Reading: CoveyClub’s Collection of this Season’s Best Gifts

Whether you’re looking for something to give to others, or to spoil yourself, CoveyClub has some great finds, most of which come from female designers or entrepreneurs. 

Spoil Your Healthy Eater With An Exotic Olive Oil Subscription

Get some of the best olive oil directly from local farmers in the Sabina region outside of Rome, while helping to keep independent growers in business. Julia Franchi Scarelli and her father Camillo discovered the region, and the fragility of the family-owned olive groves, when Camillo moved from Milan to Sabina. When you order a subscription from Libellula, which means “dragonfly” in English, you choose a producer and learn how your money will help sustain that farm. Each subscription box includes a 375 ml bottle of Classico Extra Virgin Olive Oil, and a 375 ml bottle of Riserva, currently from fall 2020. The subscription includes a golden spout for pouring, a book of Italian recipes, and newsletters about the region and its growers. You can also order single bottles. Prices start at $8 for a mini 50 ml of Classico olive oil and go up to $134 for a 3 L can. The regular 375 ml bottles of Classico and Riserva sell for $32 and $36, respectively. Monthly subscription $68, including free shipping.

Share Wonderful Wines Made By Women

When wine-industry veteran Amy Bess Cook became frustrated observing the lack of knowledge about female vintners, she launched WOW, short for www.womanowned.wine. The website started off as a directory of some 700 female-owned wineries. Now, it offers a wine subscription club with various delivery options, including a one-time choice. Shipments include three bottles of wine from a single winery for $107, or three bottles of only red wine for $109. Shipping is $25 but the fee is waived if you sign up for an annual subscription. There’s also an option for six bottles: two bottles each of different wines from a single winery for $199 plus $30 for shipping (fee also waived with subscription).

Bitters And Cordials For the Craft Mocktail or Cocktail Aficionado

El Guapo owner Christa Cotton makes a mean cocktail, but one that’s super simple, too. She adds some of El Guapo’s Rose Cordial to sparkling wine or champagne and the result is a light, fanciful and delicious beverage. Cotton hails from Georgia, where she learned about distribution thanks to her family’s real estate business anchoring major regional supermarkets. She then helped her family found the 13th Colony Distillery, the first one in Georgia since Prohibition, an experience which fueled her knowledge of the spirits industry. Following business school at Auburn, Cotton moved to New Orleans and worked in advertising, specializing in hospitality and entertainment. She had the opportunity to buy the El Guapo bitters company trademark in 2017, and founded the New Orleans Beverage Group. El Guapo products are zero-proof, non-GMO, free of high fructose corn syrup, gluten-free, and, notably, the bitters are sugar-free. El Guapo offers 11 flavors of bitters priced at $19.99 for 4 oz, 12 cordials starting at $14 for 8.5 oz, and five mixers, $12.99 for 16.5 oz. The most popular bitters? The chicory pecan flavor, using pecans grown on Cotton’s uncle’s farm! Products can be purchased individually, in sets, or even in subscription packages. www.elguapobitters.com

Surprise Those Who Order In — With Stylish Chopsticks

Ordering food for take-out or delivery became routine during the dark days of COVID, and it’s a habit that few are giving up. Grab this set of six bright, colorful chopsticks in bamboo and beechwood, $40, for your favorite foodie. They come from Hay, a Danish design company, manufacturer, and retailer founded by married couple Mette and Rolf Hay. Honestly, everything from Hay — furniture, lighting, and home accessories — is delightful. Clean, simple design executed in a wide variety of colors, from neutrals and pastels to bold brights. It’s soothing to just peruse the Hay website. With MillerKnoll (formerly Herman Miller) now owning a majority stake in Hay, we can expect the company to have a bigger presence in the US. Note that the chopsticks, designed by Scholte and Baijings, can be delivered faster by ordering from New York’s Museum of Modern Art store.

For That Creative Director or Wannabe: A History of Women in Design

International arts publisher Phaidon and luxury group Kering (Gucci, Yves Saint Laurent…) just released this stunning, comprehensive guide to female product designers. Written by Jane Hall, the book showcases the work of more than 200 designers from the beginning of the 20th century to present day. Alongside the book’s launch, Phaidon and Kering created www.thewomanmade.com, an online platform that features content and programming regarding women in design, as well as a registry of designers. Kering has gone a step further and created a scholarship program that will award up to $25,000 to a female design student studying at an accredited American university. Book, $59.95

For the Handbag Hoarder With A Conscience: Biodegradable Faux Leather 

OK, so still on the subject of female industrial designers, I was very excited to discover the B2C collection of bags, small accessories, and home accents, all made in sustainable faux leather from Vicki Von Holzhausen. One of the materials, Technik-Leather, was developed by Von Holzhausen herself; it contains a proprietary additive allowing the material to biodegrade in a landfill within three to five years. Von Holzhausen is an award-winning car designer and has worked with Audi and Mercedes Benz, among other high-end automobile companies. Upon her return to her hometown of Los Angeles, Von Holzhausen wanted to work in lifestyle products while applying her technical expertise in design. Prices start at $20 for a set of four coasters and go up to $495 for a large bucket or shopper bag. The collection is sold exclusively on the brand’s website to avoid middlemen and higher pricing.

