mark. meets Handbag Designer

The mark. interns got to meet the handbag designer Rebecca Minkoff!  

Rebecca Minkoff dove into her design career at age 8!  It all began when she wanted new clothing, and her mother refused to pay for the latest trends that Rebecca would soon grow out of.  So, Rebecca learned to sew, and she has been designing ever since.

After high school, Rebecca jumped right into the "real world" and earned an internship with a designer, Craig Taylor.  She survived the first few weeks of doing the office's dirty work (cleaning and organizing a product closet) and proved to everyone that she was there to stay and learn.  After three years she was promoted to Design Assistant, and three years after that, to Assistant Designer.

After working and absorbing as much knowledge as possible, Rebecca took a chance and began designing her own clothes and presenting them to vendors.  She did this (while still working at her primary job) for six months, before they found out what she was up to and fired her.  This set back was one of the best things that happened to Rebecca because from there, she was forced to pursue her own line.  

Rebecca's line took off on September 9, 2001 when she created a special "I LOVE NY" t-shirt for Dharma and Greg's main character, Dharma to wear on a late night show.  A few days later, the 9/11 attacks happened and viewers of the show remembered that shirt.  They saw this shirt as a way to support NY, loved it, and started ordering it.  Rebecca was finally known!  Her company grew from this one t-shirt.  As her design became more and more successful, she look for other ways to expand.  

In order for it to expand, however; she needed a strong central business. In 2005, she asked her brother to be a part of her team and serve as her right hand man.  He accepted, and encouraged her to start designing bags.  Her first bag, "The Morning After Bag" sold out immediately.  SUCCESS!!  Rebecca knew bags were her calling and adapted to focus more on the handbag. 

Lauren Conrad is a huge Minkoff fan, and actually featured the line on one of the episodes of The Hills.  Here they are together!

Rebecca's newest launch is called Ben Minkoff (named after her Grandfather) and is a mens' line.  It's first launch was on April 1st, just as an April Fools joke, but so many men took it seriously and wanted bags of their own.  Rebecca is all about being close to her customers and hearing their voice, so she decided to take a chance and provide a line for men!  

Rebecca Minkoff gets her inspiration from flea markets and vintage pieces, mostly in London and Paris.  She loves traveling and uses it as a way to get rid of "designer block".  She spends 85% of her time creating bags and the rest of the time on her clothing.  Rebecca said bags just come naturally to her and loves designing them!

Rebecca's advice to us was "to be persistent!"  She warned that "this is not a very kind industry"and if we wanted to be in it, "we need to keep our eye on the goal and work our butts off!"

I think the greatest part about Rebecca Minkoff and her collection is that she is very in touch with her customers.  She takes their advice to heart and makes adjustments based on their likes and dislikes.  She also offers re-cuts of bags if enough people are interested in a discontinued one.  I loved that she also made personal appearances to get to know her fans.  She has even thrown exclusive parties for her customers before a launch of a new bag.  How awesome is that?