The Business of Wearable Handbag Art | Emily Blumenthal & Elif Akaydin
episode
Handbag Designer 101: The Stories Behind Handbag Designers, Brands, and Industry Icons
28 min
2 speakers
3 chapters
transcribed 1 month ago
Transcript
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Transcript generated automatically by AI and may contain errors.
What is the main topic discussed in this episode?
What can I do that I use that piece of a handbag as a canvas, as a piece of art? Something very unique and one of a kind that it's not anywhere. Right. So that was my starting point. And also it's my love of handcrafts. So I wanted to combine those two on a handbag. That's where I started.
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, Alifa Kaden, to Handbag Designer 101, the podcast. Welcome, welcome. Thank you. Thank you for having me. So you have had your handbag brand for quite some time. You and I met through the Handbag Awards, which is my love story for so many. So you are obviously part of that. But I think what so many of our listeners may or may not be aware of, how many handbag designers there are out there and what a lonely process it is to not only create a brand, but to create a brand that's creative, that requires feedback and other people. But yet there's so much of it we end up doing alone. And that's what made the Handbag Awards so special because it created community, right? Oh, absolutely. Yeah. So how did you get your start way back when?
Was this your days of turkey or pre-turkey, post-turkey? What PT post-turkey?
Yeah.
So, yeah, I moved here for college. When I moved to the States, I was a freshman in college. Oh, my God. Yeah, I was a child. Oh, my God. It's like your typical immigrant story, you know. So I did my first laundry here. I never did my laundry by myself before. You know, we were raised so protective and, you know.
Was that a big deal to come to school here? Because people don't seem to realize, okay, you leave the state, leave one state to another. You're leaving a country. You're leaving a whole place, different culture, language, laundry, everything.
Like that's pretty bold of you. And this was back in 1994. So it was pre, I mean, there was a little bit of interest, but yeah, I mean, this was like, I remember writing letters to my grandma, handwritten letters. I have those, I'm keeping those, you know. You should. This was a different time. Yeah. And then after I finished my degree, I had a fashion degree. I said, where am I going to go? I'm going to go to New York. I had a one year work permit. So I have a friend who lived in New Jersey and they have an extra room. So I became roommates with them. And then I remember my first New York moment, like it was a week. I had my resume out, going to the library on 34th Street, using the fax in one of the offices there and faxing it, you know.
And one day, first time I looked up in the city and I saw those buildings. And after a week, because I was like on the run and I had this moment, it felt home. I still get like goosebumps and it felt so much home to me. And I said, okay, you know... At that age. That week, I got my first job as an assistant. Wow. Yeah, for a belt designer in Midtown. And then I was there almost half a year or so. And then I got a job as a buyer in Soho. For where? The shop is not there. It's the Nike building there now. But it used to be a shop called Institute. Okay. Oh, my God. I remember that. Yeah. So I became a buyer there. And then that gave me an opportunity to go to Europe, build up my whole vision in this industry. How was that being a buyer?
You know, you were so young. Absolutely. Well, I wasn't on my own first. I was with the other buyers. Right.
But still, like to have that kind of... Yeah. Like you being a designer now, seeing the power, like knowing the power that a buyer wields, especially being on the other end, like, please let them pick me, you know, carry me. My back is really should fit. And only a buyer can say this doesn't fit with what our customer will looking for. I'm only going to buy with what I know is going to sell.
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Chapters
3 chaptersSpeakers
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