We run the business and there's never a question from season to season . Servers have no incentive not to carry you as long as you're selling Right .
Speaker 2And we always know what's selling . That's also the key . I have full control of which bags customers are buying . I can you know . I monitor the websites and can see what they're buying , so I know what to remake and what not to . If they're outright buying it , you have no . The control is gone .
Speaker 3Hi 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 , tom Glazer and Alexia Nelson of Graphic Image to Handbag Designer 101 , the podcast . Welcome , guys , welcome , thank you . Thanks for having us .
Speaker 1Yes .
Speaker 3Well , let's just pull the curtain and find out who Oz is behind Graphic Image . What is the story of the name having Graphic Image being a handbag brand and it's actually Gigi New York , but it isn't Talk to me about what that is .
So Graphic Image is the original company parent company that was started in 1977 . And my father used the name Graphic Image because he was a graphic artist for 10 years before he intended to start his own business . So there's a long story there , but we'll just fast forward for now to where Gigi came about . The recession in 2009 was tough for everybody and we were determined to come out of it with a business that stopped going out of business , and by that I mean our main graphic image business was diaries , agendas , which we were afraid . Even though they are running strong . We were afraid that that would end . We watched our main customer department stores in the 80s all go out of business . There were so many more that we used to work with them and we said to ourselves in 2009 , let's make a tote . We were actually already making totes for Victoria's Secret , of all companies .
Speaker 3Private label .
Speaker 1Yeah , we were hired to develop their Airford program .
Speaker 3Oh , wow .
Speaker 1And you know , we were told that we'd be involved until they didn't need us anymore , and that turned out to be better . Anyway , we took the tote bags that we had been making for them . We made one , we put them in the New York gift show , because that was the graphic image market . Today it's called New York Now , or something like that , whatever . We sold like 350 of them and we said , wow , there's a business here . So that was the beginning . As far as the name is concerned , there's really two of them . One would be Graphic Image 2 , g-i-g-i .
Speaker 3Okay , look at that , because Gigi became a very chic name and I thought , oh , someone on trend , look at that . Okay that's .
Speaker 1That's special . So go ahead . It's another part of the name and I had an important Gigi in my family , not her name . What's a Gigi great grandmother ?
Speaker 3ah , look at that . So the double entendre was had absolutely nothing to do with an actual name Gigi . Oh my God , that is epic and PS . Just a quick shout out . The banging we hear in the background is what is that ?
Speaker 2Our factory is right outside the door where we're making our handbags . That's so cool .
Speaker 3Has it always been like that , when you know , as you had said before , we started recording and I don't know if this aligned with the recession but the fact that your predominant production or all of your production is done locally , like you know , peek in and you can watch it being made like that , or was one supposed to fund the other ? And then it was like , screw that , we're ahead of schedule Because , as we all know , pricing is kind of key . And how do you do that with margins to try and keep something affordable , especially when you're working with leather ?
Speaker 1Well , where do I begin ?
Speaker 3We got time , tom , we got time . You've got a secret sauce that I think
people should know about .
Speaker 1We began as bookbinders and nobody had ever really put a high-end fashion leather on a book in any great degree , and there were parts of being in bookbinding that we had to do ourselves because we couldn't contract it on the outside . We could contract printing and such , but eventually we got into making all the leather covers and we established really premier accounts right from the start Barney's , bergdorf , goodman , neiman's , tiffany . That leads to making books for them and having a lot of leftover material . It's called the scrap . We need to learn to make things with that for purposes of costing . So it began with book covers , went on to small leather goods and then over time now we're talking 40 years we graduated into making more and more challenging products .
Speaker 1So now here we are , 2011 , and Gigi's had a very successful handbag launch One bag , one tote . Where do we go from here ? The production on our own . A lot of it had to do with handbag launch One bag , one tote . Where do we go from here ? The production on our own . A lot of it had to do with Tiffany , too . For 30 years we were the only vendor that made any Tiffany product and it had to be made here in the States . And although we still work . Now that Louis Vuitton's there , it's in a very , very different capacity . We're not running the show by any means anymore , but we needed to learn to educate ourselves on how to do it . The Victoria's Secret thing was kind of relevant , because they wanted huge numbers of products introduced on very short order and although we had to use overseas for them , because of the price point , the window of making the product was so short , we had to do all the sampling and development here .
