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

How Kerri Quigley Built a Fashion Empire—One Kid at a Time 🧵✨| Emily Blumenthal & Kerri Quigley

• Emily Blumenthal • Season 1

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What happens when an entrepreneurial spirit meets a passion for teaching? For Kerri Quigley, it led to The Fashion Class—a sewing and design school that’s igniting creativity and confidence in the next generation of makers.

In this episode of Handbag Designer 101, Kerri shares her incredible journey from launching an underwear line at 17 to building a thriving educational business with studios across Manhattan—and now, nationwide franchises. From early manufacturing mishaps to teaching five-year-olds how to make their own skirts, her story is all about resilience, reinvention, and empowering young creatives through fashion.

đź’ˇ Key Takeaways
 đź§µ Start Young, Stay Fearless: Why kids often make the best designers—and how Kerri built a curriculum to match their confidence.
🔥 When Things Go Wrong: Hear how a studio fire led to a pop-up class at the Bryant Park Hotel—because the lesson must go on.
🏢 From Studio to Franchise: How Kerri turned a side hustle into a scalable business with impact far beyond NYC.

Whether you’re a designer, educator, or entrepreneur, this episode is a masterclass in turning passion into purpose—and why teaching kids to sew is about so much more than fashion.

Our Guest: Kerri Quigley is the founder of The Fashion Class, a New York-based fashion school for kids and teens offering hands-on sewing, design, and entrepreneurship programs. A Parsons grad and lifelong creator, Kerri is on a mission to make fashion fun, fearless, and foundational for the next generation.

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.

Find Handbag Designer 101 Merch, HBD101 Masterclass, one-on-one sessions, and opportunities to book Emily Blumenthal as a speaker at emilyblumenthal.com. 



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Speaker 1:

and it was late in the day and I'm in my office hottest day of the entire summer, it had to be 100 degrees and all of a sudden I hear the kids start to yell fire, fire and the teachers say okay, everybody come to the front, because we had this long studio. They were in the back, so they saw a fireball come up in the back window and then somebody immediately started banging on the stairwell door like get out of the building now.

Speaker 2:

Hi 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, keri Quigley. I love your last name of thefashionclasscom to Handbag Designer 101's podcast. Welcome, welcome.

Speaker 1:

Thank you so much for having me, Emily. I'm happy to be on today.

Speaker 2:

I think I'm more excited than you. And PS to anybody who's watching this on YouTube my ring light died, so pardon the lack of glitz and glam. I have to throw that in. I can't, I'm way too vain to you know have bad shadows.

Speaker 1:

You look exactly the same as the day I met you, which was a very long time ago.

Speaker 2:

So long ago. I can't. So why don't you just share a little bit about? Because you were such a pioneer in this, in what you've created? So share a little bit about what the fashion class is about, and then we'll just dive right in Because it's. You are truly, I think, such an early adopter to something which is such a big trend now.

Speaker 1:

It is, it is. So I started the fashion class 15 years ago when I was just 24 years old. I went to Parsons for business, did a little minoring in fashion, always sewed, and I graduated during the recession and there were no jobs to be had. I was a gig worker. I designed lingerie, I designed pet clothing and pet beds. And then talk about your underwear. Talk about the underwear story. I mean, that's my favorite story.

Speaker 2:

I think. I think it, I know, but it speaks to you know and I hate using the term being an entrepreneur, but I think there's some people who and I know anybody listening will get this there's some people who are meant to day job and there are some people who just you know by who you are, by your DNA, physically cannot do day jobs. So it's like the risks to anybody normal would seem insane, but to someone like you or myself, the risks aren't even risks, because in your head it's like okay, well, I'm just going to do this and I'm just going to do that, and any sane person would have written it down saying this is stupid, this is insane, what the hell's wrong with you? And you're like, yeah, sure, I'll start an underwear business and also how old were you?