For the Person Who Loses Everything

Los Angeles–based designer and former stylist Agnes Baddoo launched her signature collection of leather goods in 2013 after her favorite bag of her mother’s could not withstand yet another repair. Today, the Agnes Baddoo range — from small key holders to large totes — is defined by simple and elegant design, with many items boasting visible stitching, a nod to her dedication to hand-making her goods in Los Angeles and New York. Like a jeweler, Baddoo offers many of her pieces in suites, which is nice when you want to take a card case or cosmetics bag out of your tote and it’s all matching. Baddoo’s designs are also practical. The glasses/smartphone holder with a credit card slit, $95, is a great gift for those hard-to-shop-for young adults who will love the rainbow of colors they come in. Prices start at $25 for a leather barrette and go upwards of $800 for large handbags. Take note: many items need to be pre-ordered, so just in case, get your printer ready for a gift certificate.

Extraordinary Estate Jewelry for the Collector in Your Life

Imagine using the same smarts to manage an investment portfolio to create a personal jewelry collection. That’s exactly what Tiina Smith did, looking at and researching vintage pieces the same way her finance career trained her to do. Smith turned that passion and know-how to a vintage luxury jewelry business and opened her first boutique in 2016. Smith’s boutique (just moved to Boston’s posh Newbury Street) is really more like a gallery, featuring jewelry from the Edwardian era to present day. She also has a few custom pieces made for her store, including the stunning two-inch black diamond teardrop earrings with diamond crossover and tassel details. Prices start at roughly $5,000. 

For Your Observant Traveler: A Menorah On the Go That’s a Game to Boot 

It’s a game! It’s a festival of lights! Either way, it’s beautiful. The brightly colored pieces designed by Laura Cowan are made of anodized aluminum and are handily packaged with travel in mind. The Jewish Museum in New York stocks this in the rainbow colors above, and in turquoise or cobalt and silver. Have you ever tried to travel with a traditional menorah? I don’t think so. Cowan, now based in Tel Aviv, started her design career after graduating in Silversmithing and Jewellery at London Guildhall University. While Cowan specializes in Judaica, many of the pieces found on her website would work well for any table, any time, including the twisted ribbon honey dipper in steel, or the sleek and soothing Moon Path candle holder in mirror-polished aluminum. Menorah, $95.

For the Great Entertainers in Your Life

Stephanie Nass is a caterer, designer and influencer. Yes, the word “influencer” can throw all of us off, but nonetheless Nass has created a beautiful website offering home goods and table top accessories along with recipes, tips for hosting, and her catering services. If you can’t host a party in or near New York City, you can still embellish your home and table in the stylish way Nass does. She’s got everything from fur earrings and real pasta straws to colorful stemware and elaborately carved candle tapers. And even if we don’t like to iron, we like her little linen cocktail napkins, embroidered with elegant, whimsical or holiday-inspired themes, a perfect gift for someone who entertains. Nass also offers custom-embroidered dinner napkins in a set of 12 for $384. Prices start at $12 for 3.3 oz of Mom’s Dry Rub to $1,600 for a mink-lined handbasket using fur remnants from New York’s garment district.

For Music and Memoir Lovers

New album? Check. Concert tickets? You got it. Memoir? Published last spring. We can’t get enough of Carlile, and neither can anyone else. Her November performance of Joni Mitchell’s Blue album sold out New York’s Carnegie Hall, and her Broken Horses memoir, detailing her difficult childhood and exploration of her own sexuality, among other subjects, debuted in first place on the New York Times best seller list last April. Carlile’s voice is like silk velvet — rich and smooth with a slow vibrato that lingers in the air and in your mind. This winner of six Grammy awards should have a place in your ears and on your bookshelves. Book, $28. Album, $7.99 on Apple Music.

For An Outrageous Outdoors Game Night (Or Day)

We all got used to doing things outdoors these past two years, so why stop now? Jenga, the wooden block tower game, introduced some giant sizes that are perfect for playing outdoors. The cardboard XXL Gigantic edition, $299, can tower over eight feet high, while the Jenga Giant version in hardwood ($119.99) climbs up to roughly five feet. Jenga was invented by Tanzanian-born game inventor Leslie Scott, based on games she played with her brother’s building blocks. It was officially launched in the early 1980s. The word “jenga,” which means “build” in Swahili, harkens back to her childhood in West and East Africa. 

For the Luxe Lounger in Your Life

Some have made the transition out of baggy sweatpants. For those who haven’t, Journelle has a beautiful selection of loungewear including pajamas, camisoles, tap shorts, and robes in silk satin or luxurious knits. The Journelle Emma robe ($110) in cozy, stretchy modal and spandex, embellished with lace, is a lovely option for lounging — not too sexy, not too sweet. The Emma range also includes coordinating lounge pants, tap shorts, a chemise negligée, a camisole, and a pullover ranging in price from $68-$88. Journelle sells a variety of brands alongside the Journelle signature collection in stores in New York City and Chicago, and online. The company was bought in 2019 by husband and wife team Sapna Palep (a practicing dermatologist with an MBA who is actively involved in the design of Journelle-branded lingerie) and Guido Campello. Campello grew up in the lingerie trade; his parents created the Cosabella brand for which Guido is co-CEO and creative director. The biggest changes that the duo have brought to Journelle is expanding the range of the Journelle collection and adding more inclusive sizes across all products.