Speaker 3What an education that was .
Speaker 1I can't even imagine . You can't imagine . So we found a way to be able to survive making product here . I'm not a China basher . We have a fantastic plant in China that we can't use anymore because of what they cost . I even go as far to say that as we were learning to make bags , they helped teach us about what we did and what was important , and it was a really , really wonderful experience . But today it's all 100% here , whether it's the books or the business card cases and such , all the way to the handbags , and I think it'd be very difficult to make an inexpensive product here and not to say that we're very expensive .
Speaker 1But you need to . I think you kind of need to be in luxury to afford to be able to sell into the American market . And we chose a price point for our handbags that was elevated . I believe that most people would see them as a step above the mass produced bags in the United States , but we were down below the thousand dollar bags coming out of Europe , so we're probably in our own niche . There's some other companies perhaps that we share that with , but we've found a way to make it work and it's just out of what the invention is something of necessity or whatever . We have great vendors for tanneries . They help a lot too , ensuring that the product is very , very relevant . And I guess , like I said , it's 40 years of . I could never do this overnight , but step by step , by step you know , step by step by step .
Speaker 3So can I ask you though , because totes are and I'm not saying this isn't high labor , but to make a tote is probably the lowest labor handbag that one could do .
Speaker 3So I think you know it was fortuitous that Victoria's Secret had asked you to do something like that . But to expand the labor of creating something new beyond that was that that must have been something hard to come to terms with , price point wise , because the cost , the retail cost of journals and diaries and so forth , is significantly less to the customer than a handbag that is . You know you said it's below a thousand , or what would the price point range be ? And you know you've been around as long as Rebecca Minkoff , who famously made her bags , took it down to I think it was $4.95 from $5.95 or $3.95 from $4.95 . She was the famous one who brought everybody's price points down purely because she did it and had all the face time . So how were you able to grapple with that and saying , okay , if we're going to expand on this category
, how do we not alienate our current customer , or do we have to find a brand new customer for this , because they might not be the same people ?
Speaker 1Well , we were fortunate . We happened to have what at times in our lives has been a cash cow and it's called graphic image . So it allowed us to be very experimental with Gigi and prior to COVID , we took on contract work . We had 50 people in the department and it was very hard to make money there . We did the coterie , the trade shows and we catered to the small store audiences . And we made kind of a switch after COVID which was to really focus on three accounts Well , mainly Saxon , neiman , lucky us today , right and now Nordstrom as well , and the department is more like now .
Speaker 1It's more like 12 to 15 people and we have the luxury of doing small runs and really , really controlling our costs . They're probably and we've already getting the interest because of what's going on politically in the world . There probably are some very larger opportunities out there which I hope we can resist Because it's very civilized right now and we can really focus . Like for Neiman's last year we did six bags that we didn't have to sell to anybody else . One other big customer I left . That was our website .
Speaker 1And it's graphic images having a great run right now . What they're doing is we started making deluxe leather editions of popular books . Wow , and this is just having . It's a giving treat with kids' books , it's all you know . It's having a great moment For those who are watching .
Speaker 3I'm sorry to interrupt . Make sure you turn into the YouTube version of this just purely to see what Tom just held up . It's super cool . That's amazing .
Speaker 2Well , no , I just wanted to jump into the handbag portion because , on the floor , what I found , too that has helped us with our costs , is we've really retained the highest skilled workers out there and we've kind of reinvented bags that we started off with .
