California Apparel News

SAN FRANCISCO—San Francisco is home to a wealth of independent handbag designers, ranging from well-versed industry veterans to enthusiastic newcomers.

The designers of such Bay Area labels as Goldenbleu, Dutchy, Nanhandbags, Sobella and Miel all got their start in a similar manner—with a sample and a target list of retailers—but the resulting collections are a diverse mix of contemporary and young-designer styling.

Goldenbleu

In a year and a half, Goldenbleu designers Lindsey Colhoun and Rene Huber-Brookshire took their ideas from daydream to reality. Colhoun handles the public relations and Huber-Brookshire does all the photography and collateral. They share equal responsibility in design. Bags are made from sumptuous leathers, and luxe detailing is apparent inside and out. Pull back the zipper and you’ll find suede lining. “We love stitching and layering leather—lots of texture,” Colhoun said.

These bags are exceptionally well made and priced accordingly. Wholesale prices range from $75 for a small make-up bag to $357 for a larger, smocked tote or weekender, and retail prices are $165–$785. The line is stocked in about 200 boutiques, on Shopbop.com and other online sites, in select Nordstrom and Bloomingdale’s stores, in the Neiman Marcus catalog and on its Web site, and at Harvey Nichols. Half of the bags are made in the United States and half overseas. “As long as we can maintain quality, more production will go overseas,” Colhoun said, “because the places we work with here can’t handle our quantities anymore.”

Each collection has a personality. The first, launched in September 2004, was touted as “granny chic,” with such style names as Pearl. The Spring ’06 line is a cool, edgy girl, with monikers including Taylor and Lola. The Devin and Paige styles were hot sellers for Fall, and Jordan was introduced for Holiday. The popular Marilyn was modified with a braided strap and a different type of leather for Spring. An overall change for the Spring ’06 styles is rose gold hardware, but the bags will also be available with silver and yellow gold.

“We pride ourselves on the uniqueness of our designs. There are a lot of bags out there that take elements from other bags. We look to fashion for inspiration,” Huber-Brookshire said. “The worst thing for someone to say would be it looks like a ’fill-in-the-blank’ bag.”

Metallics were successful for them, but the designers said they’re “over it” and chose a more natural palette for Spring, with shades including sand, azul, lima, banana and cognac. The ever-popular camel, chocolate, black and navy are always available. Also new for Spring is a line of shoes with a horizontal wedge-heel style, a stacked-heel sandal and a flat, all trimmed with rose gold hardware.

Goldenbleu is represented by the Noetic showroom in Los Angeles and New York. For more information, call (213) 614-7924 or visit www.goldenbleu.com.

Dutchy

Audree Halasz of Dutchy launched her line in June ’04 with an eye to creating handbags that are playful and fun. Still, quality is key. Halasz looks to everything from cars to art for inspiration. The designer, proud that she can reinvent herself each season, said she’s “always going to strive to come out with new things.”

Dutchy is available in about 60 boutiques across the United States with a couple in Canada. Sales reps in Los Angeles, New York and Dallas continue to add growth to the line. “Last year I had things made in L.A., did custom orders and much smaller quantities. The resistance was, ’I love your bags but they’re too expensive,’ ” Halasz recalled. Everything changed when she started doing production overseas. Wholesale prices are now $49–$119. For Fall ’05, she used a supple Napa leather, and for the upcoming Spring line she chose a more structured but cowhide soft Italian. Moving away from metallics, the new bags have a subtle sheen in hues called plaster, rust, teal pearl and aloe pearl.

When she started, Halasz used vintage drapes for the lining, which she describes as a production nightmare. But sales reps—and retailers—loved it, so for Spring she reproduced that look with two floral fabrics in shiny tones of cream and khaki. All the bags have at least three pockets: one zippered, one for a cell phone and one other. The Penny bag has an adjustable strap.

Halasz still works out of her home but says she will have to move the business elsewhere by the time the next shipment arrives. She’s quick to note that she “never considered doing this anywhere else but San Francisco.”

For more information, call (415) 341-7331 or visit www.dutchy.net.