Speaker 1:

Because it's just so amazing it's a really funny story and I learned a lot and we're going way back now. So I was, I had just turned 18. I think I was. I was actually 17 when I started this brand and it was called Carrie Renee, my name, and it was a woman's lingerie and loungewear line geared towards the high school college age students. So this was Victoria's Secret pink. Before pink existed, everything was cotton, soft, bright colors. I had these really cute underwear, that kind of like peaked above your low rise jeans, which were the big trend and are coming back to give you like a little like frilly accessory above your jeans, and I came up with the idea.

Speaker 1:

I used some savings that I had to make and manufacture this line in the garment district of New York City. So you know, 17, 18 years old, I'm walking around to factories trying to convince them to produce my products that I had sewed at home. I sewed my samples and I found a factory to do it and they made, I want to say, about 200 items for me. I packed them in a suitcase, walked around you know, soho and wherever, going into boutiques and being like, hi, do you want to buy these? And places took them on consignment and I obviously anything I made I reinvested back into the business and this is not a great success story. Spoiler alert I was very young, very green and definitely not risk averse. I was willing to just put it all out there to speak to what you're talking about, about entrepreneurs before. So and I think that comes with being very young as well, just being like you know when did your savings come from?

Speaker 2:

Sorry to interrupt, was this like money you had saved? Yes, I always worked. Yeah.

Speaker 1:

I've always had jobs since I was about 14. So you know, waitressing helped out at an art studio with, like, kids' birthday parties, that sort of thing. So I just always had savings and I put it all towards this business and I grew it and I eventually was able to do a trade show at the Javits Center in New York City. So back then you know we're talking 2004-ish I want to say four or five a huge amount of money for me to get the booth, all the decorations, have my product displayed. You know make sure I had order forms and a website up and all that good stuff and I had.

Speaker 1:

I had a pretty decent line at that point. I had little bralettes, underwear, tap shorts, all that good stuff. And at the show I got some press and then I got a call from Bloomingdale's to do a trunk show with them. I had moved my manufacturing from New York City because a pair of underwear came to like six dollars for me cost for me with part, you know materials and labor. So I had to you know retail that for for a bit more. So it was pretty expensive to buy like a I don't know twenty dollar pair of underwear for the age that I was targeting Exactly.

Speaker 1:

Back then and for the age group that I was targeting Back then. Back then and for the age group that I was targeting. So I moved my production from the garment district to Canada, then from Canada to India. I was not really able to just pick up and travel to India to go, you know, oversee everything. I did have an old college professor who went out for me and you know from India and went and visited the factory, made sure like it was all in the up and up anyway. So, long story short, I have my deal with Bloomingdale's and I have a large order from a department store chain in Japan and the store in Japan only bought sizes extra small and small. And you know I'm chatting with my Indian factory. I'm up late at night on Skype with them for the time difference yes, and they're like yes, everything's good.

Speaker 1:

I'm seeing pictures, production samples, all is good. I finally get my order and it comes in and everything is large and extra large, with the wrong labels sewn in. How?

Speaker 2:

did you know know to. So a lot of Trey with a small Sorry, everybody complains. I interrupt.

Speaker 1:

I absolutely do I get excited.

Speaker 2:

How did you know to have the production sent to you directly as opposed to sent directly to Japan? Because one would think that, with duties and so forth, to send from India to Japan would have made more sense. But were you, young and green, saying no, I need to see it first? Or were you thinking, oh, because I've never had this order, I need to see it first and pack and ship and resend, because you know, like, thinking now it's like two extra steps and that's extra money, step, step. And also, how much research did you do for understanding your customer? Because I know this takes us all the way back to, takes us to the fashion class in terms of understanding your customer. Do you think at that time you had done enough research? Or you were just thinking, okay, well, if I'm my own customer, this is as much as I can spend, these are the colors I like, like, where did you fall into all of that?

