Handbag Designer 101: The Stories Behind Handbag Designers, Brands, and Industry Icons

From Macy’s to QVC: Karen Giberson’s Accessories’ Journey | Emily Blumenthal & Karen Giberson

• Emily Blumenthal • Season 1

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Ever wonder why it’s so hard to break into the accessories world? Karen Giberson, President of the Accessories Council, pulls back the curtain on an industry made up of specialized silos that rarely connect. From Macy’s competitive executive training program to navigating the stigma of QVC, her path shaped a mission to create meaningful connections across accessory categories.

"I’d rather put my product in the trash than sell it to you." That early rejection in television retail revealed the uphill battle Karen faced—but also pushed her toward building the Council, where for over two decades she’s been breaking down barriers, championing collaboration, and proving that networking is non-negotiable.

Key Takeaways:

  • Fragmented Industry: Accessories thrive in silos—footwear sizing, eyewear regulations, jewelry sourcing—but collaboration sparks breakthroughs.


  • Networking Is Power: With 100+ opportunities annually, Karen believes success depends on showing up, asking for help, and making connections.


  • Cross-Pollination Wins: Innovation often comes when designers look beyond their lane—like handbags borrowing from jewelry hardware or even automotive design.


🎧 Listen now for insider lessons on breaking into—and thriving in—the world of accessories.

Our Guest:
 Karen Giberson is President of the Accessories Council, a non-profit trade organization supporting designers and brands across categories from handbags to eyewear. With decades of experience spanning retail, TV, and advocacy, she’s dedicated to uniting a fragmented industry and creating opportunities for designers to connect, grow, and succeed.

Host Emily Blumenthal is a handbag industry expert, author of Handbag Designer 101, and founder of The Handbag Awards. Known as the “Handbag Fairy Godmother,” Emily also teaches entrepreneurship at the Fashion Institute of Technology. She is dedicated to celebrating creativity, craftsmanship, and the art of building iconic handbag brands.

Find Handbag Designer 101 Merch, HBD101 Masterclass, one-on-one sessions, and opportunities to book Emily Blumenthal as a speaker at emilyblumenthal.com. 


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Speaker 1:

And I really believe strongly that we're all better when we sometimes get out of our normal channel, that we can learn best practices, gain inspiration from watching what other industries do. And, by the way, it doesn't even have to be fashion, it could be somebody is making car tires or toys.

Speaker 2:

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, karen Guyberson, to Handbag Designer 101, the podcast. Karen, president of the Accessory Council, accessory Council extraordinaire. We go back a billion quadrillion zillion years, making us both 22.

Speaker 1:

Tell everybody how old.

Speaker 2:

Welcome. I'm so excited to finally have you on. I mean, the beautiful thing about having this podcast is I get to be selfish and I get to have people on I want to talk to. So you know, huzzah, you're here.

Speaker 1:

Well, thanks for having me and I congratulate you on your new book. We loved reading it, we loved writing about it and love talking to you at New York Now a couple of weeks ago.

Speaker 2:

Yes, yes, yes, that was a fun chat. We are going to have the it Bag again at the next New York Now in February, so that is going to be exciting to keep this going.

Speaker 1:

Can't wait to see.

Speaker 2:

Me too. Me too, I mean, you know, I love finding new handbag designers and they also find me.

Speaker 1:

It gets easier. And the council we exist to help people thrive. So you know we're cheerleaders for success. So anytime, anytime something comes out, we want to figure out how we can help be part of the success journey.

Speaker 2:

Oh my God, exactly. So just to talk about you. You, and clearly not giving up your age because obviously you're fabulous, timeless, especially with these glasses. Thank you, filter free If anyone watches this on YouTube. Karen's killing it right now. How did you stumble into the big bad world of accessories?

Speaker 1:

So it was sort of the way fate took me. I started out of college in the Macy's executive training program and it was at a time where it was really a remarkable experience. We were in store line buying line. I ultimately spent a couple of years working in stores and then when I went to the buying line, I was placed in Sterling Silver Jewelry. So world changed, started really getting involved in jewelry, and when I left I went to QVC and over the course of the years worked in a lot of different categories, but primarily accessories, footwear, pretty head to toe. We did a lot of celebrity projects but just fell in love with the category and the people really the people and the categories and have stayed ever since. When I left QVC I had the chance to join the council and I thought, oh, I'll do it for a few years and somehow 20 years blew by and here I am.

