Fancy a taste of the mystic of the East?

... handbag beaded with flowers and vines, totes encrusted with butterfly embroidery, or even adorned with glimmering coloured sequins, the EastHaven’s designs make it a strong contender in the designer bag fashion market.

All materials are sewn with care and will add chic and sparkle to your office professional attire, casual wear or evening dress. With its limited pieces available for each design and colour, it brings you the individuality and exclusivity of the product, while promises a distinctive and unforgettable Asiatic style to the whole being ... <more>

Do you know when was bag first 'invented'?
Egyptian hieroglyphs show pouches/bags carried around the waist! (The first known example of hieroglyphic writing in ancient Egypt was discovered on bone and ivory tags, pottery vessels and clay seal impressions discovered in a pre-dynastic tomb in Abydos. The deposits are dated to between 3400 and 3200 B.C.)

Clutches: Small hand-carry bags without a handle or straps.
Doctor’s bags: Long, with slightly rounded edges. They resemble the doctor’s bags of old days.
Drawstrings: Bags with string woven through a series of eyelets at the top of the bag. The top of the bag closes when the strings are pulled.
Evening bags: Small bags in fabric such as velvet and silk to give it a rich shine and a more formal look. Best appearance in functions or formal gatherings.
Hobos: Bags that come in a small, crescent shape that you can swing over your shoulder.
Satchels: Large bag having a triangular side profile, with small handle that is carried on arm rather than on the shoulder.
Shoulder bags: Bags that have long straps to sling over the shoulder.
Totes: Bags that have short to medium handles, which are used to carry a variety of items from documents to gym gear.

Ancient paintings, sculptures, and literary sources indicate that embroidery was applied to clothing and other fabrics from extremely early times. Evidence shows that Ancient Egyptians, Babylonians, Phoenicians and Hebrews used embroidery for decorating their robes.


Different areas of the globe devised their own peculiar embroidery style.

Egyptians practiced white embroidery. Using only white thread on a white ground, the earliest works contained skill and details that few today can emulate.

India also practised Whitework - its workers were so skilled that the needle doesn't pierce through to the back but splits the ground threads. The resultant embroidery is entirely on the surface. Unfortunately, the prior skill of the Chikan embroiderers has been lost with the changing economies, for it is believed that workers must be trained from a young age. This training is no longer occurring. But India, and this region, is still producing very fine embroideries for export.

China perfected the art of two-sided embroideries - some of which take several years to complete. Done entirely in silk,on one side may be a tiger, and the reverse may be a leopard or lion. Asian embroideries exemplify art, spirituality, and culture through needle and thread, with strict adherence to technique and refined stitches.

Although experts disagree as to the precise origins of batik, samples of dye resistance patterns on cloth can be traced back 1,500 years ago to Egypt and the Middle East. Samples have also been found in Turkey, India, China, Japan and West Africa from past centuries. Although in these countries people were using the technique of dye resisting decoration, within the textile realm, none have developed batik to its present day art form as the highly developed intricate batik found on the island of Java in Indonesia.

Natural materials such as cotton or silk are used for the cloth, so that it can absorb the wax that is applied in the dye resisting process. The fabrics must be of a high thread count (densely woven), so that the intricate design qualities of batik can be maintained. Although the art form of batik is very intricate, the tools that are used are still very simple. The canting, believed to be a purely Javanese invention, is a small thin wall spouted copper container that is connected to a short bamboo handle. The copper container is filled with melted wax and the artisan then uses the canting to draw the design on the cloth.


Traditional colors for Central Javanese batik were made from natural ingredients and consisted primarily of beige, blue, brown and black.

Modern batik artisans are no longer dependent on traditional natural dyes, as chemical dyes can produce any color that they wish to achieve. However, modern batik still utilizes canting and cap to create intricate designs.

The horizon of batik is continuing to widen. Now, not only is batik used as a material to clothe the human body, its uses also include furnishing fabrics, heavy canvas wall hangings, tablecloths and household accessories. Fine quality handmade batik is very expensive and the production of such works is very limited. However, in a world that is dominated by machines there is an increasing interest in materials that have been handmade. Batik is one of these materials.

Your support of the batik industry will also ensure that this art form grows to even greater peaks. Get one of our mini-tote made from batik, to appreciate this tradition fine art.