Speaker 2So some of our bags that came out in 2012 , we've used those core shapes to kind of reinvent them today and make them a little bit more intricate , with different handles or different pockets , interiors . So the workers have really become quite good at making and skilled at these certain silhouettes that they've , you know , gotten faster and more cost efficient for us , and I work really closely with them to make sure that our you know costing is in mind especially . You know , we change constructions but we really start with the same base . I mean , we just introduced a new bucket bag that originally came out in 2016 . It looks like a completely new bag . So we try to , you know , keep those main bags and then reinvent them a little bit . So that way people are used to making them and have made them in the past , cause a lot of our you know workers who are making the bags have been here for 10 plus years . I mean , they've been here more than that 20 years . So how ?
Speaker 3do you deal with sourcing ? The leather , though ? Are the tannery , the tanneries , domestic , I mean being Garmento offspring forever . Anyone who's listened . I've spoken about this . My dad was a converter and my memory was him going down south , you know , going to the mills . I remember him going to Florida , I remember where Coach used to make bags , all of those places , Like I know . One time a factory couldn't pay him so he came home with cowboy boots , Like you know the crazy things , but you know how , considering the current tariff situation and it's an interesting game of political chicken that's going on right now I believe it can't last forever . You know , at some point things have to change and go back and revert . That's just the nature and the cycle of life and clearly you guys have a leg up for what you've created and I'm sure it's hotter than ever . But how do you deal with sourcing , with that matter ?
Speaker 1If you don't mind me asking no , no , it's fine
. I consider our leather sourcing to be one of the premier strengths of the company and it's because we've been buying elevated leathers since 1990 . And we got to really know all the Italian and French tanneries and made friendships by them . It's also not hard to know what are the top leathers coming out when you're buying from the same tannery Right . Our main tannery is in France , Tannery Danone . They were purchased by Hermes five years ago . Most of the large European brands have bought up different tanneries .
Speaker 3Did that make it difficult for you ?
Speaker 1No , it made it difficult for the brands that they kicked out of the tannery , but we were included . It's a real asset to have a window into what the best brands are making are using for leathers and such Colors . We're surprised at how often Alexi comes up with a palette and we go into the tannery and they're making the same colors .
Speaker 3I do my research . He's on sound .
Speaker 1Yep , the other big advantage . Have you heard of Linea Pell ? Of course , okay . So you go to Linea Pell and you do your homework and you work for three days , you know nine till six o'clock , the whole day , and you come away with like great stuff . We have more things here to pull on than we can do in one season . And we go not , we don't go twice a year , but we don't miss more than two shows consecutive . We'll go back in the fall , and it's basically if you're in the leather world , there's nothing you can't find there .
Speaker 1And for those who don't know , Linea Palais is it's in Milan , used to be in Bologna , and it's a trade show for all the tanneries all the hardware people includes the synthetic people , a lot of the fabric , you know .
Speaker 2All components .
Speaker 1Yeah , I mean I'm trying to think of anything that you would not , you couldn't buy there , that you make a leather , everything is there .
Speaker 3And this is the same show that's in New York , or a different one .
Speaker 2Yes , it is . New York is a much smaller scale . So , you won't see , I mean it's like a quarter , no no , no , it's 1% .
Speaker 1Yeah , that's true , it's over there , but it does have a lot of pre-made tanneries . No , it's . You know , given the quality of what New York pulls in , we always go . It's very , but it becomes more of a meeting place than you know .
Speaker 3Repicking it's social hour . It's social hour , it's very social yeah .
Speaker 1It's hard to get down an aisle in less than two hours . Oh my God .
Speaker 3Has any of this taught you that , especially post-COVID , that you need to hedge your bets and make sure that you have another tannery as a backup , purely because you know if you're working with the best people and they're being acquired ? There's always a chance where you might get a phone call saying , hey guys , so sorry , we can't work with you anymore . Because that , I think , is what a lot of people are dealing with right now , purely because of the tariff situation , saying , oh crap , like what are we going to do ? Do we ship from China and China to Europe and then Europe back ? Like there's an extra layer to put on ? Like I know dealing with a lot of manufacturing , specifically that I am right now with the Middle East . They're not having any issues . Go in China and ship directly to the Middle East , it's super easy . So how do you grapple with all that ?