Speaker 1:

So to answer your question about the shipping, I definitely wanted. It was my first time working with this factory. I wanted to see it, I wanted to be hands on, I wanted to package it up nicely and ship it to Japan myself. Had you had samples from them yet? Yes, okay, I production samples and everything looked great. So I, yeah.

Speaker 1:

And then to answer your question about researching my customer, I was very much in the thought process of I am my customer and I'm making everything that I like. So a lot of cherry prints and camel was big, so pink camouflage and you know things like that. And I don't want to say I was 100% off on the customer. I don't think I was at all. I think there is a market for that, but I had no idea about market size. How many people would really be into this. But I mean that department store in Japan really did take a big risk on me and, and you know, ordered they ordered my product. So so they, they believed in it, they believed in the, in the designs. But essentially I got my boxes of you know, very large pieces of underwear, bralettes and I had to message the buyer in Japan and I was like you know, if you give me a couple more weeks I can get you the correct order, and she was like no, we're no longer interested, which I understand.

Speaker 1:

New brands taking a chance. And you know, I fumbled, I messed it up and as much as I can say, oh, the factory, the factory, the factory. At the end of the day, it's my brand, it's my products, I, you know. However, I was supposed to go and check and make sure things were being done correctly. I didn't do that. I also did not get any products to show at the trunk show with Bloomingdale's and I was unable to do that as well. So I pretty much closed up shop.

Speaker 1:

It had been about at that point, I had been doing this for about five seasons, so, you know, two seasons of lingerie in a year. So about what is that? Two and a half years or so, two seasons of lingerie in a year. So about what is that? Two and a half years or so? I'm in college at this point and I just kind of you know, stopped doing it as seriously I'd still do a little bit on the side sell it on Etsy and decided to continue, you know, finish my degree and, you know, not be an entrepreneur at the moment.

Speaker 2:

Was that crushing to? Because, again, this mindset is very specific. You know, when things, as you said, fumble and things fall apart, it could either scare you straight and being like good market, I can't afford this, this is going to cost too much, because some people are so blinders like I'm going to keep doing, I'm going to keep going, I'm not going to let this go. Or did this put you into a state of depression Like, oh my God, I can't believe this happened. I've lost so much money. And you know, to reflect on that, I'm sure you could say, oh, it was so young. But at that time it's like, oh my God, I look how much I've ruined my future. Not like, oh, I'm so young, I'll bounce back. How did you handle all this?

Speaker 1:

It definitely made me a bit sad and depressed, that's for sure. I really believed in the brand. I really wanted it to be a success. You know I always wanted to be a fashion designer and have a brand. At the same time I didn't put too much stock into, you know, the sunk cost. At that point I had spent probably about $25,000 on this brand. Again, in the grand scheme of fashion, not a great amount, that's nothing. But to someone who you know 18, 19, 20, you know it's a lot and you know this is for me, working and putting, you know, putting little bits towards the business every year.

Speaker 2:

Were you day jobjabbing.

Speaker 1:

Yes, what were you doing? I was a secretary at an architecture firm while in college and trying to do this business, so it wasn't by any means my full-time. Doing the business was not my full-time thing. It was definitely a good portion of my time but I couldn't solely focus on it. So you know, obviously the lost money bothered me and that, but I knew I would do something else. I wasn't too worried about it and were you able to sell the underwear? I sold them on eBay slowly. Wow, yeah, yeah, on eBay, I would just sell. I sold them in lots to a few places, like a couple, I think plus size stores bought, you know, like 20 items at a time. Yeah, and eventually I did sell the whole, the whole order oh, thank.

Speaker 1:

God, yeah, so I got. I got something back, but it wasn't I also, you know, very, very deeply discounted.

Speaker 2:

Just take it, take it, take it.

Speaker 1:

Basically, yeah, like let me get this out of my apartment. Yeah, so that's the underwear story.

Speaker 2:

So how did that, oh my God, people are going to complain so much because I'm so talking over you, I'm so excited.

