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

🎙️ Carrying Craft and Clarity: How Adriana Castro Built a Lasting Brand | Emily Blumenthal & Adriana Castro

• Emily Blumenthal • Season 1

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What if the secret to growth isn’t chasing the next trend—but carrying a dream with enough grit to outlast them? In this episode, Adriana Castro shares how she turned Colombian craftsmanship and business discipline into a timeless accessories brand. Leaving a safe corporate path for design school, she transformed professors into mentors and built her first collection—and its production—from the ground up in Barranquilla. Adriana breaks down her hybrid strategy of pairing indigenous natural fibers with noble, long-lasting materials, and how stewardship programs like “certificates of adoption” can give accessories deeper meaning and legacy.

The conversation gets real about pricing, margins, and the danger of designing aspirationally without scale. Adriana opens up about balancing passion projects with profitability, identifying her true customer through data, and letting hero products carry the brand. From Sarah Jessica Parker rewearing the Eva Clutch to navigating the mental health side of entrepreneurship, Adriana’s story is both grounded and inspiring—a reminder that longevity comes from clarity, consistency, and care.

đź’ˇ Key Takeaways:

  1. Design with Purpose: Pair heritage craftsmanship with modern functionality to create lasting relevance.


  2. Price with Precision: Know your costs, protect your margins, and let data—not ego—guide decisions.


  3. Sustain the Maker: Longevity in business starts with valuing the people and energy behind every piece.



👤 Our Guest:

Adriana Castro is the founder and creative director of Adriana Castro, a Colombian luxury accessories brand celebrated for its craftsmanship, sustainable practices, and timeless design. Her work bridges artistry and entrepreneurship, honoring her heritage while redefining what it means to build a brand with purpose and endurance.

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.

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SPEAKER_01:

You know, like everyone would tell me follow a dream. Like, I don't agree with the follow a dream. I connect more with carry a dream because it's heavy. It's very heavy to carry a dream, like carry handbag. Like you have to carry with all the lessons, you know, with all the changes we have, like political wise, you know, like economy. Like there's so many things happening in technology. So I do see like my career as carrying a dream. Like that's how I see myself out there.

SPEAKER_00:

Hi, and welcome to Handbag Designer 101, the podcast, with your host, Emily Blumenthal, handbag industry expert, and the handbag parry godmother. Each week we uncover the stories behind the handbags we love, from the iconic brands and top designers, 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 deep to it all. Welcome, Adriana Castro of Adriana Castro of Adrianacastro.co. Thank you, thank you, thank you for joining us. I am delighted to see your beautiful Colombian slash Miami face. So happy to have you.

SPEAKER_01:

I'm so excited and it feels like the old days. Like I was so nervous before receiving the call. Like the old days happened and I didn't want to win awards. Like you made me like remember that spark and feeling of feeling excited about, you know, about your career and your basic like career highlights. So I'm so happy and thankful I'm here with you. And no matter the years, that that connection is still there. And I'm still learning with from you every week with your newsletter.

SPEAKER_00:

I still feel you're a student. Oh my God. Well, I still have the video of you from 2009. The one thing about you that you're very lucky is that you always photograph very well. So, you know, as long as you stay pretty and talented, I don't think it matters about anything else with you. So I think you're good. You look the same. Oh my goodness. So, you know, she's from Columbia, Ms. Castro. How did the handbag come to be? Because it has been a long, long road to, as we were just talking about the evolution backwards, how when you and I started, there was no social media to the extent it was like you had a website and you went on the road meeting your customers one by one. And now your customers are so excited that they just want to call you and have a chat. So, how did all this come to be?

SPEAKER_01:

It's been like a really interesting experience because I think through the years, you know, technology advances, um, everything goes so fast. And now it's like we're going backwards. But I think it's it's really magical to go back because I think, you know, the customer out there wants to connect with you, with the story behind it, not only with the story, but the hands behind it, and kind of, you know, find that little shopping experience like human. I think that's their reaction to what they're feeling, you know, like that emptiness. So they I think that's like their way to get back. And also there's creating something in us creators that we enjoy that process. And we are reminded why are we here, why are we here to create, and how it should feel. It should feel exciting and passionate and purposeful. So that's where we are now, like going backwards, but I don't even call it backwards. I think for me it's always forward, even though you know there are some let's call like Asian traditions, like kind of like being born now with that new approach to shopping. But I think it's it's really magical for us, and I think, you know, like we're accepting it like in a beautiful way.

SPEAKER_00:

But you you started designing like your bags were made in Colombia. You were very much part of the whole, you know, because I know at one point Columbia was really, really, really pushing, trying to get manufacturing done domestically and using the leathers and using the skins, whatever skins now are, you know, legal and acceptable. They may have been then, not so much now. How did all this come to be? Because I know with your brand, aka Adriana Castro, you've been through a lot of iterations of seeing what worked, what didn't. And I think also having an eponymous brand, i.e., a brand named after yourself, there's a lot of I don't want to say like ego swallowing, where you start out thinking you're one big thing and then it hits you in the face, like, hold on, I'm just trying to sell handbags. So it's not about me, it's not about like over the top and selling these really expensive bags. It's about selling bags to make people happy. So, how did all this start?

SPEAKER_01:

So now that I like I think about the purpose of starting, I'm very paradoxic. Like in Spanish, paradoja. So when I started, I had this, you know, like this innate feeling to support indigenous communities, artisans, working with sustainable materials, with natural fibers. But at the same time, I was inclined to create pieces that would like be inherited from generation to generation. And that's where noble materials and exotics came through it. So I remember when starting, I had these two kind of radical opponents in my head. But I did start, you know, I said it's possible, why not? I I don't consider myself to be only like noble exotic materials because I have this root inside of me, and that's how that bag called that Senu bag was always present, made by indigenous communities in the Caribbean. But you also had, you know, like the Python, the croc, and all these noble materials, because I really thought, you know, in some way they connected, you know, like this is for me, this is essence, this is root, this is purpose. And at the same time, this is something that's gonna be forever. You know, like I even started with the birth certificate. I don't know, when we're when I was a kid, we had the cabbage patch kit. I was just gonna say, yeah, and I I remember that feeling. So we have with all this noble material handbags, we have this adopt with love. You know, you get the birth certificate and then just passing that through generation to generation. So that's how it started with this both markets, because at the end it's like totally different markets, you know, like you have the raffia, the natural fibers, and then you have the noble materials. So kind of it started, Colombia was always present. I love more than selling a product and more than creating a handbag, I love telling stories, and I do find myself expressing through fashion. I just found, you know, I had so many things inside of me that not a product could talk about it. I needed a whole story, and I think that's how I really started like in my career and with the brand, because I did feel like I needed it. It's something I needed it to tell a story. Since I remember I have this in my head from many years ago, like carry a dream. You know, like everyone would tell me follow a dream. Like I don't agree with the follow a dream. I connect more with carry a dream because it's heavy. It's very heavy to carry a dream, like carry handbag. Like you have to carry with all the lessons, you know, with all the changes we have, like like political wise, you know, like economy. Like there's so many things happening in technology. So I do see like my career as carrying a dream. Like that's how I see myself out there and being real of the challenges. You know, I had a few like personal challenges. I lost my dad, you know, like some like I lost a person I love. So all these lessons is life, you know, taught me to really be out there telling the real story, you know. Like I think like mental health is no, it's out there and kind of, you know, it's sometimes even creativity can help you with with these issues. Just finding the way to express what you are feeling through stories, through products, through creation. So basically that's how I see myself out there like carrying a dream.

SPEAKER_00:

But what was the moment? Like, where were you when you were like, okay, I have this idea. I'm not, you know, it's not like you came from a family that had access to a handbag factory, right? Like I met you as a result of the handbag awards, which I'm very, very grateful that I had the foresight to create an award show that I get to meet really great people like yourself. I mean, selfishly, that's kind of like, you know, if you can't beat them, join them, create an awards where you can meet them. So, so how are you like one day, like, hey, I know that they're indigenous peoples who are creating these tapestries and very thoughtful ways of making skins and materials? And I would like to be their advocate and proponent to save those cherished heritage ways of making a bag. And I want to be this agent. Like, when did all this happen? What were you doing that were you're like, because it's always like, you know, it's it's it's sitting in your head, and then it takes residency, and then you find yourself, and I talk about this a lot, that most of the people who end up falling into handbag design who were not trained in design are usually very rational, very thoughtful, very methodical people who are not crazy, they're not spenders, they're not, you know, I'm gonna dump a thousand million dollars on something. But when this idea gets in their head, they become very irrational, non-logical, very almost irresponsible people. Like, I've got this, I'm gonna spend all my time, effort, and energy and money, I'm gonna do that. And then, you know, it takes time and experience and all that to once you've gone through it, to be like, okay, I don't need to create this bespoke lining in Italy because my customers don't care about that. Like, you gotta separate yourself. But what when did all this come to be that you're like, think I'm gonna do this? And it doesn't make sense, but I know my soul needs this.

SPEAKER_01:

This is like a really interesting story. So, like, I graduated from American high school in Barranquilla, Colombia. When I graduated, I went to Purdue to study economics, Emily. You know, my mom studied economics, and I think, you know, as a kid, you always have like that person you look up to. So I don't know, I had economics in my mind. I came to the US and I studied economics four years in West Lafayette, Indiana. There was no fashion, there's only corn. So I'm surprised I don't have like a corn bag.

SPEAKER_00:

But you know, it's funny because I know a lot of people from other countries when they come to the US, they end up in like tiny dot USA. And you're like, you know, the people in tiny dot USA are like, what's this beautiful girl from Columbia doing here? And you're like, Well, this is the first place that took me, the only place that took me where I had to get the hell out and I wanted, I needed to start somewhere.

SPEAKER_01:

So then I graduate, I get a job Sony Corporate in Miami, like just after school. All my friends would tell me that's the dream job. Right, of course. I was counting the hours, like I'm like, this can't feel right. Yeah, I remember that feeling. I was 21 and everything like a line. I know it's like everyday things that happening in the US with immigrants, and so I remember for some reason I had that OPT. You know, you graduate from an American school, you get one year to work, right? And the the company has to sponsor you to continue working in the US. For some reason, at that moment, they were not sponsoring. And I just sat there, I said, you know what? I'm going all the way. Something that I've I always loved. I always loved handbags, not fashion. It was like my mom would tell me since I'm a kid, I'd always just like see the handbag. Like it was crazy. Maybe because I'm from the Caribbean, we are like beige, linen, whites. So for me, the magic was all in the accessory. So I reached out to the Art Institute in Miami and I did the whole thing. I'm saying, I'm staying, I'm studying again, I'm doing this all over again. So imagine how the universe just puts some times, you know, like maybe I was 21. Now maybe I'm more like awake, and maybe you feel more like, you know, you feel this the signals more. But at that time, it was like a forced frame, a forced direction. Because, you know, like I like everything legal, everything has to feel right. And at that moment, I I went to school. And being in school, I already had the economics background. So I was only focusing on the fashion classes. It was like it was fun, you know, because all the other things I already did it. Like you're like sure, the microeconomics, like the whole, the whole boring part for me, I was doing all that created. And I remember I would use all the professors at the end of classes, like, you know, like my friends mentoring. Like I'm like, I want to stay with you. You know, I have this dream. I remember my first collection was called Amazonia. I remember in school, like I was just launching a collection right in school. Like I was going all the way there. When I now that I look back, I'm like, wow, maybe if I knew more, maybe I wouldn't jump in. But it was it was meant to be that way.

SPEAKER_00:

So I remember I launched my first collection in school. 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 and Noble, or wherever you get your books. Thanks for your support. Can I tell you? I'm so interrupting you. People complain about me interrupting all the time, but I have to tell you. No, no, no, no, because the thing is that most people don't do, and you're like one of the few people I know. Like when I launched my brand, I was getting my MBA. I used every single professor. And I think maybe because it's the second round of school, your lens is different. Like you're much more not transactional, but like you're seeing everything as a utility, like more practical, right? More practical. Like I have someone who's an expert. I have someone who can look at this. I've said, like, okay, so you're gonna be my mentor. Guess what? You didn't sign up for it, you didn't ask, but I've hired you. That's it. So, you know, you're using everything at your disposal. So I I like live for the hustle. That's my jam. This is why I still am obsessed with you. Exactly. Because that's the thing.

SPEAKER_01:

Like, you knew you and I felt lost because I had the economics problems, I felt so lost being like in this science school. I felt like so lost. And then I would see the other students felt so lost with the things I already did and were easy for me. I'm like, Professor, I need you. Like, I don't, I don't know how you to how to do a mood. Like, I was so like, what am I supposed to do? Like, what is this? Yeah. And that's how it started. I remember launching in South of Fifth. I remember in a club. It was the first fashion show. I was in a club. I was in a club. I remember like it seemed like yesterday, but a lot has been going on after. And that's how it started. It's now that I see it, I'm like, wow, what were you doing? Like a fashion show? Like it's like like so many, you know, everything has changed. Now, you know, you do presentations, you show one by one. It's like so different. But the moment is what I knew, and it worked out. And I remember when I started, I got a showroom in New York. Her name is Rita Overset. She was amazing. She also had her own brand with the family, like a handback brand. So she guided me. And I started with her. And when we were there, the buyers started to come in, ordering. And that's how the team of Patricia Field from Six in the City got there. And they pick up of some of the bags and they for the second movie. And they were there. And I was like, at that time, I didn't have an atelier. I didn't have, I just had like an outsource workshop working for us. And then at that time I had to like run to find my own production. Someone make the damn bags. But so in theory, everything is so different. And then in practice, it's like just take a plane and like you know, like with those samples, just go and figure it out and and and look for production. That's how we started our own little workshop in Barranquilla. It was it was because we needed it, it was like forced too. And that's how it all started. And I I just knew Colombia was the you know, was the country where to start. There were my roots. And then with time, we started also working not only with Colombian artisans, but also, you know, like from Spain as well, from Italy. So kind of, you know, finding that same ethic in any in other countries, right? So kind of it all started.

SPEAKER_00:

It's crazy though, isn't it? But now just a question because your bags have always been on the luxe side. Did you find that your price point hindered your growth? Or you dug your heels in and said, This is who I am, it doesn't matter. You know, they're gonna have to follow me because there's a lot of a lot of designers, a lot of new designers who don't understand pricing. And because they don't have orders against their bags or don't understand the laws, the basic laws of economies of scale, you know, the more you produce, the less your goods cost, that they assume that the only way they can do this is by charging upwards of seven to eight hundred a bag when the materials may or not be worth it. But that's what the only way they can make money is to charge that price point. And by doing basic competitive analysis, like who do I hang with or sit with as the buyers ask? You learn, like, oh damn, like I'm an unknown brand. Maybe my bags do cost too much, or maybe my bags cost this, but I'm I'm sticking to it. Like, how did you handle that? Because there's a lot of pros and cons and challenges that come with the fundamentals of pricing when you're a new brand and have orders, but don't have sales against it, or the other way around.

SPEAKER_01:

I remember your book was a lot of help at that time. Like the Hamper designed in 101. I remember like I had two versions, one that I highlighted and one that I wanted to keep. Oh my god. So I think you as a creator, you sometimes you feel connected to a piece, you know, that maybe it doesn't make sense to a buyer or the market. But I think you have to create that hybrid momentum when you are making a collection. So I think you do now that I go back, maybe at the moment I didn't know a lot about the fundamentals of pricing. I know the basics. And then maybe I was not making, you know, like enough for like margin for a product. But then kind of in in the way, like there was like a hybrid mix to it, you know, like sometimes you are losing in one, but you're you feel it's you and you want it there and you don't want to ruin the whole curve, you know, for pricing or for like the category where you're at the store. And I think I had to like we had to play with it. But I do think the most important to have that clear before starting. Like I think it that process could save you a lot of money and a lot of time to have those fundamentals of pricing like really clear and knowing, you know, I'm a creator. Try to find the best way to have something, you know, like you feel it's your brand, but don't forget about the customer and what they're willing to pay for it. Like you have to be more realistic. Sometimes we as creators, sometimes we we are in the clouds. So you we need that, you know, that financial kind of comeback, you know, like that person that could guide you, you know, like two combines, like you, like you have the creativity, but you are down to earth, like and you know business, you know. So that's like the the perfect mix, even to kind of apply that to all the collections you design too. You have to have that, you know, that dream there, but you have to have the realistic approach to the market as well.

SPEAKER_00:

It's really, really tricky. I mean, just because I know your bags are made with finer materials, and I think, you know, the good thing about being Latin or Caribbean or or Colombian or even being from Miami is by culture, you have a lot of people around you.

SPEAKER_01:

Like it's you know what, Emily? It's it's so crazy. If you tell me who our customer is, it's not any of those. It's it's it's crazy. Like it's not like like it's not like the Miami, it's not like the Colombians, not the Latins. I think we have learned in the way, like maybe at first, like we we are designing for that culture because we are Colombians or we're Latins, but then it's so beautiful the process, like this connects with uh other markets, like totally opposite of where you come from. It's it's interesting.

SPEAKER_00:

No, that's such a good segue, but to start, you know, it it helps. We're only yeah, we're only as we're only and that's one of the things like I I teach, like you know, you have no brand if you have no community, and that's so important. You need to as someone who's creating something, you need to create that community. So I feel like not that you started at an advantage, but you had an insta community purely as a result of it being you, right? Yeah. You have a look, you had you represent the aspirational Adriana Castro customer. By no means though, and this is one of the takeaways from having done several incubators, that so many designers don't take the time to do the the analytics of of doing a deep dive of the zip codes of their customers. And when you do that, uh you're able to see from a socioeconomic level of where these people are coming from. And that's when you realize, hey, now, these aren't all beautiful people from Miami. This is someone from Chicago or Evanston or from Texas or Louisiana or and because and I've told this story before, I had one designer who was grossing a million, about a million dollars, not net gross. And when I was trying to help her get acquired, my MA, my mergers and acquisitions contact said, How many employees does she have? And all this ties into like this bigger story. And when I said, Oh, it's great, you know, there's one and a half, she's got an assistant and she's got half a part-time person. And he's like, Well, that's a red flag. And I said, What do you mean that's a red flag? It's amazing, it's a much easier position. Like it's it's lean. And he's like, No, because then the brand's all about her. So I can't sell her brand because that's selling her. And when the customers are buying the product, it needs to be about the bag, not about the creator. And the further away you get from the product and knowing it can sell without you, because that's really what it is. Because the person in tiny dot USA, pardon my French, doesn't give a shit that you're this beautiful girl from from Columbia and lives in Miami.

SPEAKER_01:

They don't even maybe know you. Yeah.

SPEAKER_00:

Exactly. Because the product needs to sell itself. And I think that is a learning curve process. And, you know, the amount of pop-ups and door to door, like and meet the designers. Like you could do those till you're blue in the face, and that helps breed momentum and noise, but that's not going to be the consistent to keep your product selling. And I think that's what a lot of people need to have to go through that whole experience of I'm a designer, I'm a creator, my bags are$800 to get to that point to realize, hey, now it's not about me. My bag needs to sell many, many times without me even being part of the process.

SPEAKER_01:

You know what really I enjoy when when I see someone with my bag, you know, and like they don't like, I'm there, they don't even know, you know, how about the bag? And then I have this, if it this is crazy. I have this story with a friend we met in an elevator. She's also a designer from New York. Her name is Kimberly Taylor, and we met in an elevator. Like I was wearing my bag, and she she's in the elevator, and she's like, Oh, I also own an Adriana Castor bag. Like, that's what she said. I'm like, hi, I'm Adriana. It's like, oh, no way. It was like that's like where you know you are doing things right. You know, like I know people like, you know, like they can say the brand needs the founder, you need to connect, you have to be out there, the story. But that's an example, like that it really told me, you know, something is you are doing something right. And from then it's like a whole new connection. We're doing like collaborations, pop-ups in the hamps. It's like crazy. Like, and she didn't even know who I was. She was buying right the bag from a store, and it was like she's even promoting it to me, like, oh, I have this Arena Castro bag. I'm like, she doesn't know I'm I'm like, that's like thank your universe.

SPEAKER_00:

Yeah, it's it's those little moments though that that keep you going because look, running a brand is one thing, but being a designer, having to deal with, you know, production, tariffs, accounts payable, accounts receivable, like all that. It's not sexy, it's not pretty, it's not cute. You know, that makes 80% of your business is not the product. It's all that other bullshit to keep your product going.

SPEAKER_01:

And even Emily, your life going because you still have to pay bills, like besides the business, like you have to take care, you know, of your own business, like your own personal business. So it's like you have like two, as you said, like two realities, and it's not all cute. You know, it's like a lot of pressure and like in both ways because you like you have to have like both things covered.

SPEAKER_00:

Right, right, right, right. And it's it's very isolating and lonely, especially doing what we do, doing what you do. It is a very lonely, lonely process. And like having this need, and and I applaud the fact that your brand is still going and you still look exactly the same as you did when I met you. But it's a lot of evolution, and people don't seem to realize the commitment that goes into doing this because at one point maybe it was a hobby, or maybe you thought it was a business, and it may or may not have been making money. But 10 years later, the lens of what you're looking, it's different. It's like, no way, it's that sales. My bags need to go. Like, you know, it's not so much about like, what's the next collection? It's like, what are my numbers? What's selling? How can I capitalize on my hero bag or my anchor product and extend from that? So I know that if 80% of my business comes from 20% of my customers, how can I keep this 20% feeling like queens that they get the special attention so I can get them to come back and buy again and again and again? If you ever wanted to start a handbag brand and didn't know where to start, this is for you. If you had dreams of becoming a handbag designer but aren't trained in design, this is for you. If you have a handbag brand and need strategy and direction, this is for you. I'm Emily Blumenthal, handbag designer expert and handbag fairy godmother, and this is the handbag designer 101 masterclass. Over the next 10 classes, I will break down everything you need to know to make, manufacture, and market a handbag brand. Broken down to ensure that you will not only skip steps in the handbag building process, but also to save money to avoid the learning curve of costly mistakes. For the past 20 years, I've been teaching at the top fashion universities in New York City, wrote the handbag designer Bible, founded the handbag awards, and created the only handbag designer podcast. I'm going to show you like I have countless brands to create in this in depth course, from sketch to sample to sale. Whether you're just starting out and don't even know where to start up again, or if you've had a brand and need some strategic direction, the handbag designer 101 masterclass is just for you. So let's get started, and you'll be the creator of the next it bag. Join me, Emily Blumenthal, in the Handbag Designer 101 masterclass. So be sure to sign up at Emily Blumenthal.com slash masterclass. And type in the code INCAST to get 10% off your masterclass today.

SPEAKER_01:

And also besides that, it's like also understanding what your body and your soul and your mind can't can deliver, you know? So it's like doing that balance. I think once you you have a few years in the industry, now you understand. You know, it's like it's numbers, but at the same time, what can you deliver? You know, it's like like how how can you balance that equation? And that's I think I found it very interesting. And learning, you know, like not feeling guilt if you are not delivering X amount of styles a year or a season, like just like releasing that guilt and kind of do things more purposeful, basically.

SPEAKER_00:

Yeah, it definitely takes a lot to look at it from because you know, you're taught commercially, we need to be producing this many a season and this, and we need to have new product. And you know, historically, when we were obsessed with getting into these big, big retailers, because that when we were coming up, that was that was the vibe. That if they saw the same product and you were trying to get in the store again and you showed them the same product, if that same buyer was there, she'd be like, I saw that already. Why are you wasting my time?

SPEAKER_01:

Emily, now you say that and it's so funny. Like they are still or like they still order the bags like from 10 years ago, and it's so funny. Like, and now, like they see like even not even because they're not in the website. I think they go through Pinterest or they go through, you know, like Google archives or something. Like, you still make this? I'm like, it's it's so it's beautiful to have created some pieces, like no matter the years, they're timeless, and people still value, you know, like that style. So that's very interesting. It's like they want new product, but then like now it's like, no, no, can we just repeat the same style? Can we get that one back? So it's it's nice, you know, it's like a learning experience, you know. Like sometimes we're so focused on delivering, delivering new, new, new. And sometimes you have magic already there that just needs to be re recreated. And even in financial terms, it makes sense because you're not making new prototypes, you know, you aren't like there's a lot behind to it. So I think just releasing that guild of recreating styles and recreating some, you know, some archives, that's I think I found it really important in this part of the of the brand.

SPEAKER_00:

But you know, to that point, it's funny because what I created, this section called It Bag with New York now, was purely as a result of exactly what you're talking about. Because as independent designers, I hate the term emerging, people know that it's like pet peeve of mine. Like if you've been doing it for five years, you've emerged. Like, like you know, like you've grown. Like, what is there? Like, I'm still an undercover. But buyers and your customers know you for a handful, maybe three at most of your anchor pieces or your best-selling bags. So to feel like that pressure and guilt to I need to constantly reinvent the wheel. No, you don't. You don't. You redo much like the motorcycle bag or the city bag about Ciaga, you keep putting it out, change the material, change the shape slightly. But if that's what your customer base wants, then that's what you should give them.

SPEAKER_01:

So you love it too. Like, if you still love it, like why just like because it's you can't disappear. It's like I don't, it's like being like, you know, it's like I don't know, it's like losing like a little of soul. Like, okay, like it's like in Spanish it's como desechable, like something that is like one date gone, you know, like right, right.

SPEAKER_00:

Like if you love those pair of jeans, you're gonna keep wearing them over and over and over again. And for whatever you keep might be might buy new pairs of jeans, you're always gonna go back to this one pair because of how it makes you feel. So why not keep putting out the same product and an iteration of that to keep that 20% happy than to feel that pressure and expense, like to create new product? It's expensive. Not only, you know, the sampling doesn't matter who you are, you still have to pay for sampling. Then it comes in, then it's not right, then you have to do the test drive, just like anything else. What's wrong? And the sell-in, it's like a customer acquisition cost because then you need to tell your customers, like, hey there, I got a new bag, and they're like, but I'm happy with this one. Why? Why?

SPEAKER_01:

Just why? I'm gonna share like a little story that was kind of related to what we're talking about. So, like Insects in the CD2, okay, Sar Jessica Parker, Curry, like it's called the Eva clutch, right? And that that was done, and then fast forward, and just like that, you know, I'm watching, and I remember my dad passed away January 3rd, and I remember his mask was January 6th. I go back home, I put on the TV, and then she walks in with like an empty, I remember, empty white um apartment she was gonna move after Big passed away, and then she's carrying the same bag in and just like that, and imagine how many years passed. I didn't know that that's not a customer, that's her. And I'm like, what's this? Is this like data signal? Like I have to keep going, creating timeless pieces. And then I was kind of curious how did that happen? You know, it's because I there was no stylist reaching out. No, and Patricia Field wasn't part of it. No, nothing. And then I asked, and then it was like she had it like from her archives, it was hers. She brought it to the set, and I'm like, she's not my customer, she doesn't even like, I'm not her friend. Like, she doesn't know who I am. She doesn't know. I remember I met her at the premiere, but I'm sure she doesn't remember at all who I am. But she carried the bag, she brought it to the set, and it was again and just like that. And I'm like, how'd you find out? No, so like I went in to through Instagram and I said, like, I just want to know, like, how no. She brought it to the set. That's part of her archive. Like, that's because she I remember when the Sex in the City 2 happened, we were asked if we wanted to gift her one of the pieces she liked. And she liked that one. I'm like, yes, you know what? She likes she she likes it, she she wants it. Like, let her have it. Bye con Dios, enjoy. But I didn't know, you know, she kept it all these years. You know how you see all these influencers everything like selling their closets and it's part of the new energy, but I was so happy she kept it, and not only that, she brought it to the set, and she was in one of the episodes. I'm like, wow, like so. That's what you said. It's like even her, she's not a customer, she's kind of confirming the theory we're talking about. It's like there's some circumstances if like the change. Like when I see a previous pieces, maybe what I feel for them now it's different. Like things change, energies change. So, like, you know, it's like sometimes now I want like those pieces back and I wear them. I'm like, wow, they feel so new again.

