| Just when you have given up on going out with 5 different bags to hold
everything, the Yazzy Bag by Yasmena has finally come along. The Yasmena
is the brainchild of Emily Blumenthal, who like other women, became frustrated
with struggling with keeping her essentials fashionably consolidated. It
was over over years ago when the idea came to mind for a little bag to hold onto
when you go out when she had a DJ boyfriend at the time and was getting her MBA
and working for a now defunct magazine. "It just hit me like a ton of
bricks" says Blumenthal after watching women do the "ceremonial dance" around
their bags. "I just knew there was a hole in the market to try
something new, even if I wasn't trained in design."
The Yasmena was made primarily out of beads and then I moved on to leather.
I knew though I wanted to make them to also be affordable and therefore have
them made in other materials like faux leather and nylon for the Yazzy Bag
version. The nylon has actually been our most popular. My continued
inspiration is to try and make lives for the woman on-the-go easier since I am
still part of my target audience. The silhouettes are still built for that
customer in the wallet-wristlet fusion that some call the palm purse or a
version of the "pouchette."
When I had started I was desperately looking for a creative outlet. I
had already tried a few small business ideas that really never came to fruition.
However, once this little bag idea was born, I took advantage of my business
school colleagues and had all of my market research done for me. It was
quite scary though. Especially since after I walked my first tradeshow to
see how much people put into their handbag lines. I knew that it couldn't
be just a hobby if I wanted to be part of that crowd.
My worst experience in this process by far has been with my second
patternmaker. I was going to leave for tradeshow in London and he promised
me to have my samples finished. As any small business person knows, the
smaller the quantity, the lower you are on the totem pole for any sort of
production - this is not different. Up until 3 weeks before, I begged and
pleaded and he promised they would be done. The day of, I stopped by on my
lunch hour (because I was still working) and he had not even started - but
still, he promised. Come 5 pm, I left work early to go there so I could
collect my samples and then go home and get my suitcase - still he hadn't
started. I had a panic attack in his studio and we had lovely "exchange of
words" to which I said I wasn't leaving until my samples were done.
Fortunately, I couldn't understand what language he was calling me names in
because I sat in a chair in front of his door, called my mom to get my suitcase,
begged her to drive me to the airport and got on the last flight out at 11:45
pm. I knew at that moment - I was in and there was no turning back.
With all of that said though, with the horrific experiences, there is no
comparison to making a product that you see people use or emails you receive
where people say that your product has made their life easier. My life has
always needed more solution products so if my little bag could do that for
someone else - it has all been worth it in the end. |