As you walk down the cement steps that lead to the Jeanne Lottie boutique, a smile will instantaneously spread across your face. With just one look at the window display – adorned with sheer pink curtains that fall softly across a delicious display of elegant shoes and matching purses – you will be drawn through the pink-frosted glass door to emerge delightfully in handbag heaven.

If you’re the fashionable and playful type, the countless clutches, casual totes, sleek evening bags and snazzy satchels will definitely catch your eye as you make your way across the lush, faux grass-covered floor. When you reach the back of the store, you will see dozens of spectacular flats, heels and pumps on display near a bed covered by a pink comforter.

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With a vast array of styles, sizes, colours and materials, Jeanne Lottie provides its clients with one-of-a-kind accessories at reasonable prices.

The mastermind behind Jeanne Lottie is Jane Ip, age 49. Ip understands that accessories have the power to define distinctly the different roles you take on, as well as your moods and, ultimately, your desires. For this, Jeanne Lottie offers countless styles for varying personalities.

“Our designs are different, constantly changing, fashionable and affordable,” says Ip, the successful entrepreneur behind the Jeanne Lottie empire. “And [they] are designed for women who are smart and know how to have fun,” she adds.

After all, the purpose of a handbag isn’t limited to holding your keys and wallet – and Jane Ip knows that.

Since its inception almost a decade ago, the Jeanne Lottie boutique has been the place to go to for the hottest accessories in town. Specializing first in handbags, then expanding to offer shoes and jewellery and now presenting perfume (Rose Diamant, a soft floral), Jeanne Lottie has emerged as a must-go-to boutique in posh Yorkville.

This is because Ip has faultlessly combined her love of colour and her natural ability to sketch her designs.

“I just love colour,” says Ip. “Inside my house, I have many colours. Yellow, green – it’s a very colourful house.” Ip lives where she works (with her dog, Baby Doll) in the Jeanne Lottie head office, which is not far from the Jeanne Lottie boutique. Interestingly, her house is pink, and has, in fact, been dubbed “The Pink House.”

It might seem as though Ip had always dreamed about becoming an entrepreneur in the accessories field, but this is not so. She only realized her potential at university, and because of some advice from her father.

Born and raised in Hong Kong, Ip decided to move to the U.S. in 1978. After dutifully studying at Portland State University in Oregon, Ip graduated with two degrees: one in business administration, the other in psychology. In 1982, she moved to Canada and received an MBA from the prestigious Schulich School of Business. She moved back to Hong Kong briefly before returning to Toronto with her sister Charlotte. The sisters, who have three brothers and another sister, decided to open Jeanne Lottie in 1985.

“My dad was a successful entrepreneur, and he inspired us to have our own business,” says Ip. “Now, I love being an entrepreneur.”

Jeanne Lottie is not a person’s name. “Jeanne is from Jane and Lottie is from Charlotte,” explains Ip. “And it means ‘true happiness’ in Chinese.” She says Jeanne Lottie accessories result in true happiness. Perhaps this is what has set this formidable fashion line apart from others.

Charlotte retired 10 years ago after starting a family of her own, while Ip set off to open the first Jeanne Lottie boutique in Yorkville. Almost immediately, Ip’s uniquely designed accessories and the location she chose caught the attention of handbag aficionados.

“I love to sketch. I never studied design, though, so it came very naturally, I guess. It’s very easy for me – especially handbags.”

After the Yorkville location opened, Ip made the decision to expand to the U.S., but managing the store became difficult, since she lived in Toronto. She lost quite a bit of money after opening a Jeanne Lottie store in the Hotel Aladdin in Las Vegas, a year before Sept.11. “The store was in the desert,” she says. “And because of 9/11, retail sales were extremely bad.”

Ip closed the store, but not before receiving various awards for her designs, including The Best Handbag Shop in Nevada award.  “It was like gambling,” says Ip of the experience. “Every step is a hardship, a challenge, and I still have a long way to go.”

Yet, she didn’t let the loss affect her. To the contrary, she applied her full attention to the Yorkville location. And since her father was an experienced entrepreneur, he taught her invaluable lessons. “My father taught us to work hard, not to hold grudges and to be willing to help others,” says Ip. This is probably what propelled her to give back to society.

For the last five years, Jeanne Lottie has played host to the Annual Pink Bedroom Party, a fashion and lifestyle extravaganza that raises money for The Campbell Institute for Breast Cancer Research at Princess Margaret Hospital. In the future, Jane Ip hopes to host worldwide Pink Bedroom parties in her favourite cities – Barcelona, Spain; Cuzco, Peru; Santiago, Chile; Puebla, Mexico; and Hong Kong.

“It’s very important to me,” says Ip. “It’s a mission to spread true happiness.” www.jeannelottie.com