Aucklander Lila Kuka Reclaims Old School Hip

In a bid to be hip, flask manufacturers are turning to their feminine side creating items with pink, glitter and jewels. New Zealander Lila Kuka is a big fan.

Kuka began collecting vintage hip flasks in her 20s, but has now settled on a porcelain flask that was a gift for her 40th birthday. “I think they have an old-school cool about them – they’re a little bit Wild West,” said the mother-of-two, from Te Atatu.

Once viewed as an everyday accouterment of English country gentlemen and liquor-lovers seeking to evade US law enforcement during Prohibition, hip flasks are becoming hip again – and marketers are targeting many of their wares at women.

Kuka is unabashed about getting her hip flask out, even if it sometimes surprises men. “I’ve taken it out to a football game in winter and it had single malt in it, and I’ve also taken it to dinner parties at friend’s places,” she said. “I’m not a big drinker, so a wee tipple from my flask after dinner is delicious and just enough.”

Original article by Rebecca Howard, The Wall Street Journal, May 14, 2015.

Photo by Erdelyi Collective.