It all started when I was searching for a red velvet bag - couldn’t find one anywhere. So I made one: a deep red velvet number. I lined it with Chinese silk brocade of black, green, and Bordeaux dragons. I made my bag as beautiful as it was sturdy - just like a woman. I made my purse as beautiful inside as it was outside- just like a woman. I made one that could hold all my womanly things and not look like it was made to hold all my womanly things. Then I added a secret (a very important part of being a woman…); a hidden pocket. I felt special every time I put that purse on because it said something about me. That I am sexy and fun and have a sense of fashion uniquely my own. Everywhere I took it, women noticed it. Strangers came up to me in stores and on the streets asking where I got my red velvet bag… I made a brown velvet bag with reclaimed mink handles. Friends clamored for them. I designed new shapes and sold out. I started selling limited editions in stores. The line was born. My bags are now carried across the country and around the world. They have appeared on celebrities and on celebrities’ shows. Sexy, sophisticated, luxurious, understated beauty; functional purses with delectable interiors; great colors; hand dyed leathers; handmade bags: they beckon to be taken out on the town (just like a woman).

My mom likes to talk about how I began designing at age 8. “She was busy making things instead of watching TV.” What I made was fabric and yarn toys I sold to classmates. Then, in high school, designed award winning architecture; became a sought-after commissioned gold and silver smith jeweler while living in Australia; and had a line of handmade greeting cards printed with wood blocks she designed and carved… Needless to say, I have been busy. I’ve lived throughout Europe and Asia and traveled the South Pacific. All the wonderful and varied cultures and geographies have given me a unique sense of design and color, which shows up in my line.

The designs are classic with a twist; beautiful form follows function. The ‘rustic’ line is inspired by the great American West; the ‘city slickers’ by world metropolises. The rustics include vegetable dyed leathers reminiscent of horse tackle and cowboy chaps, external construction, and findings from nature. These bags get better with age just like jeans. City Slickers reflect my love of living in Paris, New York, London, Milan, Tokyo, Sydney… Weekend, weekday, these bags move from city to city, office to office, office to dinner, or party to party. They dress up and show off. My background in architecture gives my bags a structure different from all others. They are engineered to fit women’s bodies and have the great shape that women’s bodies have. All are made in USA, sweatshop free, often in limited editions. After all, every woman is unique, why should her bag be like anyone else’s?

 I am really enjoying using more reclaimed leather and hemp fabric in the upcoming spring collection. I am incorporating my long standing eco-friendly life style choices further than my business practices and more deeply into my designs themselves. In my production practices I tread as lightly as possible on this beautiful planet. I use 100% cotton linings; exquisite, long-wearing, timeless leathers that only get better with age, so I don’t have to back the leather with vinyl; I don’t attach extra metal bits that harm the earth in their production and take up space in landfills. When you are done using this bag (which may never happen) it is ashes to ashes and dust to dust.

My greatest achievement and the reason it is all worth it are the same: customers who are so happy when they buy a bag from me, hear from their friends how great the bags are, and then come back to buy more bags for themselves and their friends with BIG smiles on their faces.