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

From Clutches to Community: Boutiques are Back | Emily Blumenthal & Nancy Forman

• Emily Blumenthal • Season 1

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Wholesale isn’t dead—it’s just evolving. In this episode, we unpack what’s actually working in handbags right now with Nancy Forman of Accessory Think Tank, from how specialty boutiques, focused DTC, and selective dropship can coexist, to the design details that truly move product. We dig into handles and straps that define comfort and versatility, intentional embellishment and personalization, smart material choices, and a disciplined approach to color. On the business side, we clarify when dropship helps (and when it hurts), why hometown boutiques still drive discovery and cash flow, and how to protect pricing while avoiding SKU bloat. If you want to design bags people reach for daily—and build a channel mix that scales without burning cash—this episode delivers a clear, usable blueprint.


✨ 3 Takeaways:
 • Wholesale still works—when paired with disciplined DTC and selective dropship
 • Design lives in the details: handles, straps, and personalization drive usability and desire
 • Test before you scale—materials, colors, and SKUs should earn their expansion

If this sharpened your strategy, follow the show, leave a quick review, and share it with a designer who’s navigating channel mix decisions right now.

👤 Our Guest:
 Nancy Foreman is the founder of Accessory Think Tank, a strategic consultancy focused on trend forecasting, product development, and go-to-market strategy for accessory brands. With decades of experience advising designers and retailers, she helps brands align creativity with commercial reality.

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_01:

Wholesale's dead, everybody's closed, don't focus on it. And the reality gets like any industry, things change. There's some incredible growth within specialty store retail. 100%. I mean, we've got with our own clients. I'm not saying it's easy in that the that the units are as massive, of course, as a large farm store, but there is a resurgence to specialty store retailer because it is the hometown store. It's wonderful. I'm excited about it.

SPEAKER_02:

Hi, and welcome to Handbag Designer 101, the podcast with your host, Emily Blumenthal, handbag industry expert and the handbag parry 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 steep to it all. Welcome, Nancy Nancy Foreman, fancy Nancy Foreman of the Accessories Think Tank. Welcome back to Handbag Designer 101, the podcast. I'm recording live right now from FIT because, well, nobody's here, and I'm in a classroom. It's actually my old classroom. I like this room very much. So, but that's it. Enough about me. Welcome. What's going on, Nancy?

SPEAKER_01:

What is going on? So many, so many unique avenues of business and the Rubik's Cube of how to navigate through in the new world. Girl, tell me.

SPEAKER_02:

I just because you and I could talk for a billion hours, I want to dive right in because we can. How many designers are you working with right now?

SPEAKER_01:

80% are very long-term relationships.

SPEAKER_02:

Okay. So in terms of like, let's just dive right in. I love a handbag trying to talk. It's my jam. What are you seeing? What are the requests? What's going on in the big bad world of handbags? Go.

SPEAKER_01:

I've said this for a year and a half, two years, clutches. You still think of clutches for sure. 100%. I think that what is incredibly refreshing for me is the market was so clean. So the element of elevated embellishment. Such as embroidery and hand beading, I think is quite beautiful. I'm not saying that it hasn't already always existed, yet I think it was extreme in how it translates. And now it's coming back into the designer collections, which ultimately influence fashion. It's beautiful.

SPEAKER_02:

Are these clutches coming with crossbody straps? Can we talk about that?

SPEAKER_01:

You know, sell the masses, live with the classes, sell the classes, live with the masses. You'll sell more with the crossbody strap. Yet I do believe, in general, personally, any designer who studies the marketplace is informed and makes a decision based on their point of view and aesthetic in the way that they want their customer to understand styling and design. It is the designer's decision to not always do what is expected because then it becomes predictable.

SPEAKER_02:

Okay. But at the end of the day, things do sell better with a crossbody strap.

SPEAKER_01:

Yes, they do. Uh same time, as I just shared, I think in this day and age, to really, really push in regards to why one designs, creates, and develops to launch a product and the connectivity to their community in how they envision that aesthetic to be and look. I think it feels refreshing to not just say, well, I have to do black leather because it sells. I must do a tote because they sell. I think stepping away from that and really targeting defining that really does come off from our conversation of what's happening in trend. Yet maybe that's a trend. True, true, targeted, unique individuality of design and customization.

SPEAKER_02:

Okay. So let's talk about customization. Because at the end of the day, you know, customizing costs money. It requires a lot of limitation. And when you limit, although it's good for standing out, it gets expensive. So what do you feel about customization? Because I, you know, you and I work with designers all the time. And the amount of designers I've worked with who've said, oh, it's a limited edition, oh, it's one of a kind. You and I both know that that translates to you couldn't figure out a way to duplicate it, no matter how hard you try, at least with the designers I have. Because selling something that's one of a kind ups the price. You have a no way that you can scale. You can't copy paste that and it makes it complicated. It does, it does. And, you know, at the end of the day, I had just spoke specifically to one designer who wanted to do something extremely specific that was down to something religious. And I said, although that's really wonderful and spiritual, God does not want you to be poor. So for you to dump all your money into this one concept when you haven't done a deep enough dive to see how sellable is it, how big is your market, who would buy it? Are there enough people like you who'd want to buy something that is religiously inspired? Maybe stop and think before you even start. That's how I handle it. You're much nicer than I am, or you are a lot more patient than I am. But I believe time is money, and that goes for me, and it goes for everybody else.