Speaker 1Well , one thing to realize is that , with all the labor here , the 10% increase in the cost of our leather probably translates to no more than a 2% to 3% increase in the cost of the end product . So it's absorbable . And there's another thing which I didn't mention before , and these tanneries I don't want to share with you because they come from France and Italy . We have great , great contacts and tanneries in various continents around the world and the leather world in general . In the last 20 or 30 years has the expensive leathers have become more expensive and the basic leathers have become less expensive , right , and tanneries that can really churn out good quality leather .
Speaker 1And you've got to be careful If you're going to buy leather in Brazil . There's certain types of leather they make very well . Don't try to buy a smooth piece of calfskin there because it's going to be full of insect bites , right , right . So you know , as you get to know , what you can buy and wear . Like . India is the home of goatskin , all right , there's so many goatskin vendors . You can buy there Beautiful goatskins , and I understand the vulnerability you described . But fortunately , knock on wood for now we're okay .
Speaker 3Right , right , right right . It's so interesting , especially with , like what you said about India versus Brazil . I know there's a lot going on in one little spot in Spain where everybody's going to right now for leather and , in some cases , production .
Speaker 1I know there's this one one city and they're less closely . Spain is fantastic . Yeah , yeah , it really is . There's another way of buying leather , too , and not that I like advertising this . But everybody has odd lots , yeah , and we buy a lot of leather that is like $8 , $9 a foot for half that because it's a leftover color or a leftover . This way , you're not giving anyone quality . I couldn't buy some of these odd lots and send it to another factory , but because I had it here . If it's not working for a handbag , I'm going to make a passport case out of it or something like that . But buying that way , that is an element of our buying and it pays off .
Speaker 2Go ahead . I was just going to say to jump into this and back to the original costing conversation is because we do have graphic image here . We have so many small accessories that we're able to cut all the scrap leather out of , to save costs on everything and able to sell it that way , which is huge , so I could be cutting handbags .
Speaker 2We have a pen . We can make you know leather wrapped pens , luggage tags , pap sport cases , all these really small accessories with all the scraps . So we're using the entire skin which we have the luxury here because we have both brands .
Speaker 1Yeah , everything we could possibly cut . We cut these little patterns out to wrap pens , we send it over to Taiwan and they do it for us .
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Speaker 3So that is a really interesting question topic that you bring up about no wastage . Because number one you guys have tackled and I think are 10 steps ahead of everybody , because sustainability obviously is such a hot topic . Yada yada , leather isn't sustainable . You and I all know that it is because , especially if you're not wasting it , but this idea of no wastage and being so on top of that you're never concerned about . Okay , we're creating pen cases or pen caps . Are you ever worried , like it's great , we're not wasting this leather , but who's going to buy it ? Or you know you'll always have a customer , because that's just as costly of creating a product that you don't know who you're going to sell it to .
Speaker 2Well , most of these products are already on the graphic image side because we have the two brands in house , so we have a whole graphic image line , as Tom was saying earlier . That's , you know , bookbinding . It started as bookbinding but we have the leather wrapped books , but we also have a tremendous amount of accessories . So all those leathers , no matter what , can be put into those products and we can kind of create , you know , new colors , but they're all already there . We have a separate graphic image website that we can . You know . I know , when I'm creating a handbag and I know the leathers and colors we could , I we buy . You know , sometimes similar colors to be like this could easily go into a graphic image product , so we're saving all the leather for it .
Speaker 3Was there any concern about that business ? Especially with the rise of phones and you know , the watch business , the luxury watch business , has skyrocketed . Now who's wearing a watch ? People who want to be seen wearing a watch because it means something Other than that no one is going to wear a watch , like it's status-related . Was that any concern with the evolution of tech ?
Speaker 1Well again , where's the period Our business was founded on this product right here . I thought 20 years ago we would never sell another one at Venture .
Speaker 3And it's a leather diary just for anybody , still our number one product .
Speaker 1So thumb luck , I don't know .
Speaker 2Tech is the . I think certain things with tech , like we don't really go near the phones and watches .
Speaker 1Never make another phone case .
Speaker 2And iPad cases . We stay away from all of that , you know , and . But the journals just resurfaced and diaries came out .
