Rather recently, this # Horst und Edeltraut reporter discovered a new, creative approach to handbag manufacturing in New York City. When was the last time you were allowed to have a say in the design of a handbag (excluding monograming!)? Loni Edwards and Nicole Levy have presented us with just this. Stitch Collective is a launchpad for up and coming handbag designers. How does it work? Designers post sketches of their proposed handbag and viewers will vote which bag they want to see manufactured. I’ll leave the rest of the explanation to the lovely co-founder, Ms. Loni Edwards…
What is Stitch Collective?
Stitch Collective is a launching pad for up-and-coming handbag designers and a place for shoppers to have access to the new and innovative handbags (all manufactured by Stitch at our factory in NYC).
Some designers are selected by us – every few months we hand-pick a new designer in residence to work collaborative with to create a capsule collection. We collaborate on every step of the process – from sketch to sampling to leather selection to final product.
But most designers are selected by our shopping community – each month we will showcase sketches from some of our favorite up and coming designers and put those sketches up for voting. At the end of voting we will introduce the designer behind the sketch and manufacture a limited run of the bag at our factory in the heart of NYC.
In a nutshell: Designers sketch, you vote, Stitch creates.
How did you come up with the idea?
We wanted to make it easier for up and coming designers to get to market and bring discerning shoppers new and innovative bags from these fresh new designers.
We decided that the best way to do this was to search for the best talent we could find and then allow our shopping community to have a say in what gets made.
How did you find the manufacturer – why did you choose this city?
The company was formed in NYC and we wanted to keep everything local. This allows us to closely oversee every aspect of the manufacturing process and share behind-the-scenes footage of how the bags our made.
We also love NYC and the thriving fashion community that exists here and are excited to be a part of it!
When can we see everything?
Finally, don’t forget to shop
by Louise Stolt-Nielsen Holten