Speaker 2:

I'm just going to stop by. Yeah, Can I ask you? When you were in the Macy's program, you were in New York City, right? Or you were in Philly. Well, very good question.

Speaker 1:

When I started, the Macy's and Bambergers had not completely merged. And jewelry was one of the last departments. Jewelry and dresses were one of the last departments to move, probably because there were so many SKUs, and so in the very beginning I sat in Newark, New Jersey. That's sexy and we moved over to 34th Street where you know I still. At that point I was an assistant buyer and my responsibilities were the New Jersey stores.

Speaker 2:

So you, essentially, though, where were you living? Hoboken, you were in Hoboken, I was in Hoboken. Where are you from originally, though?

Speaker 1:

Born in Michigan, grew up in Northeast Pennsylvania. I went to school in Central Pennsylvania and Macy's was my first job. I interviewed and I had the chance to be part of the executive training squad. I really hadn't thought about retail as a career.

Speaker 2:

As a job job. It was like oh, this makes something to do. I was excited about the interview.

Speaker 1:

I was excited about the people that I had talked to. My degree was in communications and journalism so I thought, look, give it a shot. And I was bit by the retail bug.

Speaker 2:

Do you think those kinds of programs still matter?

Speaker 1:

I feel very fortunate to have gone through the program that I went through. I don't know that they exist in the way that they existed. At that time we literally spent weeks training, hearing from executives, learning, bonding with each other, the sales managers, and then we were all dispersed to different stores. But that initial training program was the start of a network that was a lifelong network. I still am in touch with people that I knew from my days at Basie.

Speaker 2:

Yeah, the people who went through that that, that was like retail boot camp, so you kind of have to bond with those people because that was from the people I know who went through it. It was like it was proper rigor, hard, you know, like know your numbers, know your math, know your retail math like that was. It was no joke, like a lot of people couldn't survive because it was so intense. It was like the version of working in an investment bank, but in retail and not getting paid the same.

Speaker 1:

I felt like it was going to get a master's and it was like a little mini program. And then I went through it again about a year later because I was selected to go to Tyson's Corner when they opened their first store in Virginia and it was a pretty big moment for Macy's because it was the first time that Macy's and Nordstrom were in the same mall complex and so at the time Nordstrom's was the top of the pile as far as selling and customer service. So this was really a task to see if Macy's could match what Nordstrom was doing at the time. And so we went through training again and it was a commissioned sales experience versus what I've been doing before. So I felt like I got a double dose of amazing training. That's wild.

Speaker 2:

Isn't that crazy. You know not that I'm someone who reflects on age or anything, but I can like certain experiences were so profound and so prolific that you can still remember the feeling you had going through it, because it was. You know, if you're fortunate enough to go to college and you're fortunate enough to have that experience where hopefully, the only job you have during that time if you're lucky enough is your only job is to learn, and then you get this kind of experience where you're like, oh my God, I must be all in or else I will miss something. And then livelihood and sales and Monday morning numbers they will come back to me if I don't learn this in the manner and the time that I'm supposed to. That's a huge, huge responsibility for someone who's not that old. It really is.

Speaker 1:

No, but you know, at the time I was in a group of people that were like me and we're all just passionate young executives and sucked it in like sponge young executives and sucked it in like sponge. And then I got the chance to come back and work in the buying office which you know how lucky was I Sterling's jewelry. It was amazing.

Speaker 2:

Did you have a choice to get into jewelry? Or there was an opportunity, or there was like okay, we have jewelry, do you want to take it? How did it work?

Speaker 1:

Well, at the time they used to call it, you were released to interview. I think that meant you had done, you had kind of hit your mark as a sales manager. So I was released and they sent you to interview with buyers who had openings, and I had my again. There was an opening in the jewelry department and that is where I landed. So as a result, of that?

Speaker 2:

was that something you were like? Okay, I can totally become fluent in this. I definitely see myself becoming passionate because I know people who've been released into dishware and knitwear and I mean Macy's is a gigantic retail operation. You could essentially fall into something like I don't know outdoor tires not that they'd have it there, but you know that could end up becoming your quote unquote level of expertise.

Speaker 1:

The karma gods sent me to jewelry, and you're absolutely right. I could have ended up in towels and had a very different kind of career, but the job was open in jewelry. I hit it off with the buyer and the rest was history To go from New.

