SPECIAL POST: Martin Van Schaak and His Exclusive Handbag Designs

Martin Van Schaak textured black fabric handbag with rhinestone-studded gold-tone Asian figure embellishment. From the collection of The Vintage Purse Museum.

Martin Van Schaak and His Exclusive Handbag Designs

One thing we’ve learned while researching certain midcentury handbag manufacturers is that even though their designs are popular, they themselves remain an enigma. One such enigmatic designer is Martin Van Schaak (1920-2010). 

Mr. Van Schaak is not only remembered for his beautiful bags, but also his famous clientele, who appreciated the fact that he didn’t have a storefront. He would instead bring his designs directly to clients’ residences—and sometimes have them visit him at his Upper East Side apartment—where they would purchase those that they liked, or consult with him on future creations. Among his notable patrons were Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis, Marlene Dietrich, Merle Oberon, Nancy Reagan, Tina Onassis Niarchos, Betsy Bloomingdale, Joan Kennedy, Clare Booth Luce, Doris Duke, Happy Rockefeller, and Dina Merrill. He was once quoted as saying he visited these women at their homes because he’d had stores before, but felt he didn’t have the temperament to be a shopkeeper. He also made occasional appearances at fashionable public locations, usually with over 100 of his bags in tow.

Closeup of textured pattern on the bag at the top of the page.

Closeup of decorative piece, possibly originally a Ciner geisha brooch.

Label inside bag above.

Although Mr. Van Schaak’s work and unique marketing style have been documented in numerous books and on various websites, we haven’t seen much written about his origin story. That’s why we decided to take yet another deep dive into historical documents, once again not knowing where it would lead.

We started our research several years ago, and kept putting off writing an article until we could find more documentation in the newspaper archive and genealogy website to which we subscribe. We also hoped to find someone who knew him and would be willing to share an anecdote or two about his personal side. We tried to locate Van Schaak family members, and reached out to several of Mr. Van Schaak's friends, but were unable to connect with them. We will update this post if we do. 

Martin Herman Van Schaak was born in 1920 in Spain to Andries (Andre) Hartog Van Schaak (1884-1950) and Rosa Stork Van Schaak (1894-1964). Martin’s father was born in the Netherlands and passed away in the US. His mother was born in Belgium and returned there with her daughter and son-in-law after living in the US for a time.

In a 1967 newspaper article, Martin Van Schaak describes himself as “half-French, half-Dutch,” and said he came to the US from France 22 years earlier. This is not entirely correct. He may have claimed France as his nationality because, as of the 1926 Paris Census, he, his parents, and his two sisters were living in the La Muette neighborhood in the 16th arrondissement of Paris. At that time, his father was going by Andre, the French version of Andries, his Dutch name, and 6-year-old Martin was called “Henri.” 

Martin Van Schaak gold Lurex and black pleated fabric bag, with clear bead embellishments. From the collection of The Vintage Purse Museum.

It’s interesting to note that Martin was born in Spain, his sister Jeti (1916-?) was born in Italy, and his younger sister Esther (1924-2002) was born in France. It is unclear why the family moved so frequently. One might speculate it was due to their father Andre’s line of work, but the only record we could find of his vocation was on a ship’s manifest listing him as a “cloth dealer,” perhaps meaning he was in the textile or apparel business. 

The Van Schaak family was Jewish, and fled Europe in the 1940s. We must once again reiterate, as we have in some of our other articles, that many European handbag makers were Jewish, and came to the US with traumatic origin stories, sometimes never sharing what happened to them in their home countries. They often changed their names, dates of birth, countries of origin, and other details, which we completely understand given the atrocities of WWII.

Andre and Rosa Van Schaak escaped escalating antisemitism in Marseille, France and ended up in Casablanca, Morocco, where they, along with their 17-year-old daughter Esther, boarded the Portuguese ship SS Serpa Pinto in June 1942, headed for New York. Martin was not with them.

That's because two years earlier, in 1940, Martin, at age 20, made his way to Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. 1940 was also the year the Nazis invaded Paris, which may have been the impetus for his escape. We couldn’t find detailed records, but it appears that he arrived in Miami, Florida in January 1944, then went on to New York. This four-year delay could have been because there was a US immigrant quota system, which caused many European refugees to stay in South America for years prior to being allowed to immigrate to the states. 

