Jypsea was started first in 2001. Right after the 9/11, I was laid off along with many folks in the fashion industry of NYC. Because none of the companies were hiring at that point, I decided to do my own thing. I opened a small space in a market in New Jersey to sell vintage handbags and accessories. While traffic was slow, I'd sew to keep busy. Before I knew it I had a small collection of reversible suede totes to sell. They were selling like hotcakes and Jypsea was born. The were sold at 3 boutiques other than my own. I did all of the work from design, material sourcing, patternmaking and construction myself. I was still a student at the time at FIT (the Fashion Institute of Technology) in the evenings. After a few months I was exhausted. Unable to outsource my work and find sewing contractors with small minimums, I just couldn't keep up with the production alone so I put Jypsea on the back burner with expectation to re-establish the line after graduation. 2 weeks after graduation, my husband and I delivered our first born child. I've been a stay at home mom now for 2 years. I've stayed actively creative with custom work but I am now ready to pick up where I left off, creating unique, well-made leather goods at reasonable prices.

Jypsea's philosophy is things should have special meaning to us all. If we had a hands-on experience in the manifestation of their creation, we’ll cherish and appreciate our things more. We not only create one of a kind and limited edition accessories but also custom pieces made to order at reasonable prices. High-end style and excellent craftsmanship should be available to all. This is why jypsea exists.  My material of choice is leather. I use only the most supple skins because it is very important that a bag feels good to the hand. I LOVE exotic skins for their texture and color brilliance. I create Fresh, Spirited, Sophisticated funk! The collection is a celebration of modern simplicity with a retro twist. All pieces are either one-of-a-kind or part of a very small lot (no more than a dozen of any particular style) to ensure my customers find unique pieces that speak solely to them and their own style philosophy.

There is a style of bag I love. I thought the design process and patternmaking would be easy as pie and I left this project to the very end of the design process of my current collection. It was going to be the only big bag in a collection of clutches, the star item of the group. Creating the pattern wasn't too bad but more time consuming than I expected. The finished sample was awful though. Just wrong in so many ways. Too many problems to fix. I was so displeased and because it was going to be the completion of a bag I've been dreaming of, my star piece, I was greatly disappointed. And yet I had no more time to allot to designing, I had to move forward without it.

Just launching the collection has been my greatest achievement at this point. It just re-aunched a month ago and it has been a dream realized. My life has taking many unexpected paths that have lead me far from my aspiration as a designer. Just finding the strength to give myself permission to still hold on my dreams and start my business on a small scale to move from dreaming about it to being about it feels amazing.