
Hand-painted leather camo-wedge handbag, $110
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Hand-painted leather zebra duffel bag, $150
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Tangerine Suede Hobo, $110
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Comments: [post a comment]
| 1. | I have to say I admire and look up to you. I sew my handbags by hand and to be honest...I am still learning! They come out great, but every bag has a personality of its own and one day part of my dream is to be doing what you are doing and sometime soon! I have not moved onto leathers just yet...but its on the agenda. I guess the main part is me discovering all the little ins and outs of purses...LOL...so I admire you and your accomplishments! If you have any advice...please email me. A mentor can always be used! jadeandbamboo@yahoo.com Thanks! - Keyana Somerset from SC, April 29, 2008. | | 2. | I have to say I admire and look up to you. I sew my handbags by hand and to be honest...I am still learning! They come out great, but every bag has a personality of its own and one day part of my dream is to be doing what you are doing and sometime soon! I have not moved onto leathers just yet...but its on the agenda. I guess the main part is me discovering all the little ins and outs of purses...LOL...so I admire you and your accomplishments! If you have any advice...please email me. A mentor can always be used! jadeandbamboo@yahoo.com Thanks! - Keyana Somerset from SC, April 29, 2008. |
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Story: I Started about 5 years ago designing sandals,
slippers, belts, buckles and handbags. I have a degree in Fashion and Costume
Design with and Art Minor from TWU. I have been involved in the fashion industry
since I was a freshmen in college. All of my work experience is in the garment
side of the design business, but I thought myself how to do purses, shoes, and
sandals about 5 years ago when I was a professor in one of the Community
Colleges in the Fashion Design Department. I needed something to do that will
keep my interest in the Fashion Industry as well as keep me updating my
knowledge on a different branch of this very crazy industry which I love so
much.
I decided to make a leather purse so I made the pattern, cut it then hand sewed
it and it turn out great, from then on I have been experimenting with other
things to still keep my interest as well as my creative side going. My Products
are 100% leather, they are lined with soft pig skin and the outside leathers are
either embellished with beads, hand painted and hand stitched. What inspires me
to design my handbags is the idea of doing something totally different than what
you normally see out there in the stores. My handbags are completely hand cut,
hand sewn and hand embellished, and I do believe that make my accessories more
special.
I started out of desperation when I was teaching at the Community College, don't
get me wrong; I did liked teaching, but I felt that the repetitious schedule was
not what I wanted to do for the rest of my life. I had worked in the garment
industry for over 20 years and it was very hard to let it go.I needed and outlet
to be able to use my creativity as well as a personal challenge. So I started
designing slippers to see if I was able to do a pair, they turned out great and
from then on there was no stopping me; I kept going with different things to add
to my collection and here I am.
The unique side of my handbags is that they all are sewn by hand. Not very many
handbags are actually sewn by hand not even the very expensive designer
handbags. I used a variety of leathers from oiled tan leather to buttery soft
pig skin suede and goat and lamb skin. I have to be honest, I haven't had a real
design night mare story. Designing for me comes very easy in the accessory area,
but I had made many mistakes and I had to start all over but in my opinion this
is what make this business challenging
I guess I will considered a nightmare when my team and I had to work non stop
till 3:00-4:00 am to be able to ship my product to some of the specialty stores
who order it. This is when the night mares start when you have multiple orders
that must be shipped the same day and be on the road the next day to be able to
reach the stores in time....... or otherwise this means a cancelled order......
My personal greatest achievement is been able to actually show my accessory line
at all National Markets and be able to design and sell what I love to stores
located all over the USA as well as international.
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Designer Archive:
Other HB101 Articles:
May 16, 2008 - Lona Gutknecht - Lona Gutknecht May 14, 2008 - Eric Manie'r - Eric Manie'r May 12, 2008 - psnob - Rebecca Robinson May 09, 2008 - English Retreads - Heather English May 06, 2008 - OPAMA Designs - Patricia Hamilton May 05, 2008 - Hydralis: FINALIST BEST STUDENT MADE HANDBAG - Lissa Kooijman May 02, 2008 - Grey Sunshine: FINALIST BEST STUDENT MADE HANDBAG - Dana Van Daele April 30, 2008 - Fufulinda's - Marion Renee April 28, 2008 - Kage Handbags - Kristin Holstein April 25, 2008 - littleoddforest / LOF - Lynda Lye April 23, 2008 - Simple Sweetcakes - Mackenzie Hendrickson April 18, 2008 - maxine orange - Maxine Orange April 16, 2008 - Dorit Handbags - Dorit Berger April 14, 2008 - Laura Matthews Designs - Laura Matthews April 11, 2008 - Gadino - Hilde Palladino April 09, 2008 - Erica Dylan - Erica Wallengren April 07, 2008 - Marcela Calvet - Marcela Calvet April 04, 2008 - Simbiosis - Julia Bravo April 02, 2008 - Pumpkin Primrose - Sarah Steel March 31, 2008 - Tamara Handbags - Tamara Lord March 28, 2008 - D'BOUR - Adelya D'Bour March 26, 2008 - Yaari Toya Bali - Ni Made Toya March 24, 2008 - Jenny Yuen - Jenny Yuen March 21, 2008 - Accessory Niche - Shara Brown
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