Over the last seven years Saben has carved out a niche for itself as New Zealand’s top accessories brand. The handbag label is stocked by almost 50 retailers throughout New Zealand, Australia, and now Europe.
The brand is called “Saben” because that was Jacobson’s grandmother's maiden name. "It was a way of acknowledging the tremendous impact that she has had on my ideas about fashion," explains Jacobson. “To this day, she remains a classy woman who has been a real influence on me. The Saben brand is very much based on a romantic, old-fashioned idea of bag design, with a 21st century twist. I make pieces that I imagine are like my grandmother used to have, but brought into this day and age with modern fabrics and construction techniques."
Saben bags have appeared regularly in the press, in publications such as Lucire, Cleo, She, New Idea, Sunday and Canvas. Roanne Jacobson has also received a lot of attention - being profiled in Fashion Quarterly, She, The New Zealand Herald and The Sunday Star Times, as well as appearing on television and on the Internet.
Celebrities with one or more Saben bags in their wardrobe include; Blondie's Deborah Harry, actress Liv Tyler from “The Lord of the Rings”, Niki Caro – director of “The Whale Rider” and stylist Rebecca Weinberg from “Sex and the City”. New Zealand "It girls" Carly Binding, Jaquie Brown and Kerre Woodham have all been known to wear Saben on occasion. And our latest Saben convert, Keisha Castle-Hughes, was nominated for an Oscar for Best Actress in 2004 for her star turn in "The Whale Rider".