Speaker 2:

York City, though, to go to Westchester Pennsylvania. I say that with a pause because those who don't know where QVC is, it is not Westchester New York, it is Westchester Pennsylvania. I say that with a pause because those who don't know where QVC is, it is not Westchester New York, it is Westchester Pennsylvania. I was lucky enough to go on QVC a hundred million years ago. It is a campus, it is its own entity. You go there like that's it, you're in QVC land, land it's.

Speaker 2:

At that time, though, shopping tv was not, as I don't know, I don't want to say, socially acceptable. But now retail is retail. Sales are sales like you get celebrities who are willing to go on. Then it was perceived very middle america and it was still obviously volume driven and successful in its own right. Was that hard for you to mentally be like okay, I'm fabulous, I'm at Macy's, now I'm going to QVC. Or, were you like, bring it on, I'm from Pennsylvania, I'm coming home. I'm excited to share my new book with you. Welcome to Savvy Susanna's Amazing Adventures in Handbags and the Start of Susanna's Triumphant Journey to Become a young handbag designer. Filled with ingenuity, fun and a hint of steam, susanna will inspire children and you everywhere to follow their dreams and put in the hard work to get there. Savvy Susanna is available on Amazon, barnes, noble or wherever you get your books. Thanks for your support.

Speaker 1:

It was a combination. I was lucky because when I got to QVC, I did have a choice. I had a choice to be in the jewelry department or to go into fashion, and I decided to go into fashion to broaden my experience and my background, and I was excited about it because I had gone to school for communications and theater arts. So here we are. I love retail. This is live retail, it's the theater of retail, and so it felt for me like I was doing something with my education and what I had been doing for a career.

Speaker 1:

I think my first aha moments were that the quality of the product that we were selling at QVC was superior to what was, you know, something I would have found in the store, because they were so particular about making sure that it exceeded expectations. Because there was already a stigma about shopping on TV In the early days. No one wanted to. I shouldn't say no one. Many people didn't want to sell on QVC, certainly not any designer of note or brand of notes. They thought that it would denigrate their brand or their reputation.

Speaker 1:

So it was very hard initially, hard initially, and I would say one of the other big aha moments that I had was it was the first time in my career where I realized that, oh, those vendors aren't just being nice to me because I'm fabulous. They were being nice to me because I had access to help write orders Exactly, and that it became very apparent quickly who my real friends were in that time. That's nuts, yeah, and it kind of. It was like kind of an instant clobber. I'm like huh, all right, I guess they're not so interested in, you know, communicating.

Speaker 2:

Isn't that crazy, like at that age, to be like wait a second, these aren't my friends, this is, this is transactional. It's kind of a weird epiphany, especially after going through this, like bonding experience with people in Macy's and you guys were in, like you know, in the showrooms and then all of a sudden you're getting wine denied. You're like, oh my God, I'm so popular, I have so many friends. And then you realize like, oh damn, they just You're out of zero.

Speaker 1:

But not everybody. No, of course not Truly not everyone.

Speaker 1:

There were some real relationships and real friendships that were established at that time. But to go from a store like Macy's, where people wanted to sell, to then to go to QVC was, yeah, it was definitely an adjustment, and then things changed there very quickly. So I remember the early days and I have to say it was those early days of having to work extra hard that got me where I am today, of course, because, okay, we're now dating. There was no Zoom, there was email, but fundamental email. We were mailing things back and forth or faxing things back and forth. So if I saw a brand that I was interested in, I'd be cold calling. And I remember cold calling a brand and it wasn't even all that of a brand, it was a okay brand that isn't in business anymore. And they said to me I'd rather put my product in the trash than sell it to you. So I was like, huh, how about that?

Speaker 1:

I'm going to have to take a different approach here and the approach that I took at that time I was working in accessories. I saw a little teeny, weeny ad in Women's Wear Daily and one of my vendors, one of the people that would sell to us, was a guy named Joel Pinsky who had a company called Omega Belts and I called Joel and I was like, hey, I see this accessory council thing being formed. How do I get to be a part of it? And my goal in doing it was purely like networking. People might still say no to me, but it's a lot harder to say no in person, and or at least I felt like if I could at least explain what was happening there which was really exciting at the time you would at least listen to me where you might not have taken the call. And so that is how I started my journey with the Accessories Council.

Speaker 2:

You're a clever bunny, Karen. Look at you. That's crazy.

Speaker 1:

How you knew.