Speaker 1We were very fortunate that we have a very , very solid account base .
Speaker 3Right .
Speaker 1Which , in it , started out in the eighties with all the department stores , and then , and with the B Allman's and the IMAGNA's , all disappeared . It was left Saks , neiman Bergdorf , gryffini and a couple others , and they're still with us . So here's a reinvented product . Five years ago we made this in silver and black for Barney's . Wow , it's an inexpensive shopper . It's not a tote .
Speaker 3Okay , and that's made of leather .
Speaker 1This is actually a synthetic .
Speaker 3Oh , okay .
Speaker 1We don't do any synthetic on Gigi , but the purpose of this thing is literally like there's a bigger one here .
Speaker 3Okay .
Speaker 1And if you're welcoming up , maybe you take this to the grocery store . I don't know .
Speaker 3It's a synthetic shopping bag that says Bergdorf Goodman on it and I think that's very aspirational . I would love to use it , because my target bags I got to say I don't know what status they're bringing me .
Speaker 1I've got a lot of them , so go Baker One of our biggest accounts is the entire Williams-Sonoma group , and it's hard to feed them . They buy so much product , all right , so there are so many different homes for the different products that we make . You know , william Snowman's Pottery Barn , it's Mark and Graham . It's West Elm , it's William Snowman itself . So , having built this customer base for 45 years , it's not a matter of whether they're going to buy from us , but what they're going to buy from us .
Speaker 3That's a hard problem to have , isn't it ? Yeah , buy from us , but what they're going to buy from us , that's a hard problem to have , isn't it that's ? And do you attribute all of that to the fact that you have in-house production ? Do you think that is a one of the feather in your caps that separates you from other brands , that because you're able to turn around and you can control the quality and they know that you're going to be on top of it one way or another ? Do you think that gives you an edge as to why people keep coming back ?
Speaker 1All of the above , and good product , great quality . I wish I could add to that the love of Made in the US . I don't know that that's as significant today as I wish it was . We don't actually advertise it that much . We're more proud to advertise our factory of American workers than to put Made in USA on any of the products . But again , I'd be buying again from China today if I could , but I can't .
Speaker 3Right , right , right right , alexia , if you don't mind , just talking about the evolution of handbags and how that's played in , and you said that you guys have been very fortunate to have these top three retailers . Is it a different buyer who's buying the diaries versus the handbags ? Like , was that interesting that you still needed to evolve the product to ?
Speaker 2keep up with that . It depends on the relationship and I guess some of the customers' faces do buy both brands , so that's to our advantage where we can correlate the colors in a little bit . So that helps out a lot and I think it's grown over time . But it's definitely shifted from before COVID to after COVID where now we have more of a drop ship available because we do have the space for it . We did a lot of small retailers beforehand , so some of the products weren't as aligned , I don't think , as they are today , because today we're able to drop ship here and it's Well , it's the first time you've used that word drop ship .
Speaker 1That drop shipping has become the cornerstone of our business .
Speaker 3Direct to DTC . Direct to consumer .
Speaker 1I mean , when you go on Neiman Marcus and you buy a bag , it comes directly from us .
Speaker 3So they're not actually buying the inventory . It's on their website and then it goes through you .
Speaker 1We finance the whole thing and then we wait to be paid .
Speaker 3So that's so interesting because I have worked with more designers , purely as a result of my relationship , through the Handbag Awards , with independent designers , so many of whom who have their products sold at online retail , and they've tried to get Macy's , walmart and so forth to buy their product outright so they would not have to hold their breath every time they're placing an inventory order and having it shipped over . But this D2C thing that none of these retailers want to own the product , so it becomes an issue . But I suppose you , owning and having control over that , you actually have an idea of what to buy and how much now .