It is unclear when elder sister Jeti arrived in the US. She was married to a Belgian "civil servant" who, per the 1950 US Census, worked as a "consul" (perhaps for the Belgian consulate) in New York. In the 1950s, Jeti, her husband, and her mother Rosa moved back to Belgium. Younger sister Esther Van Schaak returned to France, although we don't know precisely when.

Martin Van Schaak black fabric bag with black enamel and gold metal frame with inset rhinestones. From the collection of The Vintage Purse Museum.

Martin's father Andre had a sister in New York City, Elizabeth Foyer (1883-1967), who was married to Dr. Alfred Foyer (1887-1967; original surname Foijer). Mrs. Foyer was listed as the Van Schaaks’ sponsor on the Serpa Pinto manifest. She and her husband had emigrated from Holland via Lisbon to the US in 1940.

In 1944, Martin Van Schaak used Dr. Foyer as a reference on his US military draft registration card. He was unemployed at the time, and living with his parents on West End Ave. in New York City.

In 1953, Martin Van Schaak traveled to the UK on the recently-built ocean liner SS United States. His job was listed as "merchant," and he planned to stay at the The Ritz Hotel in London. He returned to the US in February 1953 on the RMS Queen Elizabeth. His address at that time was the upscale neighborhood of E. 67th St., New York City. We couldn't find his name in the 1950 US Census, so we cross-referenced his address using the Unified Census ED Finder, but it appears he was not home when the census was taken.

By 1960, per the manifest of the RMS Queen Mary, upon which he'd also traveled, Mr. Van Schaak resided at E. 70th St., another tony Manhattan address. The 1960 US Census will not be released to the public until 2032, so we could not find an occupation for him at this time. However, we can say with reasonable certainty that he was already producing luxury handbags.

 

Other than the 1953 ship's manifest listing him vaguely as a "merchant," we could not find a record of his employment in the decade after his move to the US in 1944. Even though he alluded to briefly being a shopkeeper, we could find no reference to a storefront using his name. It's possible he operated shops under different business names, or he could have been employed by others in the 1940s-1950s. As discretion was key to keeping the trust of his celebrated clientele, Mr. Van Schaak's habit of sustaining a low profile is understandable, and may partly account for the lack of documentation in our usual historical resources. 

While the Andre Van Schaak family seems to have been well-to-do, it is also possible that Martin's aunt and uncle, Dr. and Mrs. Foyer, residents of 25 Central Park West, facilitated his introduction to Manhattan's high society.

The earliest newspaper reference we could find to Martin Van Schaak is his October 1960 participation in a National Cancer Foundation benefit, “Les Boutiques de Noel” at the Manhattan home of Baron and Baroness Philippe de Rothschild. It doesn’t say exactly what he contributed, but he more than likely donated a handbag or handbags to the boutique sale.

In 1963, fashion designer Norman Norell (1900-1972) is profiled in an article about his costume work for the film The Wheeler Dealers, starring Lee Remick and James Garner. Mr. Norell was quoted as saying: "We bought six bags from Martin Van Schaak. MGM nearly died when they got the bill because every bag was $150 or more, but they're great looking. I call them 'The Lady's Bag'—they're small, slim and away from those stuffed peasant suitcases.”

We’re not sure if the bag in the screenshot of a production still (below) from The Wheeler Dealers is one of the aforementioned Van Schaak creations, but it looks like his type of design.

Screenshot of a still from the 1963 movie Wheeler Dealers. Is that a Martin Van Schaak bag?

The October 1967 newspaper article we mentioned previously was about Mr. Van Schaak's upcoming visit to Atlanta. Instead of calling on clients at their homes, he chose to meet with some of Atlanta’s most elegant women at the newly opened Swan Coach House, which is still in business today. He planned to bring 120 handbag samples in four suitcases. The article noted that the bag frames were imported from France, and the handbags were made of luxurious materials including cut velvet, beaded silks, brocade, and lizard. Mr. Van Schaak did not believe in matching a bag to shoes, but said “There should be some kind of harmony, though. I think that gloves should match the bag.”

