Erin Flashner Buckley was born under a Cancer Moon at

the delta of the Mississippi River and raised just over the levee

from Lake Ponchartrain in New Orleans' West End.

 

As a young girl, Erin spent most of her free time digging through a wicker costume

trunk filled with her mother's old clothing, vintage hats and costume jewelry. "Dressin'

up" was 'son premier amour,' her first love. As soon as she got her license to drive, Erin discovered her passion for thrifting, spending all of her money and weekends on trips to thrift stores, estate sales and garage sales around the city; she has been collecting vintage pieces from all corners of the state ever since.

 

She went on to study Fashion Design at the Fashion Institute of Technology in New York City where she studied the art of design and was able to define and refine her personal style as well as her point of view. And in 2004 was awarded F.I.T.'s highest honor, the 2004 Critic's Design Award.

 

While designing for Free People in Philadelphia, Erin couldn't get Louisiana's scenic beauty and her native heritage out of the forefront of her mind and moved back to New Orleans two months after Hurricane Katrina.

 

In late 2011, she choreographed a fashion spread for I HEART Magazine's 'New Orleans issue' where she was able to highlight the city she is so inspired by and several of the vintage pieces she had collected over the years.

 

Inspired by Flora, the goddess of flowers and the season of spring, she started creating custom headpieces which she has since sold to celebrities Jennifer Coolidge and Keri Russell. Her line of headpieces, Petite Amite, is named after a tributary in Louisiana and all of her headpieces are named after swamps, rivers, lakes and bayous in her home state.

 

After being diagnosed with a rare from of brain cancer in 2012, Erin discovered a spiritual connection to the white alligator. Only twelve leucistic American alligators are known to exist in the world. All twelve of the rare ivory reptiles were discovered and collected from deep in a Louisiana swamp by workers from the Louisiana Land and Exploration Company while surveying the area in 1986.

 

Cocodrie Blanche, meaning white alligator in Cajun French, is her fifteen year collection of hand-picked vintage from the illustrious state of Louisiana and sa joie à la vie.