Speaker 2Yeah , and we also have . So we also have the graphic image side that helps us finance the GG side , as Thomas said earlier . You know what I mean . So , and because we are made here outside the door , I can control the quantity of production . So I'm also not mass producing , which helps me a lot to kind of navigate through the inventory and work through . You know bestsellers and what is selling on these websites and who's buying what bags , and I'm really able I have such a good idea now over the last couple of years being drop ship with these companies . You know what's really selling , what do I need to remake ? What am I ? If we're introducing a new bag , I can easily make a very small number and see how it does . And a lot of people don't have that capability of kind of shifting their inventory . And we do have that luxury here because of who we have out , like the number of people we have , which is smaller crew but they can turn out a lot of bags very quickly .
Speaker 1You can imagine the process . She just described why that works so well for drop ship because we don't have to say in March we're going to sell a thousand of these and a thousand of these and a thousand of these and hope when September comes we do it . We can make as we need and chase what's really really being successful . I don't know how deep this drop ship thing goes . I know that for our customers it's all really being successful . I actually have . I don't know how deep this drop ship thing goes . I know that for our customers it's all they really seem to want anymore . And I can't quite imagine trying to do this without having our own manufacturing because you have to make so many calls so far in advance .
Speaker 2And I think that the graphic image really helps out , whereas , like these smaller companies , all they have is a handbag line , so they're really relying on those bags to sell and we have the graphic image behind us backing us , which does very well for us , and not just , it also does very well on our own website . So , you know , we have that in our back pocket in order to like help out with being able to make these handbags and test different markets and stuff like that too .
Speaker 3So none of your retailers are buying inventory at this point . They just don't do that .
Speaker 1Not the big ones , not Saks . Neiman's buys a little bit but not in the handbags , but no it's . You know , as soon as you stop fighting the drop ship thing , you can try to make it work for you . Right , you pulled a couple of very smart things before . You said we're highly controlling the business . We know everything about it . When you ship 500 bags to a store and maybe they sell , maybe they don't sell , you have no idea if they will put it out properly , if they're even putting it all Now .
Speaker 1we've run the business and there's never a question . From season to season , servers have no incentive not to carry you as long as you're selling and we always know what's selling .
Speaker 2That's also the key . I have full control of which bags customers are buying . I monitor the websites and can see what they're buying , so I know what to remake and what not to If they're outright buying it . The control is gone what to remake and what not to If they're outright buying it .
Speaker 1The control's gone . In December of this past year we would drop shipping upwards of 1,200 to 1,300 packages a day . Wow , I know . And it's all the products combined Between two brands .
Speaker 3Yeah , all hands on deck , I suppose .
Speaker 1Oh yeah .
Speaker 3It really is . So none of these retailers like how does it work if they want to carry it in store , like , what does that do ? Or do you actually stay away from that because it's one less headache that you don't need to deal with ?
Speaker 1We used to covet the independent store Right and we did okay with them , but there were payment issues . There was always the request for consignment . They were a challenge . They really , really were , and COVID really gave us a reset opportunity . The business around COVID a lot of like . I didn't even set up buying departments that were strictly online Right , and they were very much numbers crunchers Right . And then they made a decision where no , we need professional handbag buyers buying the handbags . And they came to me and they said this was like three years ago . They had to bring down their number of dropship vendors from the 30s down to six or under . And I said to the buyer after a year , how are you going to evaluate me ? I haven't brought anything new in in a year . She goes . All I can tell you , tom , is you made the cut ? Our business with them has soared ever since .
Speaker 3But let's just say that Neiman said we want to place an order to have your product in store as opposed to online . In store you can't drop ship , but that's not happening and you're okay with that because it's so much easier , because you can control everything .
Speaker 1I'd like it to happen , but I don't need it to happen and I'm not expecting it to happen .
Speaker 3Wow , and in terms of you know , it's so funny because I've known about Gigi New York probably for as long as the handbag brand has been in existence . Just because that's my job to track , I know that it hits a certain demographic and it's not for a very certain demographic . You've been very fortunate that the people who buy your product know what they're buying something well-made , good , leather , the whole thing . How have you guys been able to handle the marketing of it , because your customer isn't the one who's going to be on TikTok or on Instagram and watching reels , because that , I mean I could be totally incorrect . How have you handled that to ensure the constant buying over and over ?