Speaker 2:

No, I just you know, we go back so long and I think when my daughter started taking classes, she was five, turning six and she is 17 now. So and I remembered you saying because I was doing some research, and you know, when kids are that little, they have this notion like I want to do fashion, I want to design, I want to fake. And you know, like any other mom, you research, you look around, your class was the only one that had existed, that was existing at that time. And I said, oh my God, it's in the Garment Center. That's so cool. It's right where my dad had his office. It was right next door, which is even crazier.

Speaker 2:

And I remembered thinking who would let a five-year-old on a sewing machine? Because, god, people are so scared to let their kids do things. And I am, I don't know man, I'm old school, I'm like just throw them and go, go, like, figure it out. If you, you know, if you, you know, we had shop in high school, like I don't think. And I remember thinking like why are you trusting me with a jigsaw? Yeah, yeah.

Speaker 1:

That's dangerous. You're talking about dangerous.

Speaker 2:

I know I could cut my whole arm off and you're, you're going to let a five-year-old. And I just remembered your attitude and I spoke with you and I was trying to negotiate, thinking oh no, you know, I bet you're going to say she needs to be seven, eight or nine and I said, oh, she's turning six. You know she's very old for her age, which sounds even funnier to say that now. But you are so of the mindset yeah, it's fine, it's OK, you know, come in before we'll show her how to use the machine and then she'll jump right in. And I was just shocked and I just think that that just speaks volumes of who you are in terms of really getting that. I don't know. I think if kids are allowed to their own devices, they're much more capable than I think people give them credit for. Especially if you remove the helicopter, parent, or take that kid who's going to say do this for me, do that for me, and saying I'm empowering you, you do it.

Speaker 1:

Absolutely. I strongly believe in that. Obviously, we do have a lot of safety things at the fashion class, like machines that sew slowly, finger guards, scissors with covered blades, things like that. But kids are extremely capable and they are also fearless. The younger you are, the more fearless you are. It's just a fact. So a five-year-old on a machine is a better sewer than an adult.

Speaker 2:

I'd say, that's true, a hundred percent.

Speaker 1:

The adult will take three hours not to bash. Like I know. Adults want to be perfectionists and want to, you know, make something you know that they can wear. But they will spend three hours on the machine and then be unhappy with what they've produced because like a seam is like slightly crooked, whereas a kid, you know, will make a skirt in about two hours with our help. They're not on their own, obviously, there are teachers with them.

Speaker 1:

But be so proud, be wearing that thing every single day, even if it's crooked with the, you know, with the zigzag, even if it's crooked, yeah even if it's crooked with the, you know, with the zigzag, even if it's crooked yeah, even if it's crooked, and I think that speaks volumes to what they can do, what they're capable of. It also completely builds up their confidence, I mean. I mean, think about that, I was a very shy, creative child. So theater, dance, none of that was for me. I sewed, you know, in my room and made things and I was always super proud to wear it. So the performance aspect, or the showing off aspect, of wearing something that you made and then being able to tell your friends quietly, because you're not on stage, I made this, and then I would be like, oh, wow, like that's, that's very, very empowering for a child and it it really builds up their confidence. It's. It's a really great way to make them feel good about something that they can do, you know.

Speaker 2:

So I good, God I'm so. This is why, like anything I've done, I always go back to you and I said, okay, well, if it's anything kids, fashion, hands-on sewing everything goes back to Carrie, from the fashion class, the end. So now you're extraordinarily young, but when you did this, you didn't consider yourself young. You're like okay, well, I already had one business. What's another? How did you come to the point of saying, okay, I think this will work, I think people will pay for it and I think I can open up another business?

Speaker 1:

Sure, so I, like I said I graduated during the recession. There weren't many jobs. I always, always wanted to teach kids to sew. I thought about doing it in my apartment at one point. I always like to make things big and grand, so my apartment wasn't going to cut it. I started teaching sewing out of school up in the Bronx. I lived in Brooklyn, in Bensonhurst if anyone knows where that is, it's very far away. I would teach once a week in the Bronx and it was like probably a two and a half hour commute each way to get there on public transportation and I loved it, did they have the machines or you brought your own.

