Made in China vs. Made in Italy: What Luxury Brands Don’t Tell You | Emily Blumenthal & Karrica
episodePreviously titled “Made in China vs. Made in Italy: What Luxury Brands Don’t Tell You | Emily Blumenthal & Karicca” — renamed by the publisher on Aug 3, 2026
Handbag Designer 101: The Stories Behind Handbag Designers, Brands, and Industry Icons
59 min
1 speaker
7 chapters
transcribed 1 month ago
Transcript
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Transcript generated automatically by AI and may contain errors.
Why does “Made in Italy” not always guarantee higher quality than “Made in China”?
To this day, when people say, Oh, but you make something in China, why is it this price? I'm like, you don't know anything about production. You don't know that 80% of your Balenciaga shit is made in China. And the only reason why they say made in Spain is because of a tax and a tariff issue is because when they ship the partially finished good back to Spain and they glue in the city. Assembled it. Assembled it. Yeah. Yeah, there's a it's called a finishing law. Yeah. And when you follow the finishing log, which means eighty percent of the good is made someplace else, twenty percent is made with you. And that twenty percent can be down to just putting on a button.
Hi and welcome to Handbag Designer 101 the podcast with your host, Emily Blumenthal, handbag industry expert and the handbag fairy 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 Kirika to Handbag Designer Oneon One the podcast. Welcome, welcome. Thank you so much for having me. Um oh wow, she's melodic too. God, and obviously no one was there for our pre conversation, but you are five ten. I'm a tall, yes. Oh god, it's so enviable. But you know, there's have you always been tall?
Yes, I've always been really tall and it's enviable until you're at the airport or getting on a plane when people look at you to lift things and I'm like, I'm a cripple. Okay. I have pins in my back. I can't lift I can barely lift my bag. I need somebody to help me, but I always feel bad so I reach up and grab something for someone else just because I uh physically can reach.
Cause you have the smoke and mirrors vibe that it looks like you can. And you never want to disappoint anybody.
I don't. I really hate disappointing people. I also hate disappointing myself more than anything else. It's the only competition that I'm in is with myself. And that's actually the hardest competition to be in because you're you know what you're capable of doing.
I feel that. And just on a ridiculous level, I was a gymnast, a very, very, very bad one. Just bad. Bad. And I did it for a really long time. And I think it was one of those things that parents are like, at some point she'll realize that she should stop. And then I think by middle school, my mom called it. She's like, you know, this isn't going anywhere. But cartwheels, I've always been really good at, you know, like not in the Betsy Johnson kind of way because she got licensed out, she got paid off. She could do cartwheels into the sun. And splits. Oh, and splits. I could still do. those but i i injured myself carrying groceries And I tried to do a cartwheel and I like it hurt. And I y you know It's the smallest thing.
Listen, that ruined my day. I'm like, yeah, in my head, I was like, I can't believe I can't do a cartwheel. Like something's wrong. So I understand at the vapid level of disappointing yourself. But absolutely. To go back to you being a tall, that is such an interesting perspective that you have always stood out whether you wanted to or not.
Mm-hmm. Oh yeah. Between being a tall, being biracial, being the elephant or the giraffe, because that's my favorite animal in the room that was never, I mean, uh the odds are always stacked against me. And I knew that, you know, I had those uncomfortable conversations with my mother very early on. And I understood it, I received it, and I worked with it. I never let it be the barrier. I'm like, yeah, I am different. And And then we're going to have to do that
And that's so is so interesting because I'm sure from Her perspective generationally, she was probably, and again, I don't want to ever imply anything. This is just from what I'm gathering, was very much. like other yourself. Like you don't need to talk about it. You don't need to make a thing about it. And you generationally are like, no, I'm not going to apologize.
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Chapters
7 chapters
1
Why does “Made in Italy” not always guarantee higher quality than “Made in China”?
0:00–10:01
2
How does the “finishing law” affect where a luxury bag is officially labeled?
10:01–19:22
3
What personal experiences shaped Karicca’s perspective on being a tall, biracial designer?
19:22–30:12
4
How did Karicca’s early career moves lead her to work with top luxury brands?
30:12–39:35
5
What are the key factors for pricing and positioning a new handbag brand?
39:35–49:41
6
Why does Karicca believe visibility matters more than product alone for sales?
49:41–58:41
7
How did Karicca use TikTok and organic storytelling to grow her brand without influencers?
58:41–59:23
Speakers
1 identifiedMore from Handbag Designer 101: The Stories Behind Handbag Designers, Brands, and Industry Icons
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