Speaker 2:

You know, I mean yes, of course, and like when people say, oh, it was luck, and you know luck. I think right time, right place obviously has something to do with it. But having the wherewithal to hustle to make sure you're at the right place at the right time definitely speaks to you and your gumption and your ability to sniff out opportunity. And I think had you not had that experience at Macy's to see where the market would be going and then going even further to go to QVC to see understand what mass selling really is, I don't know particularly and I can't speak on your behalf, but I don't think you would have been able to see like hold on, this is needed, like there is a network that's needed to bring people together.

Speaker 2:

Accessories historically has been a very splintered kind of industry. You know, again speaking on behalf of handbags, the majority of people who were doing handbags in the advent of handbags were men. They were old school, they were, you know, people who came from different countries, who were used to making things with their hands and then took over for their father's business. Very few were women, very, very few. So you know, to try and bring everybody together, having done so much history on the history of handbags, especially in New York, you know, even going back to the handbag tax that took place during World War II and having to pull back and things that made people have to think out of the box to bypass that handbag tax Like the council or there was a handbags association at the time.

Speaker 1:

They used to set the market week dates way back. Oh my God, that's how the market week dates way back. Oh my God. So that's how the market week dates were set Exactly.

Speaker 2:

So, you know, all these things kind of fold into one and the other. I think you know the council is a very unique organization in that you, you have the eyes and ears of the bigger brands. And do we need to have something like this? I think so because you know, it might be all the people from the industry, but all the people from the industry need a reason to come together and somebody, somewhere, needs to be that person, somebody needs to be that organization. So the fact that the council has become so ingrained in what accessory culture is about, I don't think it speaks to anything. But you, that's you. You did this Truly. I mean not to do you know fangirl stuff, but you know, knowing and hearing your background. All this makes so much more sense as to how and why all this came to be. It's just like you saw it, you got it and you realized we need this player and that player and this player, and then we need to bring it together. Were you the one who created the Ace?

Speaker 1:

Awards? No, the Ace Awards existed. So the council from my early days. I quickly joined the board. You were young then. When you did I was young. I became an officer. I was actively engaged and involved and the ACE Awards started about two years after. This is why you had a day job.

Speaker 2:

You were still doing this and coming at QVC.

Speaker 1:

I was at QVC. I was a board member. In fact, the ACE Awards will celebrate in 26, its 30th anniversary.

Speaker 2:

And you've been with it for two minutes.

Speaker 1:

Yeah, so so I I went to the first ace awards I I think I've been to all the ace awards. I know I've been to all the ace awards.

Speaker 2:

There's a handful of us have been all of them, but not very many anymore I think I've been to three and that's because I went as a guest for so.

Speaker 1:

Puppy. It's exciting, it's our black tie, it's our gala, it's where we bring out our celebrities. It's also our most expensive event. Most of the events we do are either complimentary or really low cost. Ace Awards is one of the places that the council was built on. It helps us generate money that we use for our operating budget and it's also an extraordinary press event. That is what we exist. To do is try to sell more products and help our brands sell more product, whether they're large or small. We have members who are solo entrepreneurs all the way to some of the biggest companies in every category, and you said something, emily, that was, I think, really poignant in our journey is that we do work with a lot of different categories, and what I find is that categories tend to silo themselves. So people stay in their footwear group. Optical people stay in the optical group, bag people, jewelry people I just was at a jewelry conference. I came in. It's obvious these people have known each other their whole careers. They may move companies, but they tend to stay in the industry.

Speaker 2:

It's very off-putting as a new person to come to those events. I've been as someone who's kind of done the crossover between toys and bags and retail and TV and all that. It's kind of scary to be the new person there because everybody knows everybody and they bounce from one company to the other and true to form silo is, I think, the perfect way to explain it.

Speaker 1:

Well, I love the experience for many reasons. One it forces me to learn and grow. So I always want to be learning and growing and gathering new information. I took a red eye last night. I was at a conference in the fine jewelry space. I learned so much in one day that I didn't know about the fine jewelry business. It just gave me insights. It'll help me be a better leader and help me steer our members. But the thing that I love about the council is we get to swirl it all up. We get to take the best of jewelry and the best of footwear and the best of bags and get to introduce people and cross pollinate. And I really believe strongly that we're all better when we sometimes get out of our normal channel, that we can learn best practices, gain inspiration from watching what other industries do and, by the way, it doesn't even have to be fashion. It could be. Somebody is making car tires or toys.