Speaker 1:

They had the machines. I did not have to bring my own, they had the machines. But they kind of gave me free reign to write the curriculum plan, the program and the class just kept growing. So it was kind of my tester, it's like let me take this job, this gig, and see if I'm actually good at this, if this can be something. And, oh my God, it was something. It clicked immediately. So the class kept growing. I was coming up with new fun ways for them to learn fashion and learn to sew and make things. We had a big fashion show at the end.

Speaker 1:

So that summer came and I started the fashion class, put flyers in the neighborhood, I bought some refurbished machines from, I think, like Sears or something, and I opened and I had a really good crowd that summer. It was in Brooklyn in a party shop. I rented a party shop and had a great crowd. Kids really loved it. And fall came and they were like all right, how do we sign up for fall? Okay, let's go. So within about a year of me doing that first summer class, I had signed a lease for a twenty five hundred square foot space in Manhattan and, my God, yeah. So I say the fashion class started in 2010. It really started in 2009 when I was teaching that, but the official business is 2010, when I signed that lease and I believe I was 24 years old. I don't know what that landlord was thinking.

Speaker 1:

I remember I showed up to see this space in like a yellow mini dress. Thank you, I remember I showed up to see this space in like a yellow mini dress and, like so young, I probably had no money in my bank account that they rented to me. I don't know why.

Speaker 2:

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Speaker 2:

Join me, emily Blumenthal in the Handbag Designer 101 Masterclass. So be sure to sign up at emilyblumenthalcom slash masterclass and type in the code podcast to get 10% off your masterclass today. Masterclass today, wait. So the school in Brooklyn. Were they looking for a sewing teacher? And you found it? Or you found a school and said, hey guys, I have a great idea. And where did you get your materials from?

Speaker 1:

Sure. So the school in the Bronx. They were looking for a teacher. I think I responded to a job posting. And then the materials In the garment district. I think they gave me a small budget for materials and supplies and I would just go to the garment district buy things and bring them to class.

Speaker 2:

So you were, you were being scrappy from the get go.

Speaker 1:

Definitely. Yeah, very, very scrappy. What do they call it? Bootstrapping your business? Yeah, yeah, so I did. I definitely did that for a long time. How did you?

Speaker 2:

determine okay, because you know, for someone who had an underwear business that went under and I'm not saying that with any disrespect how were you able to especially being so young back into the numbers and say, okay, I need x amount of machines and for this square feet, I need to have X amount of classes and X amount of bodies, and I'm going to have to hire someone, then I'm going to need insurance. How does someone go through all that with essentially a retail space with children, because children are not the enemy, their parents are. Their parents are the ones who make things difficult. Once you get the kids on their own, they will listen nine times out of 10. I've dealt with this. But how are you able to, especially in the Garmin Center, like say, ok now, especially in a place that's not typically kid friendly? How are you able to put all this together and say, ok, here we go.

Speaker 1:

That's a great question and I think it was just a lot of work. I worked constantly. The first few years worked constantly. I remember I my skin broke out. I'd never had breakouts before I skin broke out that first summer because I was literally doing it all teaching, answering the phone, calling people back. And then the business side of things like, like you said, I didn't have payroll yet because I was still solo but insurance, paying rent, getting the lights turned on the water, you know all that stuff. Trash pickup in New York City is something you'd never think about like. You just have to figure all of these things out and I did and it was hard and I loved every minute of it.

Speaker 2:

How long before you had your first employee?

Speaker 1:

I let's see, I think I hired my first employee probably about four months in. I did the first summer pretty much solo and my sister helped me, and then I think that, yeah, probably like that fall or winter I hired someone to answer the phones.

