Photos courtesy of La Dentelliere
A Scarsdale boutique is the only place you’ll find repurposed Hermès products made by a philanthropic mother-daughter duo from the Midwest.
La Dentelliere in Scarsdale is known for its high-quality, internationally sourced gifts for the person who has it all. Among the items you’ll find there are fun, luxe, colorful accessories for summer, some of which can only be found at La Dentelliere — including hair scrunchies, headbands, cosmetic bags, and keychains made from Hermès scarves by a mother-daughter duo from Iowa. Despite Carrie Bradshaw’s vehement opposition to the 1990s hair accessory, scrunchies are omnipresent of late, and these are a chic upgrade.
La Dentelliere’s owner, Michelle Anderson, met Debra Jordan and her daughter, Tori Willis, at a trade show in Atlanta and decided that her European-themed Scarsdale boutique would be the ideal retailer for these unique accessories.
A few years ago, Willis was at a fox hunt, wearing a Hermès scarf around her neck when she fell into a ravine and tore the scarf. She asked Jordan if she could salvage it — and her mom did just that, transforming the tattered scarf into designer scrunchies. Willis’ friends loved them, so the two began making them for friends, sourcing vintage scarves from the internet and later attending trade shows and polo matches to share them. They eventually captured the attention of the Hermès brand itself. According to Willis and Jordan, the Hermès brand approved their repurposing of the scarves, though they are not sold in any of the French luxury-goods manufacturer’s stores, because half of the proceeds from sales go to The Right Track: A Thoroughbred Advocacy Alliance, an Iowa-based nonprofit that cares for retired thoroughbred horses. Willis and Jordan currently have a small horse farm in central Iowa, and Hermès originally sold saddlery, so their combined efforts on behalf of horses seems especially fitting. Now, the two source scarves nationally and from France to continue their equine philanthropy. Anderson shares that through purchases of the accessories, they have funded a surgical procedure for one horse and are in the process of raising funds for a second horse.