Cathy Kwart isn’t finished paying tribute to her cousin who died of AIDS. She named her store for him, and now she is sponsoring a fundraiser to benefit the Whitman Walker clinic.
Kwart’s cousin, Steven Kaufman moved from Baltimore to Fort Lauderdale, Fla. He had an idea for a marketing campaign and brought Kwart in with him. “At the time, I was a graphic designer,” Kwart said.
Kwart’s job in the project was to design a logo around the slogan “Fort La De Da, Fla De Da.” Kaufman, who Kwart describes as her best friend, died in 1990, before the project got started. A few years later, in 1996, Kwart left the graphic design business. “So when I stopped being a graphic designer, I opened the store,” Kwart said.
Thus, the Potomac village shop La De Da was born. “I named it after him,” Kwart said.
Now, she is going to continue to pay tribute to her cousin and best friend with her shop. On April 24, three women who design purses will be at La De Da, and a portion of the sale of the bags will go to Whitman Walker. “I just thought it would be a nice vehicle for these women and do something for the AIDS community,” Kwart said. “Whitman-Walker is one of my favorites.”
The designers will be in the store throughout the day, and will possibly be able to discuss custom designing handbags for interested customers, Kwart said.
She chose the three because of the differences in their work. “I like to promote women artists,” Kwart said. “Their work is incredibly diverse, so people would have a lot of different things to choose from.”
“I think it’s great,” said Jennifer Baum Lagdameo, one of the designers. Baum Lagdameo’s handbags are made from leather or the traditional Philippine fabric, Abaca. Abaca fibers are stripped from the bark of a tree and woven together.
She started her company with two partners while living in the Philippines. “We were inspired by the natural material of the Philippines where we were both living,” she said.
Potomac resident Lee Gorsky will also have some handbags in the show. Her bags feature things like semi-precious stones, feathers and freshwater pearls. “I do like to do things for charitable organizations,” Gorsky said. “I like to support the community.
Gorsky handmakes each of her bags, and takes frequent trips to New York to check out the current trends. “I try to be fashion forward with them,” Gorsky said.
Also taking part will be a Chevy Chase based company, epurses.biz. This designer creates cigar box purses with an array of different features from mirrors to monograms.
Kwart thinks this is the perfect time to hold such a fund-raiser. “It’s an opportunity to buy their mothers a bag before Mother’s Day,” she said.