We started LYCHEE LINE in 2003. It has been growing ever since. I design and manage the business part-time with plans to go to full-time sometime soon.

LYCHEE LINE handbags, totes and clutches are made with hand-selected fabrics ranging from dupioni silk to 100% wool. The leather bags are made with fine "real" leather (often in a vibrant color) or faux leather. I love finding an ultra soft faux leather. It is wonderful to see a customer's reaction when they feel the faux snakeskin. They are often amazed that it is faux. We have had a few designs in a faux distressed leather. The material wears so nicely. The oils in you hands make the leather more worn over time. I have had customers come back raving over the transformation of the faux leather. We focus on clean lines and the details. Every bag has inner pockets to hold the tiny essentials (cell phone, lip gloss, iPod, etc.) The snaps we use are the strongest we can find to ensure the bags stay closed. We have hardware custom made -- stamped with the LYCHEE LINE brand. Our linings complement any bag - we use dupioni silks or sateen in the leather bags. We use vibrant fabrics with our clutches and wristlets. A bag should look nice from a distance but when you look inside that should make you feel like you purchased a piece of art. It is design, after all.

Firstly the name. My mother, Dallas, is from South Africa. As a child our family would visit there every year. We would vacation in Durban, a beach town, where men would carry and sell vines of lychee fruits to beach-goers. They carried the lychees as a women carries a handbag. The name LYCHEE LINE came from those memories. In 2003, I was visiting my mother. She and I would often go to the fabric and art stores together. On this particular excursion I asked her to make me a handbag of striped fabric with dowel rod handles. She whipped up a beautiful bag so quickly. I brought it home to San Diego and got so many comments that I started to sell them. Dallas made hundreds of them. That is when I realized that we had to make something of this... and we are.

We do not heavily advertise this, but we do custom work as well. We have done several weddings in California, Massachusetts, and even in Ohio. Brides have the ability to choose a LYCHEE LINE design, fabrics of their choice (with guidance from us,) and order gifts for their bridesmaids, other guests, etc. There is a 3-4 month lead time on these bags, depending on the order size.

My most recent designer nightmare story is that I was having samples made for 2007. There is a new travel bag in the works. The sample I got back didn't look much like a travel bag. Rather it looked like a giant's purse. The oversized pockets, snaps, zippers, and the shape made it look like a novelty oversized handbag. We laughed for hours about it!

Owning a handbag company is a creative, interesting job to have. You have the balance between business and fashion. There are major hurdles, plenty of competition, and so many different paths to go down. For me, this company was a chance for my mother and I to do something together. We live in different cities at the moment (Boston and San Diego) but this keeps us together, on the phone and email all the time, always thinking of new ways to offer our customers something that they will be proud to purchase.