A Founder’s Story

“Where art and fashion collide”

Let’s chat about something close to my heart, what I've been dreaming of creating for the last five years—perhaps my whole adult life.

Back in 2012, as university was nearing an end, I dreamt of my next chapter. I was beginning to realize that a fashion degree doesn't necessarily lead directly to a job. In fact, the available jobs are so far from what one imagines when earning a degree that I felt my creative dreams being crushed.

I come from a family of entrepreneurs, business founders, small business owners—call it what you will. At that point, I realized I never actually envisioned myself working for anyone else.

So, after sifting through job sites and getting nowhere, I conceived my first business model—Designer Of Tomorrow. It was to be a marketplace for people like me, who finish their creative degrees with much to show the world but no platform to showcase it. Most fashion design jobs tend to stifle creativity, confining you to a box and dictating exactly how things should look and feel, leaving your input minimal.

Designers Of Tomorrow was meant to be a place where young, emerging creatives could share and sell their work and ideas, gaining visibility among a broader spectrum of employers.

So what happened, you ask? I diverted to handbag restoration. Sadly, it was due to the big 'C.' My stepdad passed away, leaving my mum to run their business alone. Fresh out of university, with no job prospects, I joined the family business.

The business was a leather training company, focused mainly on furniture and car restoration; handbag restoration wasn’t prevalent then. After a few months, an opportunity to establish a sister company arose—The Handbag Spa. This became one of the UK's first services of its kind, and I led the charge. I built the business from the ground up, creating a website, a Facebook page, and later, a network of over 100 drop-off points across the UK. The business expanded, including an appearance on Dragon’s Den. My mum and I pitched for investment in the franchise aspect of the business. I sold my first franchise at 24 and aimed for global reach. The dragons didn't invest, but the exposure spurred significant growth. We had about ten staff at our peak, but eventually, all good things come to an end. In my late twenties, eager to live abroad, I left The Handbag Spa and moved to Sydney, Australia, with my long-term partner and small dog to start anew.

In 2018, Bagsamoré was born.

I intended for Bagsamoré to differ from The Handbag Spa—perhaps in buying and selling handbags or offering artwork on them. But it evolved into a similar business, which was advantageous in some ways; it allowed me to immediately leverage my UK skills and teach new employees. However, the COVID pandemic hit, and as a small business owner, it was a challenging time. Deciding to downsize, I let my staff go and worked from home. The isolation of working alone began to wear on me, and I longed for a return to creativity.

Now, in 2023, I've launched ArtBag, merging my skills and passions. Inspired by my post-university idea, it's a platform for artists to showcase their work in a novel way: through handbags. ArtBag combines my love for sustainable fashion and restoration with a creative twist, turning each handbag into a work of art. There will be ArtBags for sale, painted by our resident artists, and options to commission custom artwork for your own bags. It’s a chance to revitalise that beloved, forgotten bag in your wardrobe into a bespoke piece of art—a 'passion asset.'