I am Ana Mercedes Faría Jové, born and raised in the island of Puerto Rico. I am currently an attorney working in San Juan, PR. who just loves spending all my free time designing and making handbags. Right now, I design and make them mostly out of special orders I get, but I always have a few on stock, in case anyone wants to see them. I’ve been selling my bags for a few years now, and mostly sell them between my friends, my friend’s friends, and so on….you know how they say… the best marketing is word of mouth!!!

My handbags are made from different kind of materials. I started out using simple fabrics and am actually working with high quality leather, although I still like to use fabrics for some bags. The collection I’m working with now features leather, zippers, Swarovski crystals, and all the clutches have beaded bracelets. I design bags for practical women who want to look chic, and yet have a comfortable bag. The bags I design are unique since I only sew the exact handbag only once. For example, although I can use the same pattern, I combine the fabric or the embellishments in a certain way that no one will have the exact same bag in the whole world! That being said, when I sell a handbag I assure the person that it is unique!!! As a funny note, I was once wearing one of my handbags and someone asked me to make the exact one for her. I explained my design concept and assured her I could make a similar one but not exactly the same… making the long story short, I ended up telling my boyfriend (now my husband) to open his pockets since I had just sold the bag I was wearing!!!

One day, I went shopping with my mom (who also sews and has been my teacher!) and saw this cool fabric at a bargain store. I thought it would look great for a handbag, so I bought it and as soon as I got home, I ripped an old handbag I used to wear, and used it as a pattern. Immediately, I started wearing the handbag and before I knew it, I was getting compliments on it. That’s when I decided to make a second bag, a third one, and have never stopped ever since…by now, I’ve designed and made over 150 unique handbags.

One of my greatest achievements was when a new fashion designer participating in Puerto Rico’s Fashion Week asked me to design the bags that the models would be wearing with her clothes….seeing my bags down the runway was really amazing. But above all, the biggest achievement is every time I see someone wearing one of my creations. That’s the moment when I say, it’s all worth it!