Nanhandbags

Nancy Nodelman, of Nanhandbags, is the veteran of the apparel business, with names including North Beach Leather and Bebe on her curriculum vitae. She carried her first sample Nanhandbag into St. Helena, Calif., boutique Foot Candy and they loved it. That first order helped launch the line in early 2004. Nodelman stocks the inventory herself, so it’s readily available, and she currently does everything in her business from start to finish. Her accounts number around 30 and include Margaret O’Leary and other shops. Nanhandbags is primarily a West Coast operation that has grown from word-of-mouth and the contacts Nodelman had from previous work. But there is certainly room for growth.

The fashionable and functional bags, named after Nodelman’s friends and family, are made of Italian lambskin. She usually produces about five styles per collection, with three or four colors for each style. New bags for Spring ’06 include a saddlebag and a multicolored bag with outside pockets. The Soraya bag, named after Nodelman’s best customer, did well for Fall ’05 and will carry over into Spring. The slouchy Joanne will reemerge for Spring with brushed-metal hardware.

The Spring palette was still in the works at press time but will likely include ultramarine blue, creamy sand dollar, lily green, pale skyway blue and mocha. Durable cotton linings pair well with the exterior colors, of course. Wholesale prices are $75–$180. The entire line is made in China. “Because it’s just me and the factory, the price points are fabulous,” Nodelman said.

“My niche is that they are trendy silhouettes, but it’s more about the colors, hardware and findings.”

For more information, call (510) 525-0939 or visit www.nanhandbags.com.

Sobella

Brooke Sobel, of Sobella, is no rookie in the fashion biz. She designed a Sobella line for DKNY. Her design career began with jewelry, and her first handbag, created four years ago, was a clutch style with a removable jeweled handle that could also be worn as a necklace. The Sobella collection is now about 50 percent jewelry and 50 percent handbags.

The colorful handbag line ranges from clutches and smaller styles to roomy totes. New bags for Spring include the small basket style called Coco and a large basket style called Lily. Perhaps the most fun and versatile is the Toby: a fold-over bag that can be carried as a clutch or as a larger tote using the handle. The tried-and-true Sybil tote returns in vibrant color combos of orange and brown, yellow and white, as well as turquoise and fuchsia. The flap-closure Bradley bag, along with Sybil, also comes in python. All the bags have signature detachable tassels with semiprecious stones. Overall, Sobella bags have very little hardware—buckles on the basket bags, the tassel ring, and that’s it.

Available in select Bloomingdale’s and Nordstrom locations, Sobella is also stocked in numerous boutiques and online shops. She offers exclusivity to her retailers by selling to only one store per street in each city. “Great customer relationships are crucial for me,” Sobel said.

The designer is conscious of her pricing and strives to keep her retail prices just below those of the well-known designer lines. Wholesale prices are $95–$175. “I use good leather and they’re all made in the U.S.,” Sobel said. “So these are really good price points for what you’re getting.”

For more information, call (415) 391-2052 or visit www.sobella.com.

Miel

Lisandra Ochoa of Miel Accessories was still indesign school in 2000, when she was a finalist in the Gen Art Styles Competition. She used a vintage dress to make the bag that was presented to a panel of judges including Kate Spade, Norma Kamali and Robert Verdi. Soon after, the designer received a call from Harper’s Bazaar requesting line sheets—which Ochoa did not have.

“I was really motivated by that,” Ochoa recalled.

She finished school in 2001 and launched the line. It wasn’t until 2003 that Miel had separate collections for each season. Ochoa now produces 10 styles per season, in about five colors. Wholesale prices are $90–$170. “For Spring I’ve moved away from metallics in favor of basic tones of white, black, teal, red and taupe,” Ochoa said.

Top sellers for Fall ’05 include: Renee, which has been updated for Spring with studs; Karen, which has a chain woven into it for Spring; a larger version of the Raquel style called Alex; and the Shelley bag, which has gone mini with a longer strap, making it an option as an evening bag. The Klover clutch is a new introduction to the line. The bags utilize twisted and gathered leather for texture. Corduroy interiors were recently modified with a mobile-phone pocket and zippered pocket.Production is all done at a “mom-and-pop” shop in San Francisco, Ochoa said. “It’s convenient so I can check on quality control, but they’re not set up for larger orders,” she said. “I am looking into production possibilities in L.A. or N.Y.”

She has yet to do any trade shows but has had success with word-of-mouth and press coverage. Miel is now available in about 35 stores nationwide but will soon go worldwide with the addition of locations in Japan.

For more information, call (415) 614-0678 or visit www.mielaccessories.com.