Style Profile: Ratmusque'

Sometime last month, while debating whether to buy an owl-printed tunic at Silver Lake's Matrushka Construction, I spotted a darling little purse handpainted with girls and flowers and other loveliness that reminded me very much of one of our most favorite illustrators, Miss Anke Weckmann. After writing the label name on my thumb, I headed home to find the designer on MySpace and send her love messages and ask her to be our friend (which is how everything's done these days, you know). Here's what I found out.

Ratmusque' is the project of Francesca Montanari, a graphic designer/artist/illustrator who lives in the Italian countryside but spends lots of time in L.A. so she can hang out with her boyfriend (hi, this is totally my dream life). She makes hats, purses, clothing, and accessories, which she began doing five years ago "as a joke." Francesca says: "A friend of mine was making purses and one came out wrong. I took it and put it on my head and made a hat of it. Turned out it was really fun to make hats and people liked them, so I decided to continue and give it a chance."

Francesca works mostly with vintage and second-hand pieces because, she tells us, she likes the idea of recycling (yay, so do we!). She's going to be opening up an online store soon, but for now you can buy her stuff at Mastrushka and Show Pony (in Echo Park). Non-L.A. ladies can contact Francesca through her MySpace page.

Some Ratmusque' purses we totally heart:

Francesca also designs posters for shows; we're especially fond of this one for Broken Social Scene: