The Design Process Behind a Handbag Collection
Photo by Cristina Dirnea
I’ve decided to share with you the process behind my last handbag collection:Blossoms. You’ll read about how I came out from sketching ideas, to choosing materials, to designing a range of bags and finally producing my own handbag line.
To have the final collection on my online store I’ve been working for about 3-4 months full days including weekend and sometimes nights.
Find the Inspiration
First I started by identifying my source of inspiration. For a while I collect photos in a moodboard. I keep it online because it’s simpler, organised and fast to explore.
For “Blossoms” I started building the moodboard last spring, when I became aware that I am mostly inspired by the season, nature and flowers. I kept adding photos until I decided upon the collection concept.
The moodboard is essential for me. Not only it charges me emotionally, but it helps me define the course of the collection, the colour palette and to find its story.
Sketch the ideas
The creative part comes naturally. I like to mix ideas, to express them through sketches. If I see something that inspires me (peonies, for example), I try to recreate them into bags, through drawings. I always carry with me a sketch notebook, when I have an idea I take it out and pencil it in.
Decide on Colors and Fabrics.
The concept comes to life when I find the right fabrics. I explore various fabric stores and test different kind of materials until I choose the ones I like.
I believe that design and fabric go hand in hand and they depend on each other. When I create a product from leather it comes naturally to me. I start with the drawing in mind, then I play with the leather, I play with the shapes and volumes, until I see a form that I like. This is something a mere drawing cannot give you.
Documentation
This is one of the most important aspect which helped me to set up the entire concept & story. I’ve studied about forms, proportions of flowers that inspired some of my bags. I’ve asked specialists about the flowers and studied about their evolution, period of blossom and colors. I’ve learned new techniques of manipulating leather to be able to give to some bags an appropriate form of the flowers which inspired me.
Choose the final styles for the collection
Create Patterns and Prototypes
I usually come up with 24 model drawing ideas, but in the end there are only 10-15 styles that I select for the collection and for which I create the patterns.
Produce
Finally it comes the manufacturing process which for me is the hardest one. Why? Because I have no patience until I see the final result.
Then it comes the happiness moment. When I see and my ideas came true.
And the process doesn’t stop here. It comes the Photo Session, Distribution and the Evaluation. But this is another story for a future post…
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