Gilt trips: Fashionista's global quest for unique accessories
Fashion entrepreneur scours the world for the most unique accessories, writes Gemma Soames
"most beautiful" in ancient Greek, says Sasha Dennig, referring to the name of her online boutique. "It seemed apt, because that's what I'm trying to find when I travel. I'm simply looking for the most beautiful things."
It's a quest that takes the 31-year-old everywhere from Athens to Istanbul, India to Australia, in search of the jewellery, accessories and homewares she sells from Hong Kong, delivering an exotic selection to her growing fan base.
Dennig used to be a corporate lawyer. Fed up with the long hours and office life, in 2008 she quit her job, packed her bags and went travelling. "I found myself in India, and my mum asked if I could get 100 pashminas for her friend who has a shop. So I went off, got together my first little package and sent it to my mother, making something like US$5,000 out of it. I thought to myself, 'That's not bad, you know.'"
From there, she slowly expanded, mostly bespoke sourcing for individuals and retailers. "I was based in Asia at the time, kind of bouncing around. I was seeing a man who lived in Singapore, who then became my husband, and I just thought I could make money from this while I [figured] out what I wanted to do.
"It was from there that the idea came to me of having a website selling things that were specific to a place and had a story to them. I wanted to give people who can't travel or lack the patience to go through markets access to these amazing products."
Two years on from the launch of her website, a treasure trove of those products, all categorised by their country of origin, Dennig finds herself in an office above the fashion boutique Edit on Hollywood Road, where she has also been collaborating since February with Genevieve Chew, the shop's owner.
Chew sources the clothing from hip, mid-range brands such as Antipodium, Emma Cook and Francis Leon, while Dennig takes care of the accessories. There are brightly coloured beads from South Korea, antique metal-cast lace from Athens, alpaca blankets from Peru, Rajput-inspired collections from India, python bags from Bali and Turkish chandelier earrings.