SPEAKER_00:

Very, very, very like what was I thinking? I know.

SPEAKER_01:

So that was a story, it really like kind of confirmed, you know, like timeless, then you could create timeless pieces, you could do noble materials again, like the adopt with love. If you have something, you know, like you don't feel now, like why not, you know, your friend or someone you know adopt that bag, but you promise to love that bag forever. Like you are like giving something special to that person. So it was very, you know, it was kind of reaffirming that after I saw Sarazica Parker so many years. I think it was 10 years after, like 12, yeah, right?

SPEAKER_00:

Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah. Yeah. Wow, wow. So you're part of iconic history twice. That's I remember because I remember talking to Carlos Fauci about your bag because he was one of the judges. And, you know, he had a lot of feelings being Brazilian and seeing he's like, she's very inspired. And I'm like, she's not inspired by you. I can tell you that. Like you are inspirational, but she's from Colombia. Like, she's got her own thing going on. And I said, you know, the beautiful thing about being care uh from the Caribbean and being South American, and like you said, this very clean palette, much like what you're wearing in your very clean walls and light fixtures, which I'm like, oh my God, there's no fingerprints all over them. I it's it's one of those things that it would make sense that the same thing that would influence him would influence you. Because the cultural characteristics are the same. And this yearn for color and creativity in this very clean palette for those who can will, and you are just one of those people.

SPEAKER_01:

So I will like honestly, he was uh like I really admire him, and I just found so magical his story, like like you know, like all his background and and like it would I really admire him, and you know, it was like I also met him through you. And so yeah, so I'm sorry, he was also he created a legacy, and now I know I was trying to get in contact with his brother in New York because I I had that little commitment, you know, to say, you know, I really love what your father did, and I know they're doing now handbacks made by the brother. So for some reason, I was like, all those stories they still are in my heart, and I try to connect, you know, when things, you know, it's it's weird. I I saw he was still creating, I'm like, wow, he's still alive. And that for me, that was like very I know it was a happy moment to feel like he's still alive.

SPEAKER_00:

Yeah, yeah. Oh my gosh, Adrianola, thank you so much for joining us.

SPEAKER_01:

It was like a very happy Friday. Like you made my day. Oh, you know, like I I love remembering, you know, like old times and and just uh confirm myself why I'm doing this, and it's like it's motivation as well for me. And I hope for other creators and all your students. I hope one day I can attend your class.

SPEAKER_00:

Oh my god, I'm gonna have you as a guest speaker next uh next next semester. You're gonna be one of my guest speakers. I can't wait. Adriana, how can we find you, follow you and buy your beautiful product?

SPEAKER_01:

So the website's adrianacastro.co, and then you can follow us on Instagram at Adriana Castro as well. And I love you know being in contact, like real contact. So like don't like write my name. I want I want to really like connect with you, and and I hope this is just like a little window to connect with your followers as well.

SPEAKER_00:

Oh my goodness. Well, and for those people who aren't as cool, it's Adriana with one N, not you. And Castro Colombia, not Colombia, right? Oh my god, please. Yeah, with it's no, not a you. Wake up. Oh my goodness. Thank you, thank you. Like I won another award from Handley's under 101. Oh my gosh. Well, the handbag awards and myself, thank you. Thank you so much. 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