Speaker 2:

I was just going to say yep, yep. I mean, it's so fascinating. I've spoken with Beth from Circona, beth Goldstein. She's one of my favorite people to talk to, just because she's like bursting with like nuggets.

Speaker 1:

Oh, my God.

Speaker 2:

Yeah, she, she's my statistic person. I messaged her. I'm like do you have a quote for what's going on for the numbers here? Just let me know basics on how I can rephrase it. I love her but, like the influence like the car industry and the colors and certain shapes can then carry over to one, and so much of this always goes to accessories, like that's the first one that gets hit, because I think it's the easiest, the easiest influence to be impacted. You know, like color here, I don't know, you would know better than I would, at least in terms of jewelry.

Speaker 1:

Well, I think it's color. I think the different levels of the industry you know, high-end fashion down to mainstream may adapt things in different ways. But basically, we're, we're. There's things we can all learn from each other, whether it's materials. You know, maybe there's something that's happening in the automotive industry that could be a great handbag. Or there's technology in laser cutting that could, you know, was never intended to be in jewelry but could be, have an application in there. There's best practices that we learn in shipping that we can share with others. So I always love to go to other industries whenever I can and try to immerse myself.

Speaker 2:

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Speaker 2:

You know, when Project Accessory was on, which was the spinoff of Project Runway in 2012, I want to say because I was involved with the casting, which is really funny the handbag designers on there were for me. They had my book which had just come out that they all had to read, and then I was supposed to be one of their on-air talent people, but then they said I wasn't famous enough, which, whatever, who cares they're like we'll have you on for the next season. I'm like sure, sounds great, but I was their official blogger of that time and Molly Sims was the host, ariel Foxman, who was in style at the time, kenneth Cole was one of the judges and then they'd have a rotating person after that and it was very, very interesting to someone who does what we do to really see the silos, as you said, that those skill sets within the accessory industry don't translate. They don't. It's very, very specific.

Speaker 2:

It's like someone saying someone who's a fishmonger would know how to make a dessert. Just because it's food and you eat. It doesn't mean that they're the same. You have the same qualifications to make it right. So the show I thought, while being part of it, was going to be flawed, because someone who understands the last of a shoe will not understand the buckram functionality of a hat, will not understand the drop of a handbag, will not understand how to use a blowtorch for jewelry. It was one of those things that I saw. It was a really hard conversion from one to the other and I'm sure you can speak to this just because it's accessories, like people, are all cousins.

Speaker 1:

They are not brothers and sisters within this business. Yeah, there are manufacturing specifics that you really that. There is a reason. There is a reason why those silos build themselves up Exactly. Each of the industries has a nuance or nuances about them that require expertise. I'm wearing a new pair of glasses. Glasses are, while they're fashionable and beautiful, they're also a medical device. So there are rules and regulations and considerations in the optical category that we don't have to worry about. In scarves, where footwear, you've got to worry about the last. It's got to fit, it's got to be comfortable.

Speaker 2:

There's so much math in footwear and people don't even realize that.

Speaker 1:

Different considerations. I think it's one of the toughest businesses to get into because of sizing and the amount of units that you need.

Speaker 1:

Jewelry's got a whole hill of other regulation, depending on where your stones come from, to the variable cost of metals, security issues that we don't have necessarily in other categories. But I still think that if you've got a great handbag person and a great jewelry person, you might end up with some killer hardware. There are combos that really work, and so when expanding a brand, if you're in bags and you want to go into another category, you might want to surround yourself with some of those experts who can help you avoid some of the pitfalls or save you some time, save you some money. But maybe you don't want to have so much background there that you're not creative.

Speaker 2:

Yeah, you know I have found a Nancy Foreman of the Accessory Think Tank Another fab lady. Oh my God, I love her so much. I have my go-to's my selfish go-to's for the podcast where I'm like it's time to get a State of the union. Let's see what's going on. But Nancy is always one of these very clever bunnies in that if there's extra material from bags, she's always like we can convert this to jewelry, or the hardware of the handbag that could then be converted to jewelry. So there's very easy add-ons to not so much upsell your customer but kind of make your brand more well-rounded.

