Fact: We love Hayden-Harnett.
Fact: Beach season is here and we’re in desperate need of some new beach bag essentials.
Fact: We like free things.

Apparently Tarte Cosmetics is reading our minds because they’ve paired up with the fashion geniuses at Hayden Harnett to offer a fantastic summer giveaway: Beauty and the Beach.

The grand prize is a superbly understated “Erol” tote, the “Iris” maillot swimsuit and a pair of “Athena” sandals, plus a ton of summery makeup essentials from Tarte including their 4 Day Stay lash stain and the new EyeQuatic waterproof makeup kit.

Good news:

Hayden-Harnett’s having a sale on their site today, where they’re offering totally unique pieces from Fall 09 - as in, pieces that won’t be produced with the rest of the regular collection.

That’s right, you can have your own one-off from HH, as long as you’re willing to shop for it auction style.

The sale starts later tonight, around 6:30pm.

Good luck!

Hayden-Harnett made a Camille clutch for spring.

Its shoe counterpart is the sandal on the far left, the shoes that Natalie’s revolved her weekend around and probably one of the most unique sandals we’ve seen in a long time. The orange and blue and grey leather links top a gray suede platform - there are even little studs in the back, because if you’re going to commend Toni Hacker on one thing, it’ll be for her attention to detail.

Anyway, Urban Outfitters has a Camilla shoe. It’s on the right and has orange and white and brown leather fabric atop a faux wood wedge fastened with elastic and sells for $128.

The colors might not be as pretty but they’ve got the idea - someone else’s idea - down pat.

If the fact that it just snowed on the first day of spring is as confusing to you as it is to us, then you know there’s only one real response: shop!

This weekend’s a particularly good one for sales, so here’s a little guide for those of you who may have missed our sale calendar:

Tomorrow, you can sip champagne while getting 20% off at the new Hayden-Harnett store, then skip over to the nearby Staerk, Built by Wendy, Only Hearts, Libertine, and Abaete sales. And if you’re really into it, you could head west to hit up the Falls pop-up store on Greenwich, before you check out the Alaia, Proenza and Givenchy at the nearby Edon Manor. You also have Michael Kors in Chelsea and Lauren Merkin a little further uptown. Or if you’re in LA, we highly suggest the Kiki de Montparnasse garden shopping party.

Starting Sunday, you could pick up Valentino (and Roberto Cavalli, Blumarine) on 57th Street, or if you’d rather not leave the comfort of your bed and Sunday Times you can have a Blair moment on Colette Malouf’s sample sale online.

Finally, if you feel like feeding your weakness without spending too much cash, the Loomstate event at Kaight today might be the way to go - you get an exclusive, stenciled Loomstate shirt for free with any Spring purchase, which means spring shopping fever is officially in full swing.

Happy Friday.

The first day of Spring has turned into everyone’s favorite reason to throw a shopping party.

You’re going to have to find a way to squeeze in Hayden-Harnett’s Saturday afternoon fling. Their new Nolita location, on Elizabeth Street between Houston and Prince, is slightly more accessible than their Greenpoint location. Plus, Saturday means 20% off everything in the store.

Not to mention Ben and Toni, the brilliant and sweet minds behind the line, will be there to help you pick the perfect bag for spring - and dress/shoes/bathing suit/wallet etc.

They’ll be there from 12 - 6pm with champagne, food and a handful of giveaways.

We’ll be there bright and early - even though the Greenpoint store’s a block away from our bed.

Toni Hacker and Ben Harnett held their Fall 09 presentation in Room 219 of the Chelsea Hotel last night, and we’re pretty sure nobody wanted to leave.

It actually felt like a party - The clothes, shoes, bags, bracelets and belts were strewn about the four-room suite, sometimes in drawers, sometimes on the models (who posed with Milk Duds, Whoppers and whatever else), sometimes hanging off lampshades, pretty much everywhere.

The layout was like a treasure hunt, and it perfectly underscored how precious every piece of Hayden-Harnett feels. Plus, with the models stuffing their faces (one finally had to snatch a bag of cheese poofs away from another before she made herself sick) the whole mood felt funny enough so that you actually talked to other people you didn’t know - a Fashion Week oddity for sure.

The collection itself was so covetable we’re already tearing pages out of the look book. The best pieces were easily identified: The little box clutch (at left), and the spat-boot-heels (whatever you call these) with Victorian style buttons down the front. Toni wanted the presentation to give you the impression that the models were just a bunch of girls that live in the room, and never leave (hence the Rapunzel braids) except to sometimes go out and buy candy. And it worked - by the end, you pretty much only wanted to deck yourself out in a leather necklace and kimono-style dress, eat Twizzlers and never leave. In fact, Hayden-Harnett almost made us late to Zac Posen, and we think that pretty much sums up how it went.

We stopped by the Hayden-Harnett presentation at the Chelsea Hotel tonight (more on that later) where we caught up with the brand’s mastermind, Toni Hacker.

We talked about the shoes, the bags, the belts, the necklaces, the clothes, the cheese balls (yes, later), but most importantly, Toni said this:

“Oh! We’re actually opening a store right by you in March!”

Come again?

“Yeah, we’re opening up our second store on Elizabeth Street, between Prince and Houston.”