Speaker 1Well , we had a big lift very early on in Gigi . That maybe where you first learned about it . We were on the ground floor of the bloggers . We were doing bloggers with ladies
today we can't get near , they're so huge , right , but they want anybody . Then , and there was a company , reward Style , which came before , like to Know it , and we were doing their fashion week holiday hospitality suites when they had six , six , uh , six employees , right , and these rock star bloggers would come in again with that time . They were nurses , they were moms , they were not right , you know , and they were called bloggers .
Speaker 1They weren't influencers not yet and that gave us an enormous lift early and and and . We could never have afforded the marketing that would have gained us the kind of visibility it did in those years . Right , we still use them today not the same way at all , though that's a whole other story but the marketing came as a . Again , we were lucky . We were very fortunate that the person in our tech area said we need to connect with these ladies , and we didn't even know what he was talking about . He was right .
Speaker 2We've also definitely seen a shift with social media , like in the last couple of years . So we did because of all these influencers , we reached a peak and then with COVID , it was like you know , looking at different things , so it started going down . But now , recently , I think social media is actually people are looking at different things , so it started going down . But now recently , I think social media is actually people are looking at social media again and really buying through Instagram and not necessarily TikTok for us , but we're definitely present on , you know , instagram and Facebook .
Speaker 1One of our challenges is that we appeal to the 25 to 65 .
Speaker 3Yeah , do you know that ? I mean within . It's funny you say that because with my students we call it narrow casting , where so many people say , oh , my customer is 25 to 65 and I and we have this deep dive thing . Absolutely not , it can't be . It's not who is your core , what's your sweet spot ?
Speaker 2But in terms of your product , has been through so many iterations of lives I guess it is , and it depends on who you talk to in the company , because you definitely have some people who like to say it's an older demographic , not older , but you know not the 25 , 35 , 40 . It's more like you know 50 to 65 , 70 . And so it shifts and but we are able to make handbags that last and are able to cover , you know , all demographics in a sense , because we have the factory here and we have a little , we have a store here , so you know you can have people come in and the little boutiques all over the country people can shop there and we do still have some of that business .
Speaker 1But we refer to it as the Hermes day bag , Day bag . They love the quality , they love the bag , but when they go out at night they want the European brand name .
Speaker 3Yeah , yeah . Do you rely now mostly on gifting for marketing ? Like to make sure that it still gets into those hands .
Speaker 2Well , I mean , I think well , because we do have the graphic image brand behind us for gifting purposes . That helps . We kind of been trying to push that on our website in order to really show the quality of work that we can do and the work we can do . And now we are all produced here and if you want to buy , you know , that journal to go into your tote , you can Right .
Speaker 3Right , oh my God , this is I . We could totally talk for hours . This is I love . Well , you know it's .
Speaker 3There's something to be said for people who can control what they create and have . And you know , especially with the Gen Z customer . And you know , especially with the Gen Z customer , they are absolutely not the same as their predecessors . They shop differently , they think differently . They want to be heard , for better or for worse , of every thought that they have at any given moment .
Speaker 3I call them generation feelings purely because of that . But it's you know , you need to know how I'm feeling , and I think that's purely as a result of COVID , because these poor kids were stuck inside for so long that they weren't able to be normal and to be kids , and this is how it's evolved . But it's really exciting to see a brand that has been able between generationally , even between the two of you , that's still able to prevail purely because of what you've created in your own home per se . So I want to thank you guys both for doing this and being part of this podcast . I think this was really interesting . I mean , I know I'll want to listen to this again . How can we find you ? Follow you ? Learn more about Graphic Image slash Gigi New York .
Speaker 2You can go on our websites graphicimagecom , and then we have giginewyorkcom as a separate website for both , and then you can follow us also on Instagram under Gigi New York and Graphic Image as a separate account .
Speaker 3The fact that you guys were able to get graphic imagecom . I'm sure people tried to buy that off you . As it is , that's a . That's that's an early adopter right there . Thank you , guys so much for doing this . Thank you
so much . Thank you , 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 .