About Andrea's Beau
Andrea has her family to thank for her love of design. As a little girl, lively family dinners with her grandfather (a dress manufacturer), her grandmother (a department store millinery buyer), her father (the owner of New York women's boutiques), and her mother (a fashion model and noted artist), exposed her to the world of aesthetics, color and textile trends, fashion houses and factory operations.
Andrea
Fairytale princesses in gossamer gowns, crowns and satin slippers served as the models for Andrea's earliest designs. Her mother further encouraged her to seek inspiration from everyday objects like a vase of daisies, a ballerina's costume, or a beautifully decorated cake.
In 1986, Andrea fell in love with an old roll of French floral ribbon, too pretty to resist, in a dusty shop. In her travels, she had seen marvelous hair decorations on women and girls from Tibet to Bora Bora to Guatemala to Tanzania. So she knew exactly what to do: adorn her own hair! And voilà! Her first creations materialized.
What started out as a mere ribbon romp exploded into an all-out hair decoration obsession. Within months, Andrea created a collection of women's headbands and clips made from irresistibly beautiful silk flowers, trims and ribbons from around the world. Soon thereafter, the birth of her beautiful daughter, Maria, inspired her to add a girls' collection comprised of unusual materials and quality not seen in the children's market. Andrea's Beau, a collection of truly unique hair ornaments, was ready to launch.
Tibet
Andrea carted her first collection, stored in a hatbox, to buying offices along the east coast. Often without appointments, she learned to simply "open the box" and let the products sell themselves. Rapidly, her items appeared in Neiman Marcus, Saks Fifth Avenue, Bergdorf Goodman and Nordstrom, as well as other former famous department stores including I. Magnin, Jacobson's, and Garfinkel's. Today, Andrea's Beau can be found in over 500 stores around the world.
"Exquisite ribbon, a silk flower, beaded trim, a passementerie tassel… each inspires me to create ornaments that delight not only the wearer, but all who see her. If my designs evoke a delighted ‘ahhh!,’ I'm happy."
— Andrea