Speaker 2:

How did you determine Because, with a kid's business, you know what you were doing before what I assume was probably a weekend thing right, because you were getting it was a party spot that you were renting how were you able to say, ok, I need to get people to come after school and then I'm going to obviously need to have weekend classes to compensate. And how did you come up with? Okay, I'm teaching kids how to sew, but how did you figure what were the baselines of the projects? To try and figure out what was too hard, what wasn't too hard, like, how did you work your work through all that?

Speaker 1:

That's a great question and I honestly don't know, like I I just knew, I don't know. I definitely. I mean there's always a learning process, for sure, in terms of projects being too difficult, like if I'm teaching, I can then quickly pivot and make it easier. We were going to do zipper, now we're going to do elastic.

Speaker 1:

You know, because I'm the teacher, what was really difficult was scaling and making it so that I didn't have to be in the business constantly, because that was always my goal. My goal pretty much when I started this was to franchise the concept, because I think I teach sewing in a very easy way that can be taught to other people who can then teach it. So scaling was actually a difficult part when I was teaching. It was easy because I could make those decisions like that. But when I started hiring staff and having other people teach the lessons, that was that was difficult, and that's when things had to be really buttoned up and tutorials written and patterns officially printed and all of that, all of that whole package of stuff, which is what I think I do really really well.

Speaker 2:

I mean, I can say that's true. How soon did you realize, like, okay, you know what Birthday parties, how are you able? And also, you have this amazing concept which I think is the cleverest thing that at the end of every class or quarter or session, you have a fashion show where the kids wear their own product. And I know, at this point, celebrities come because their kids are there. Celebrities, that was something you did from the get go. That was one of your points of differentiation.

Speaker 1:

I mean, who doesn't love a fashion show? I, the fashion show, came about, I think, from the very beginning. It's it's just a really fun way for kids to show off what they've made. And they don't have to speak, they don't have to perform, they literally can walk out and walk back and everybody's like, oh, amazing, so it's, it's really cool. Again, it goes back to the whole confidence building thing and not we don't require it. So if a kid really doesn't want to go out, we don't make them go out.

Speaker 1:

I've certainly walked the runway myself with kids who don't want to go out alone. For me, a teacher will come out and just wave with them and help them walk if that makes it easier for them. But it's always nice for the parents to have a little presentation at the end as well and see what their kids have been making and how proud they are and see what the other kids in the class are also doing and and you know, just kind of feed, feed off of that. And yes, there are celebrity sightings. We we always get quite a few, which is really fun for us when I know who they are.

Speaker 2:

Yeah, I'm terrible at that oh god, who isn't at this point? But I know, you know, with running a business you've been through, I mean, and this is the cost of doing business you had a fire, which you know. It's like the things you're prepared for, that you're not prepared to happen.

Speaker 1:

Yes, I've had so many of those. Yes, I made a spreadsheet once and I put my sales and then I put what was going on in my personal life and it literally was like, if something is going on with me, like sales took a dip. And that's when I was like I really need to get this to a point where I do not have to be here if I want to franchise, because you know I can't. I can't have this be so tied to me personally and you know the whole thing. You don't want to work in your business, you want to work on your business. So I made a very conscious decision to do that.

Speaker 1:

But, yeah, so I my brother passed away very suddenly at one point in 2015. And it was in the middle of summer camp, which is, you know, very, very busy time for me, and I had to take a few weeks off. I didn't even take enough time off. I definitely came back too soon, but that was a really tough one. I wasn't there to lead the camp, so the people running it did their best, but again, without me, it definitely took a dip and I got some bad reviews that summer and I had a fire there. We were on the fourth floor in the garment district, in a loft studio where the elevator opens out into this beautiful big studio. The ground floor was a restaurant and they had a grease fire. They weren't cleaning their grease traps or something. No-transcript children.

Speaker 1:

I did like a last lap through the studio just to make sure that nobody was left and we had about four adults with eight kids, so we had a great ratio and we evacuated them to a building down the street. We were able to call all their parents. But I'll never forget I was like the last person in a burning building and I put on these like big flip-flops cause it was so hot so I couldn't even like run.

