From Retail Collapse to Amazon Growth: How Shy Iland Rebuilt Through Handbags | Emily Blumenthal & Shy Iland
episode
Handbag Designer 101: The Stories Behind Handbag Designers, Brands, and Industry Icons
31 min
1 speaker
8 chapters
transcribed 1 month ago
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Transcript generated automatically by AI and may contain errors.
Why did handbags outperform other categories during the 2008‑2009 retail crash?
When I was handling the buying part of the business, I think the one category that I didn't have any any output was handbags. That was all the buyers. But what I noticed during two thousand eight, two thousand nine, when the financial crackdown happened. meltdown happened. I've noticed that while All categories in the store. Went down by twenty, thirty, fifty, sixty percent. The only category maintained same ev and even went up a little bit was handbags. Handbags and accessories, which was very interesting at the time.
Hi and welcome to Handbag Designer 101 the podcast with your host, Emily Blumenthal, Handbag Industry Expert and the Handbag Perry Godmother. Each week we uncover the stories behind the handbags we love, from the iconic brands and top designers to the creativity, craftsmanship, and culture that define the handbag world. Whether you're a designer, collector, or simply passionate about handbags, this is your front row seat to it all.
Welcome, shy island of Daisy Rose to Handbag Designer One O One The Podcast. Welcome, welcome.
Thank you, Emily. Thank you very much for having me.
Yeah, so we were just discussing you and I connected on LinkedIn, which as I tell my students, that's where the old people hang out. So that's where the humble brags happen. Like, oh, I'm pleased to let everybody know that I'm amazing and had a promotion and blah, blah, blah. So I'm happy I was able to find it or we were able to connect there. Your company is called Daisy Rose and you were just telling me the origin of the name.
Yes. When I was looking for the right name, I came up with the Daisy Rose, which Daisy was the the name of my late grandmother and Rose is the name of my mother, so Daisy Rose it is.
Was your family initially in handbags?
No, not at all actually. I'm originally from Israel. I moved to New York. Many years ago Before two thousand And I started working in uh random work, random jobs. And then my relative, he owned one boutique store called Big Drop. And
Right. Right. Right. Right. I forgot. Yes. You almost made me spit my water out. Yes. Big drop was the place for independent designers. Literally one of the hardest stores to get picked up in. I remember.
Yes. Um, so so I joined him along the way. W when we intended to expand and open more stores, I was the one who found and opened the big drop in uh West Broadway and then Upper East Side, Madison. We even expanded into uh to Miami, South Beach. I remember. At the time the Gensworth Hotel today is the one hotel. And uh yeah, those were good the good old days, early two thousands.
That was the heyday I discovered like Rebecca Mainkoff, Monica Bakir, Grayson. I gotta go through my book to look at all the names of all the boat that time. Like that's where they were all. It was like it was verb and big drop.
How did Shy transition from boutique retail to handbag manufacturing?
That was it.
Yes, it was two stores. It was pre-e-commerce. So when you wanted to see what the eat bag is or what the hottest denim are, you had to actually walk into the store and see what they have. You couldn't compare, you couldn't browse, you just had to go and see what you had. Like you said, everybody wanted to be in the stores. We specializing uh we specialized in c contemporary designers. We basically We're willing to meet anybody that wanted to show their designs what they have and we were very picky. about who we brought in and we really liked finding up and coming designers where who looked for, you know, the first place to basically display their goods.
Yeah, no, you guys, I I I sorry for interrupting. You guys were truly pioneers. I mean, the the independent designer boutique, like that's that was the heyday. Like that was the time where if you were a new designer, like getting into Barney's. was almost as important as getting into big drop. It was like they were both aligned with the same value and carried the same weight.
Yes, we we felt it too. I mean around uh for example Passion Week. where everybody came to New York either for buying or for the trade shows. We saw everybody in the stores. Everybody visited to see what's in there, what Big Drop carried at the time.
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Chapters
8 chapters
1
Why did handbags outperform other categories during the 2008‑2009 retail crash?
0:00–3:29
2
How did Shy transition from boutique retail to handbag manufacturing?
3:29–7:43
3
What lessons did Shy learn from closing Big Drop’s stores and laying off staff?
7:43–11:33
4
How did Shy identify the right factories at the Canton Fair?
11:33–16:04
5
What strategy did Shy use to launch Daisy Rose on Amazon and Walmart?
16:04–19:56
6
How did influencer marketing trigger rapid sell‑outs for Daisy Rose wallets?
19:56–24:27
7
What are the key factors for scaling a private‑label handbag brand today?
24:27–27:23
8
Where can listeners find Daisy Rose products and learn more about the brand?
27:23–31:22
Speakers
1 identifiedMore from Handbag Designer 101: The Stories Behind Handbag Designers, Brands, and Industry Icons
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