In 1973, Mr. Van Schaak made a two-day appearance at Frances, a high-end boutique in Wilmington, Delaware. Then, in April 1975, a newspaper ad announced that he'd have a showing at Apropos in Corpus Christi, Texas. A follow up article in the same newspaper (pictured below the photo of our bird-embellished bag), is about Mr. Van Schaak's merchandise. He explains that raw materials are purchased in Paris, and assembled at his workshop in New York. The article says these handbags are priced at $200 and up, and that “Van Schaak features leather bags with ornamental clasps or with a gold figure highlighting the body of the purse. Turtles, horses, birds and other animals are his favorite ornaments.”

Martin Van Schaak leather bag with bird ornament. From the collection of The Vintage Purse Museum.

April 9, 1975, the Corpus Christi Caller-Times, clipped via Newspapers.com.

Even though one newspaper reference points to him having a handbag business circa 1960 (with other unverified references stating it began as early as the 1940s), the initial filing for the New York business name Martin Van Schaak Inc. was submitted in 1976. He also operated as Martin Van Schaak Inc. in Texas in 1977, and had a workshop there, as well as one in New York, where he was reported to employ six craftsmen.  

Martin Van Schaak often donated his bags to charity fundraisers. January 9, 1976, the Fort Worth Star-Telegram, clipped via Newspapers.com.

A Gannet News Service 1978 newspaper article with the headline “If you’re rich and exclusive Van Schaak may be your bag,” says his bags sell for $395 to $695. From the article: “Since he sold his first handbag to the wife of the Dutch ambassador, Van Schaak (who is half Dutch, half Belgian) has been purveying his bags in person to women in New York, Chicago, Philadelphia, Wilmington, Pittsburgh and elsewhere. He usually sells from a hotel room and spends 3½ months each in Texas and California every year taking orders. ‘I would never allow stores to sell my bags,’ he says. ‘I feel my things are for a group of people with taste—and, unfortunately, for those who also have the means to buy them. Each city in the United States has only a handful of people who can appreciate and buy them, like jewelry.’”

Longtime Van Schaak handbag devotee and Washington DC and Newport socialite Marion “Oatsie” Charles (1919-2018) was quoted in the article as saying, “You get addicted to Martin,” and likened the women who carry his bags to being in "a little club." 

Another Van Schaak handbag at a fundraiser, January 7, 1982, the Fort Worth Star-Telegram, clipped via Newspapers.com.

Martin Van Schaak lived primarily in New York City, but we found evidence that he owned real estate in Summerland (Santa Barbara County), California from about 1970 until 1986. He then moved for a time to Dallas, Texas. In the late 1990s, he had a home in West Hollywood, California.

The last article (directly below) we could find about Mr. Van Schaak and his work was from 2001. By then he'd settled in Houston, and was still crafting bags for an affluent audience. 

The Houston Chronicle, June 24, 2001, clipped via Newspapers.com.

The article says he had stories to tell about his past patrons, but, once again, not much is offered about the man himself other than a nod to his Dutch accent and impeccable style. This lifelong practice of not bringing attention to himself is also reflected in a 2003 society column announcing his 83rd birthday celebration organized by Houston friends. In it, the reporter notes that Martin Van Schaak was "never one for the limelight."

This need for privacy was just one of the sparse clues to the other side of Martin Van Schaak. Another was a warm public thank-you to him from the family of a Van Schaak company employee who passed away in 1989. Then, in a 2000 article about a 5-year-old pianist whose concert Mr. Van Schaak attended, he enthusiastically complimented the prodigy, saying, "He's got the soul of a star." Mr. Van Schaak also periodically donated his handbags to charity fundraisers.

A business entity search shows that he closed his handbag business in 2003. Martin Van Schaak passed away in Houston, Texas in 2010 at 90-years-old.

His handbags' elegance and appeal to the upper crust, along with how they were marketed, are what Martin Van Schaak will always be known for, but those very few personal mentions reveal that there was much more beneath the surface.

This article c2026 by Wendy Dager/The Vintage Purse Museum. Please do not use photos or information from this article or any other posts on this website without requesting permission, vintagepursemuseum@gmail.com. Resources used were Newspapers.com and Myheritage.com, to which we have paid subscriptions. Other resources were Google and Familysearch.org.