Speaker 2:

Was this the same time that your brother passed?

Speaker 1:

No, this was. This was a quite a bit later. This was about three years later, but I just remember running out of that building and these flip flops that I couldn't like, run in and this man at the door just being like come on, you can make it, you can do it, and nobody got hurt. So you know now it's kind of like a haha, this happened, but we were, we were shut down, for the building was. You cannot go into the building for a month. Basically, I waited there all night.

Speaker 1:

The fire department finally let me in around midnight to get my phone, to get my teach, all my staff phone purses, everything, and we were shut down for a while. I very quickly. I think I took two days off to do this, but I got the Bryant Park Hotel to rent a space and we were back in action the next Monday. How did you get your sewing machines out? I carried them, I got the super to let me in the building though it wasn't supposed to and I carried 10 sewing machines across. We were on 39th Street. The Bryant Park Hotel was on 38th Street.

Speaker 2:

Oh, my God 48th Street.

Speaker 1:

Yeah, and I was just doing what I had to do because it was either you refund all these people or you don't, and we had a fabulous summer at that hotel. It was a gorgeous space. We overlooked Bryant Park. We did everything we were going to do anyway. I just had to buy new fabrics. It was all smoke, damaged, but yeah, it was an interesting experience.

Speaker 2:

And the handbag awards. I mean it ran for 15 years and I was just telling someone who was talking about I don't know, it was like a wedding, I don't even know what they were talking about saying things that could go wrong, and I said, listen, I've had my alcohol arrive when people are arriving. I had my caterer show up when people were arriving, so much so that the security guard thought it was a crazy person like running in because he was hot and sweaty holding bags. He thought he was like a, you know, literally like garbage bags worth of food into yeah.

Speaker 2:

I've had bags fall, I've had displays fall, I've had the heat turned off, I had the air turned off, like you know, and people getting wasted saying like't you know why am I sitting here? And I'm like, oh my God, this is an award show for handbags. You're complaining about your seating, so you know. There's so much of what you're trying to accomplish gets lost in the sauce of the business aspect of just like OK. And it's so interesting because sometimes the crap that goes down actually makes you like okay, we'll just do it over here. Thanks, Next Bye.

Speaker 1:

That's it. And you do have to be like that, especially if you're running a service like an award show, a live event or a summer camp where parents are relying on you for childcare. You can't just be like, well, sorry, figure it out. Everybody Like you have to figure it out, it's on you, it's your name. So that's what I've always done. But yeah, the life challenges and ups and downs, you know, can be really difficult when you're running a business. I don't have a boss to be like. I've got to take a few weeks off. Bye, See, ya, you know I just don't have that.

Speaker 1:

I've said that my dream is to have an OOO email like an out of office email. Someone emails me and they get a bounce back. That is a fantasy of mine. I don't know how that would work, but that's what I want. This has to run without me. I obviously want to be present and part of it, but it has to run without me. So I then spent the next several years making that happen. So when my son was born, I took maternity leave and I had an out of office email set up. It didn't work because I don't know how to set one of those up, but I wrote one and I took full maternity leave for three months and nothing happened.

Speaker 1:

It was all fine, wow.

Speaker 2:

Wow. So at this point, you know, 15 years later, congratulations, you have two locations, you are franchising. What does that look like for the fashion class? Because, as you know, with my book coming out, savvy Susanna's Amazing Adventures in Handbags, obviously I need to plug it because it's my podcast so I can coming out July 22nd. Within the book, my character, savvy Susanna, has a turning point in a fashion class modeled after yours, where she learns how to sew and feels empowered and realizes that she can do what she wants because she made it herself in a way that wasn't DIY. She learns how to sew and feels empowered and realizes that she can do what she wants because she made it herself in a way that wasn't DIY.

