of silk, and there are 50. Some are silly, like the extremely green Kermit the Frog cravat. Some are three decades old. Many feature polka dots, their owner’s favorite pattern. One honors the Knicks. One is suffused with hearts. All have stories to tell. They once belonged to Jill S. Abbott’s father, Michael San Phillip, a Wall Street trader and tie aficionado, who died four years ago in the attack on the World Trade Center. Now, after a secret, surprise transformation intended to coincide with the fourth anniversary of 9/11, the ties have been fashioned into functional, vividly colorful purses so that her mother, her sister, her father’s sister and Ms. Abbott herself can carry an echo of someone close to their heart on their s1eeves.

“I wanted to create something positive out of something sad,” said Ms. Abbott, 38, who grew up in Ridgewood, N.J., and lives in Centreville, Del., where she coordinates events at the Winterthur estate. She came up with the notion of commissioning an artist to turn the ties into handbags after seeing “ribbon bags” made by Kate Beachell of Berwyn, Pa. The bags cost $75 to $150, but Ms. Beachell donated 20 percent of their cost to the charity of Ms. Abbott’s choice: a scholarship set up by her father’s classmates at the University of Pennsylvania, class of 1967.

She presented the gifts to her mother and sister on Saturday evening, and at the official ground zero ceremony on Sunday morning the three tearfully clutched their new totes- her sister, Carrie, loaded hers up with sunflowers, a preferred posy of their dad’s, to place at the south pond created for the occasion - as they heard their loved one’s name read aloud. They always attend. And blow him a kiss.

Mr. San Phillip, a vice president of Sandier O’Neill & Partners, worked on his firm’s trading desk on the 104th floor of the south tower. His remains were never found; only his wallet turned up, preserved now in a shadow box by his widow, Lynne. She saved his tie collection because, unlike the clothing she donated to charity after the closure-linked ordeal of closet cleaning, she could not part with it. Way too personal.

“He was so particular about his ties,” reminisced Ms. Abbott, whose purse includes a souvenir tie from a United States Open tennis tournament they attended together. “They were like his accent piece.”

When Ms. Abbott, who calls herself a female clone of her father - she shares his dark coloring and lighthearted outlook - asked if she could give the ties a new lease on life, and a new owner, her husband, her mother seemed almost relieved. But it was a very different recycling project that was actually put in motion.

The red and gold tie Mr. San Phillip wore to the office on Sept. 11, 2001? It was new-ish, and evoked no positive sentimental history. Just as well.