Speaker 2:

So I think there's a lot of low-hanging fruit that a lot of people don't see, because and I've spoken about this that even the most organized people and the most methodical people, when they decide to get into a creative business, nine times out of 10, and there's always that one out of 10, but nine times out of 10, like all bets are off. They are no longer responsible, they are no longer methodical, they are no longer organized. They think with their heart. They think, oh my God, I want to do this. I want to do that because it's such a deviation from who they are in their day-to-day that they're so excited to be this creative entrepreneur and follow this and, before they know it, they've dropped 15,000 on samples and bags and importing leathers and materials from Italy and bespoke lining.

Speaker 2:

And this is a business like anything else you got to do your homework, you got to do your research. So once people like anybody go through this whole process, then they're able to say, okay, hold on, I've got something that I can move forward with. Like Sanrev, I'm probably pronouncing that I adore her. I had her on my podcast so clever, so methodical, straight to it, knew exactly what she was doing, did so much data resource right at the beginning. And I think that's this gentle shift, a gentle balance of trying to understand right-left brain in terms of taking a product to market and I think, just to bring this full circle, being part of the council is where you'll find these resources to bypass all this dumb stuff that we all do and money that we end up pissing away trying to with that learning curve and that is our goal.

Speaker 1:

So sometimes we call ourselves the accessories counselors. That's amazing, having done it for as long as we've done it, we can. Often, if we can't answer a question, we have lifelines like yours around us and we also do a lot of behind the scenes work, whether it's legal issues, sustainability issues, operational shipping, some of the parts of the industry that aren't as sexy or aren't as fun. We have amazing partners that can really help again, save money, save time and give the kind of advice or the kind of services that will help a designer, a young company, grow.

Speaker 2:

Yeah, a young company grow, yeah, and I think so much of that is just so, so, so important, because nobody can do anything alone. They just can't. You might think you can, but being in that solo mental silo silo is the word of this meeting. I think it's one of those things that it's virtually impossible to be successful if you stay in your apartment, stay in your office, stay in your design studio, that you are nothing without networking, without meeting people, without asking for help, without presenting.

Speaker 2:

I'm sure you've dealt with this and I'll sign anybody's NDA, I don't give a crap. But if you're having me sign an NDA and you've never done this before and you're greener than the seed I just planted, like I know, you're not going to go as far as you think you are. Because, as the great Steven Rosenberg from Verve told me as a first run designer, you are not creating a van go. You are creating a handbag that you want people to come back and buy over and over again. If you don't a handbag that you want people to come back and buy over and over again, if you don't put it out there to learn to get feedback, you ain't going anywhere Right the end.

Speaker 1:

Anyone who walks in. So the council is a membership-based organization and over the course of the year we probably have 100 different opportunities. I'm not exaggerating. Some of them may be social. It might be an Instagram event. It could be a small-scale networking event. It could be educational webinars Right, it could be grand-scale events and contests. So we encourage everyone to get active, get involved.

Speaker 1:

Don't just join and not do anything. In fact, we don't Don't just join and not do anything. In fact, we don't want people to join and not do anything. It's nice, we'll cash the check, but at the end of the year they're not going to want to come back and honestly, I don't accept. I didn't get anything out of it, because we have so many opportunities that if you didn't get anything out of it, it's your own fault. Bingo. So every single week we have a newsletter that goes out and it's got editorial opportunities, events, it's got news, it does spotlights on members, if that would be one thing. Anybody who might be watching or listening sign up for the newsletter at accessoriescouncilorg Doesn't cost any money and that's where you really see what's happening. Of course, on our website, accessorycouncilorg, we have a lot of that information too, but the newsletter that's our weekly gospel. Follow that.

Speaker 2:

Perfect. This is a great way to wrap up. How, karen, can we find you follow you and, ps, I'm so having you back for a State of the Union Like you've just? You're officially part of my roster, so lucky you check check.

Speaker 1:

Thank you.

Speaker 2:

How can we learn more about Accessories?

Speaker 1:

Council. You can. You can call me. We have a small passionate team and we love talking to brands. We love listening and learning the stories and then trying to figure out how they fit into our ecosystem where we can best help. So I'm Karen at AccessoriesCouncilorg. You can go on the website and contact us. We love it when people reach out, we love it when they follow the newsletters and we love it when they show up in person.

Speaker 2:

Perfect, karen, you're coming back. Thank you so much for joining us today. I'll see you soon, absolutely. Thanks for listening. Don't forget to rate and review, and follow us on every single platform at handbag designer. Thanks so much. See you next time.

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Emily Blumenthal

Host