Get Your Hands on Hathaway Hutton’s Clutches Made From Vintage Canvas Totes
Founder Jen Risk is also repurposing vintage workwear into sweet but sturdy jackets.
Photograph by Breanne Furlong
For Hathaway Hutton founder Jen Risk — the force behind those cult-favorite pool dresses made from vintage designer towels — the beauty of being a one-woman show is that it allows her to follow her instinct. “The second something starts to become really popular is around the time I lose interest,” says Risk, who launched the brand out of her Wayne home in 2017. “I think it’s because I find trends to be boring.”
Her latest muses: vintage workwear that she’s repurposing into her sweet but sturdy Birdie jackets and her Jerry clutches.
Let’s start with those Birdie jackets: Risk’s process begins with sanitation and power-washing of the original jackets — she says they’ve never seen a bar of soap — and then she deconstructs them, removing the collars (“because man neck”) and salvaging other components. Then they are rebuilt: It takes multiple jackets to create one new design with flared sleeves, a pleated back, a slightly cropped silhouette, and a handmade navy velvet bow for good measure. For the summer, she’s shipped these beauties off to the Veronica Beard stores in Jackson Hole, Wyoming, and Aspen, Colorado — you can call either shop to get yours.
As for those Jerry clutches? She’s custom-making these out of canvas totes or those madras dresses you wore in college. They’ve been wildly popular — the first drop, launched in the spring, sold out in a snap. Lucky for you, the second pre-order launch goes live this month. You’ll be able to order the clutch of your dreams — and it will be in your hands in four to six weeks.
Jacket, $2,375, and bag, $1,485; hathawayhutton.com.
Published as “Work It” in the May 2026 issue of Philadelphia magazine.
