Behind Every Fab Bag is a Bad-Ass Woman: Meet our MOXiE Muse, Ashley Longshore

It’s no secret that here at LOVE & MOXiE we strive for both our business and our handmade products to embody joy, a fierce sense of fabulousness and, well, moxie!

It goes without saying to personify all of these wonderful things, you’re more than likely going to need a little inspiration along the way. We proudly pull inspiration from an array of different areas— from designers, creative directors and our favorite runway pieces to cities, music, patterns, color. . . and last but certainly not least — badass women who embody the true definition of moxie.

Without a doubt, we could pump out a list of these women running longer than your last receipt from CVS. However, for times sake, we’ve narrowed down our series to our top five favorite ladies and all the subpurbness they encapsulate. Through their work, books, entrepreneurial spirit, ambition, advice, and everything in between, they constantly carry themselves with overwhelming confidence, a sense of humor and the ability to constantly overcome adversity.

With the perfect cocktail of creativity, admiration, and just enough caffeine, we’ve developed five one-of-a-kind handbags for each of our MOXiE muses - Iris Apfel, Tracee Ellis Ross, Jenna Lyons, Ashley Longshore, and Natasha Lyonne - not only in celebration of these five lovely ladies, but our 7th birthday as a small business! As my mother Renée is none other than the original MOXiE muse, we were thrilled to incorporate her spunky little self throughout this campaign as she embodies each of our muses.

All in all, we’re over the moon grateful for their outspoken charisma that sparks inspiration here at L&M on the daily, and we hope these bags do the same for you (and maybe them), too!

ASHLEY LONGSHORE

Swiping the fabulous, forth spot in our MOXiE muse series is none other than Ashley Longshore. As a self-taught artist with a personality as vivacious as her pieces, Ashley has always inspired us big time when it comes to our creative process and living colorfully.

Described as “Fashion’s Latest Art Darling” by the New York Times, Ashley has undoubtedly made a big splash in far more than just her original stomping grounds of the New Orleans art scene, with work featured in publications such as Forbes, Elle, and Vogue. In a nutshell, her work is brilliantly colorful, bright, and simply badass . . . we can’t get enough!

“None of us is perfect. We all make mistakes. And we're all trying to make sense of this business of living."

While we’re not only ob-sessed with her insane portfolio of pieces, we’re equally as in love with her irreverent sense of humor, drive and determination, and her audacious sense of self. Just like us, she believes in the power of women, the magic of color and creativity, and she is constantly inspiring us to keep creating and living boldly.

There was no doubt that any bag personifying Ashley was going to be bright, vibrant, and unapologetically sassy. We chose to make the exterior out of a groovy pink dress we upcycled. Paying homage to one of our favorite books of her’s, we decided this bag needed a little extra flair, calling for the tedious bedazzling of her infamous title, “I do not cook, I do not clean, I do not fly commercial.”

When designing this bag we knew Ashley would need herself a "party-size" tote for all the on-the-go essentials, decking this fab lil bag with chunky gold hardware that makes for an adjustable strap length. With metallic gold drop lining to match and denim interior, there was no question that engraving “f**k yes” felt oh-so Ashley . . . especially since she's signed these exact words in each of our books of hers . . . and yes, we have ALL of her books!

“You've got to want it so badly you never stop pushing yourself. Sometimes to the point of madness.”

While I unfortunately can’t say the same about our 4 other MOXiE muses, I have actually had the pleasure of meeting Ashley here in Savannah, Georgia. She’s as absolutely fabulous as I expected, so gracious as she signed all of my books and I told her about my mother’s Alzheimer’s and how she’s recently tried her hand at painting, heavily inspired by none other than her own Audrey Hepburn paintings (which she loved)! She is truly big-hearted, genuine, and actively supportive of the creative community. We can’t wait to see what she does next. . . hopefully with our bag in hand! ;)

Since Ashley has been a tad busy with her new gallery opening in NYC, who better than the original MOXiE muse herself to step in and model this fabulous bag!?

Although we hate to sound like a broken record, we truly cannot express our gratitude enough to each and every one of you as we celebrate our seventh year in business here at LOVE & MOXiE. When my mother was diagnosed with Alzheimer's, we started this business in hopes to both raise awareness and truly live life to the fullest as we began to navigate this together.

While being a small business in this day and age isn’t easy — especially while tackling the occasional medical hurdle or whatever Mercury in retrograde throws our way — we’re still kickin’ thanks to your support! We’re so thankful for this journey and all it’s taught us — that you can truly accomplish anything you set your mind to, pivoting and starting over at any age is no set back, and with the right concoction of grace, style, humor, and a dash of moxie, you can get through anything. We equally appreciate that each of our muses have solidified these lessons along the way and keep us inspired.

Looking back, we’re thrilled to have been able to donate over $6,000 toward Alzheimer’s charities and grow personal relationships with our customers through custom pieces. There is truly no better feeling than being able to give somebody’s sentimental piece a second life. All the more, we’re excited for all the fab things to come and hope you’ll stick along for the ride, we couldn’t do it without YOU!

Wanna stay in the loop? Sign-up for all the deets on our next MOXiE muse drop. You're not gonna wanna miss it. . .

Cheers! Danielle & Renée

More MOXiE muses? Take me there!

“Life is a banquet, and most poor suckers are starving to death!” … life is short, live with moxie!