Bembien is a line of accessories handmade by artisans around the world.

It was a woman in a white linen dress who started it all. We caught a glimpse of her crossing a cobblestoned street in New York and on her shoulder swung a perfect, woven basket bag. It stopped us in our tracks. There was something about her that was so effortless — she looked as though she had stepped out of 1970s coastal France.

We were transfixed.

It was then that founder Yi-Mei Truxes was inspired to create a line of bags evoking that same nostalgia and perennial style. It had to be just right, and six years at Vogue had trained her well. She eventually found it in a small village of artisan weavers in Bali. And thus, Bembien was born.