Her fortune and interest are in her handbags

Museum exhibit proves unique style is timeless.
KNIGHT RIDDER NEWSPAPERS
PHILADELPHIA -- Judith Leiber pulls six handbags from deep inside her Manhattan bedroom's walk-in closet. One black, two brown, two more black, their gilded chains and leather straps neatly tucked under gold clasps.
That's surprising. Shouldn't there be a jewel-encrusted clutch somewhere in the personal collection of this renowned handbag designer-to-the-stars? Where is the ladybug covered in red rhinestones and dotted with onyx? The famed multicolored pig? The leather windowpane clutch inspired by painter Piet Mondrian?
Leiber, dressed all in black, laughs quietly. Her 85-year-old eyes are the only things sparkling in the room. Her own functional baubles have been ransacked by curators for museum exhibits, including "Fashioning Art: Handbags by Judith Leiber," which opened recently at Pennsylvania's James A. Michener Art Museum.
"I'm very fortunate," Leiber says of the traveling exhibit, which started out at the Corcoran Gallery of Art in Washington four years ago and ended its tour in New Hope, Pa., on April 30.
The show honors Leiber's 35 years as a business owner, and -- much like the Metropolitan Museum of Art's homage to another living fashion legend, Iris Barrel Apfel -- it proves that a unique style is timeless.
Leiber's purses, 160 in all, are grouped by theme in the Michener-New Hope's 1,800-square-foot Carol & amp; Louis Della Penna Gallery. Presented in 18 glass cases, many of the bags look as if they were crafted last month, rather than 20 or 30 years ago.
As soon as you enter, the double-bow closings and specially gilded pull-down locks on a grouping of alligator and snakeskin "everyday" bags hit you.
A case of sophisticated black evening bags includes one with numbers "007" in silver rhinestones. And there are bags shaped like Faberge eggs, squatting Buddhas, polar bears, and elephants.
Bare essentials
Her favored "minaudieres," or precious miniatures, resemble slices of yellow and pink watermelon, tomatoes and asparagus. Some have glittering pillboxes to match. These bags are dainty -- just big enough for a lipstick, a credit card, and a $100 bill. Leiber says: "When going out at night, a woman doesn't need anything else. You don't have to put your whole life in your purse."
Leiber was born Judith Peto in Budapest, Hungary. She wanted to study chemistry at a London college and hoped to make women's skin creams, but World War II prevented her from leaving Hungary. Instead, she became the first woman to join the Hungarian Handbag Guild, where she honed the intricate skills of her craft, including making the prototypes from start to finish.
In 1946, she married a GI, Gerson Leiber, and the next year the couple moved to New York. Judith worked for several handbag companies until 1963, when she invested $5,000 in her own business. One of her early customers was Mamie Eisenhower, wife of the former president.
Mistake pays off
"I started making metal bags because I thought that ladies spent too much time running back and forth to the bank picking up evening bags made of solid gold," Leiber explains, her accent still strong. "The first one I designed came in (from the manufacturers) so badly, I had to put rhinestones on it. It turned out to be a good mistake."
That bag, the chatelaine, became Leiber's favorite piece and her signature bag (it's still in production). Back then, the purse cost about $100. Today, a Leiber bag can run anywhere from $700 to $7,000.
The designer is known for her meticulousness and low-key personality. While at the helm of her company, she regularly worked 18-hour days, producing five collections a year and 100 handbags. She has designed more than 4,000.
In 1993, the Leibers sold the company to Time Products, a British watch firm. Judith stayed on as president and chief executive officer while Time Products opened a Madison Avenue boutique and launched a line of Leiber accessories. (Until then, her bags were available only at department and specialty stores.) She retired in 1998.
Worth celebrating
A few weeks ago, on her 85th birthday, Leiber sat in the living room of her Park Avenue penthouse, sipping water. She said she was excited by her longevity in the business, but slightly dismayed by today's handbag fashions. If it were up to her, women would definitely follow stricter fashion rules.
"Everything we made was to enhance a woman's costume," Leiber said. "Today, people don't do that. They put belts, buckles, rhinestones on very large bags. Even day bags. It just doesn't make sense."