Are you taking up the old Mayle space? And when?

“Oh no, Mayle is sacred. It’s a different spot on the same block. Sometime in early March, we’re shooting for March 7th.”

Wow! How come I haven’t read this anywhere? Have you told anyone?

“No, not yet. Well, I just told you, so…”

Perfect.

Pop quiz:

If you’ve been to a Target since yesterday, did you see any of the Hayden-Harnett bags?

Because some people are reporting the bags aren’t out in Target stores yet, which is especially weird since it’s now the 29th, and the bags should have been out for grabbing starting yesterday.

So if you have any idea as to what’s going on, you know what to do.

In the meantime, the whole line’s on Target.com.

If you’re in the market for some Hayden Harnett, whether because we love it, Behati loves it or you’re just plain curious, here’s your chance to win an entire outfit for you and your best friend - for free.

And we do mean outfit: a pair of boots, a wallet, a cuff bracelet, a handbag, a dress, a coat and a scarf.

The Brooklyn based label’s just launched a youtube video contest. They’ve been actively uploading their own videos for almost a year and they’d like you to respond.

So if you already own your fair share of the brand break out your video camera and tell, or better yet, show them why you love it. And if you’re an HH virgin, tell them why you want-need-have-to-have a piece of Hayden Harnett right now.

The video with the most views wins.

Go to it. In the meantime, we’ll see you at Target.

We made a pit-stop at Hayden Harnett’s garment district showroom last night.

Among the brownies and cocktails we found cute swimsuits and covetable bags.

Toni Hacker showed her signature HH shapes - the tripled coin purse, studded leather bracelets and flowy wrap dresses. We also got to see, and touch, some amazing leather jackets and vests as well as the new shoe collection. The next time we can justify buying a pair of boots, we’ll go for the banded grey ones.

But it was really the ruffled and sometimes printed swimwear we wanted to walk away with. The cuts were flattering and the colors were easy to wear without being too girly.

A hit, as usual.

Hayden-Harnett’s having a sample sale! And you don’t even have to trek to Greenpoint to indulge.

Where: Edgo Noho - 65 Bleecker St between Broadway and Lafayette

When: Nov. 5 - 8th, 12 - 7pm

What: 40 - 70% off the current Fall 2008 collection, including clothes and accessories.

Rules: They accept both cash and credit, and the first fifty shoppers get a $20 gift certificate to Edge.

Or, if you prefer, you can shop online.

Either way, if you get to the bag at left before us, we’ll never forgive you.

Toni Hacker and Ben Harnett are living a sort of modern Bohemian dream.

The two met almost six years ago while working at Liz Claiborne, woke up one morning ready to do their own thing, like most people do, but they actually did it.

So now, here they are five years later, running Hayden-Harnett out of their Greenpoint, Brooklyn design studio, landing the front page of Women’s Wear Daily, partnering with Target (yes, it is true!) and dreaming up new ideas every day, or night, actually.

Yesterday, we sat down with Toni, the Creative Director and head designer of the label, to figure out how she figured it all out and how she’s come so far so fast.

We just got back from hanging out with Toni Hacker, designer and creative director of Hayden-Harnett, and you’ll have to wait until tomorrow for the whole story, but for now, we’ll let you in on a little secret because we’re too excited not to share.

She, and the rest of her creative team, is partnering with PONY to bring you a super fun, super limited-edition sneaker collection.

The Brooklyn based PONY, which actually stands for “Product of New York”, approached the designer this summer to put some signature, vintage inspired colorful prints on their beloved sneakers because they, “like our flavor,” Hacker says.

The designer, who’s relegated her Chucks to the back of the closet in favor of Hayden-Harnett’s upcoming shoe collection, is thrilled at the opportunity to make cute sneakers for her loyal fan base.

So are we Toni, so are we.

(Stay tuned for pictures!)

WWD’s reporting on Target’s next accessory collaboration. The mega-chain’s allegedly teaming up with Brooklyn based label Hayden-Harnett.

Hayden-Harnett has garnered a cult following of hip girls who want cute bags for less than $500 with more attention paid to design detail than label. Their Greenpoint store, (which happens to be inconveniently located mere blocks from my apartment), boasts bags, wallets, vintage jewelry and their small offering of girly dresses and coats - all of which should translate very well into a Target line.

The brand, run by Toni and Ben who are also real life partners, is less known than Target’s past accessory collaborators and would benefit especially from the exposure. But the success of Hayden-Harnett’s bags lies in their quality leather and quirky details, touches easily lost in mass translation.

But of course, we hope the rumor’s true.

And we hope they preview the collection at their own store, pre-Target.

Even if no one wants to take us to see The Nutcracker this year, at least we can look a little bit like a toy soldier in this black velveteen dress from Brooklyn-based label Hayden Harnett.

The black and gold color combo has a little bit of holiday sparkle without crossing all the way over to bedazzled red and green territory of your great aunt’s Christmas sweaters.

We recommend wearing this one for decorating the tree, lighting the menorah, ice skating in Central Park- or all of the above. So in case somebody out there is planning on taking us to Rockefeller Center sometime soon, we already have our outfit all picked out- I’m talking to you, Mom!

—ALISON COOL