From The Art of the Handbag:
Priscilla Snyder was still in her teens when she began “painting with thread,” a technique that involves intensive textural embroidery and appliqué that is often mistaken for paint. She began by stitching studies of her hands and feet and was soon embroidering portraits of people and animals. When she joined her sister in puppet making, Snyder continued to use the same stitching techniques.
From The Art of the Handbag:
Alexander McQueen was celebrated for his meticulous craftsmanship and extraordinary creativity despite the controversy generated by some of his early ready-to-wear shows When McQueen died in 2010, he was mourned both by the fashion world and his millions of fans The label, however, has continued to thrive under the direction of his protégé, Sarah Burton, who brings her own sensibility to bear on her designs while maintaining McQueen’s exquisite workmanship
From The Art of the Handbag:
In the 1980s, California Bay Area native Mary Frances abandoned real estate for a more creative career. She began by designing costume jewelry, and her love of the genre lives on in her beaded and bejeweled bags. The designer launched her first collection of bags in 1989. Needless to say, it was a smash hit. Since then, her business has grown exponentially, but every bag is still made by hand. Mary Frances has twice been named “Star of the Show” at Paris Fashion Week and in 2004, won the Accessory Designer of the Year Award at the Dallas Fashion Awards.
With the arrival of the twentieth century, the handbag came into its own In the early years, bags for the upper class remained small, and only members of the working class carried large bags Wealthy women carried different bags for different occasions or even times of the day, and evening bags in particular were lavishly decorated with fur, fringe, beads, and other embellishments
From there, bags branched out to encompass styles ranging from minaudières to roomy handbags, from vanity cases to practical shoulder bags Over the years, the range of basic materials expanded from fabric and leather to all kinds of synthetics, such as plastic, PVC, vinyl, Lucite, and Perspex.
Dustin says she likes to create purses “because purses are functional. You are supposed to touch them, caress them, and examine them. Your life is enhanced because it’s wonderful to carry beautiful things around with you and use them.” Recently, she’s found herself paying attention to the small things of the natural world, such as seedpods and flower buds. The delicate fernlike tendrils emerging from the top of her “Blumen Bachia” handheld purse (opposite page) echo the curves of the sheltering pod.
Judith Leiber was in Budapest when World War II started. With limited professional options, Leiber became an apprentice at a handbag company, where she mastered every aspect of making a handbag.
João Sabino’s “Keybag” got its start in 2003 as a graduation project for his degree in industrial design at the College of Art and Design in Caldes da Rainha, Portugal. His inspiration? An old computer keyboard. By deconstructing the keyboard, randomly rearranging the keys, and adding a zipper, Sabino created something new and fun. When he posted a picture of his original design—which looked more like a cosmetic bag—on his blog, he got about 400 emails from people who wanted to buy one
Gibbs says a lot of her work is derived from her “observations of nature and finding beauty in ordinary things, little pieces of moss, grass, and peeling bark.” In her “Silver Birch” and “Green Birch” bags (opposite page), paper-thin slices of sterling silver over silk evoke the peeling bark of birch trees. The clasps are twigs of silver leaves and the handles, gossamer silver chains.
Balatsos chose to design handbags and began by turning ordinary canvas bags into wearable works of art Today, her collection includes handmade exotic leather clutches and handbags that she embellishes with metal studs and spikes Her “Stud Ball” evening bag (opposite page), covered with two-inch spikes, is not for the timid It could almost be mistaken for a morningstar, that menacing mace-like weapon wielded to great effect by medieval warriors
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