Speaker 2:

This was sophisticated with instruction because I think there's a huge difference, even for adults, the difference between DIY, as people tend to say. You know this essence of one of a kind or bespoke or whatever that does, because to a normal buyer that means you just don't know how to scale or make more than one. So the limited edition factor does not work if you're in an independent brand. It just doesn't. So having that instruction, having that education and having someone say like I will show you how to do it so you can do it again and again and again is so important, especially when you start with kids. How are you able to? What are you seeing for the future, based on what the trends are within sewing and fashion classes like yours?

Speaker 1:

Sure. So I do have the two locations, upper East and Upper West, and that is pretty much all I can manage. You know, I don't. I want to have a good quality of life, I want to be there for my kids. So I am franchising and I have Virginia Beach opening this summer, the first franchisee.

Speaker 1:

But my hope with the franchising is that this skill will really be able to be taught everywhere and I think the way I teach it makes it very accessible for all ages. I run a toddler class where they hand sew with, you know, with blunt plastic needles, but they are making. They made a handbag, you saw they made skirts like they're actually sewing and they're three and four years old. But I think what I do makes it very, very accessible. So my hope is that there are many, many locations all across the country teaching this very valuable skill, all across the country teaching this very valuable skill, and I do very much love that.

Speaker 1:

The ability to teach this skill gives people the ability to make their own clothing. So again, it's against that consumer lifestyle, it's against that fast fashion lifestyle, it's slow fashion. One could then go and make their own clothing or at the very least they can mend and repair clothing that they already have. So it's great for that, wonderful for upcycling and very good for confidence building and developing fine motor skills as well. As I'm sure you saw with your daughter, she learned on the machine. She was making clothes and I still remember that picture of her with her dress with a circle collar. She did a great job. There are certain images that like stand out in my mind after 15 years and that's definitely one of them.

Speaker 2:

Well, that's one of the few things of hers that I said we're keeping forever. And she said, oh yeah, and I remembered that dress had a. It was a bright colored dress but it was a black zipper tape and, coming from a Garmento background, I remember my mom saying the zipper tapes. You know, like that's how they're seeing I'm like, but she's so proud, exactly, exactly. Who cares? You know, like I get it, I see it too. That was the first thing that went to mind. But you know what, to a child like that is the beginning of empowerment and independence and feeling like if I can make this and wear this, who knows what I can do exactly?

Speaker 1:

exactly. I don't know if she chose the zipper tape or not, because we usually probably did she probably let them pick their color and then if they pick, we don't want to be like, oh, that doesn't work like we. You know, they're the designer at the end of the day. It's funny. You said parents were the enemy. It's actually grandmas. Grandmas are.

Speaker 2:

Grandmas who sew?

Speaker 1:

Grandmas who quilt, you know, because there is a very specific way that you quilt or that you do sewing, and at the fashion class we make it accessible for children mostly so we will do things a certain way for safety, for ease of projects and so that they come out with something that they're proud of and that they can actually wear. But it might not be exactly how you know. Grandma learned to sew.

Speaker 2:

So, my God, so, grandmas, who quilt, beware. Yes, you should, you should put that on the waiver no grandma's comma, who quilt comma? Oh God, that's amazing. Well, carrie, and also make handbags. Yes, yes, okay, I'm just throwing that out there. Just make handbags for the fashion class.

Speaker 1:

Yes, wait, we make handbags all the time.

Speaker 2:

See, exactly that's an origin story have to tie it back Carrie? How can we find you, follow you and learn more about the Fashion Class?

Speaker 1:

Sure and at thefashionclasscom or on Instagram at the Fashion Class.

Speaker 2:

Perfect. Thank you so much. And for everybody, go look Carrie up If your child needs and wants to learn to sew, or if you're interested in franchising. I strongly recommend that what they've created. I got to make this as much of an infomercial because it was life-changing for my child and I can only imagine what it will do for a budding handbag designer at their inception. So thank you, thank you. Thank you for joining us. 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

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