SPEAKER_01:

So your question on customization, I would say.

SPEAKER_02:

And what do you exactly how do you define customization?

SPEAKER_01:

Well, I'm not saying, you know, it's Burker King, have it your way, which is which is really Matthew, Matthew's saying. And ultimately that aspect is another conversation in regards to going to the market, whether it's to a retailer or a consumer and giving them too many choices. So not talking about that level of customization, talking more about personalization. I mean, we all know self-expression through kid adult nostalgia and handbag charms is to me more than a trend. Yep. You know, when I I've heard people say, well, yeah, that happens and then it it's it goes away. I think that's an old school thinking. I think that self-expression is the trend, but it's not a trend. Self-expression through personalization and customization does not have to be a heavy investment if one knows how to enter properly with the right aesthetic that fits the vibe of the brand. You know, there's certain classifications and key items that one the only place you can really do it well without it being completely not affordable would be overseas in Asia. And I truly feel that nobody does it better in certain cases and classifications than Asia. Yet what if I am a brand whose DNA is focused on more artisanal, or I identify an NGO to partner with, or I think out of the box in regards to bringing forth personalization and customization for handbags through charms, and it isn't leather or non-leather or plastic, which can be done overseas or in Italy, too expensive, and it's done through handcraft and artisanal or through an ideation of partnering with a manufacturer who does metalwork with enamel. Point being is there are ways in if it makes sense for the DNA of one's brand. Very often what I do is am able to bring forth a point of view in a design aesthetic that was never explored before, not because it's easy to do. I'm not going to take a brand that's modern and sport related and put artisanal craft in if it doesn't make sense. But point is you asked me about customization, and I explained to you that I believe it is, I think the trend is self-expression. And it's a combination of novelty, nostalgia, kid adult, and also it is really a way to showcase just like in a sense, a t-shirt, you know, through, you know, rotate t-shirts, like what I believe in and what I love.

SPEAKER_02:

What do you think about? Because I've never really, well, spoken about this. I would love to talk about the handbag straps. I mean, this podcast is about handbags. This is about people who obsess live by the sword. Like, what do you think about handbag straps? And I'm talking about you have the top handles. And it's funny, I can't remember who I was talking to, but someone on the podcast I was talking to them about handbag handles, and they were like, wait, what? And I said, Well, talk to me about that, because you and I have, you know, this is the we have a fluency. What do you see? What's going on in handbag handles? And what do you see that's going on in handbag straps trend-wise? Well, because they're two different things.

SPEAKER_01:

Well, when you're talking about handbag handles, all right, you have the evolution of the the of the satchel, which I love satchels. So me too. Yeah, I love satchels. I love satchels. I think my favorite satchel of all satchels personally would have been the you know original Chloe Paddington. I'm really happy to see the bag back, and I do love Chloe. I love what they do so much.

SPEAKER_02:

That bag is a lot.

SPEAKER_01:

It's a beautiful bag. Beautiful bag. So when you're asking me about handbag handles, are you talking about whether they are slim or rolled?

SPEAKER_02:

Like slim, rolled, fat, flat, the whole thing.

SPEAKER_01:

I for me it has to do with how does that design detail fit with the aesthetic of the actual handbag in regards to if it's a softer bag, most likely the bag would be the handle would be slimmer. If it's a more structured bag, it'd probably be rolled. I think it just I think comfort's critical to and I think adjustability of a handle.

SPEAKER_02:

For a a tap handle, you think adjustability for a tap handle?

SPEAKER_01:

No, I wish somebody could think through that because Oh, I think that'd be awesome. Yeah. But I mean, you could do it, but I wouldn't waste my time.

SPEAKER_02:

Well, people usually do if they're doing it, they're gonna do it for a crossbody strap. So, in terms of crossbody straps, what is your take on adjustability? Do you believe in buckles? Do you believe in hole punch? Do you believe in the dog clip making it smaller?

SPEAKER_01:

I really, really think it has to do with the design and the designer. There's not one that I believe in. Frankly, it really is a combination of what the aesthetic is. I mean, we have a brand launching where we've given two straps, which I think is great because the bag or the design translates both ways, both as sport and then as more dressy. I mean, that also is really an evolution of fashion. I mean, it's not that hard to see, but looking on the streets, think of the uh way women are dressing, people are going back to the office, things are a little bit more feminine, a little girly, doesn't then mean on the other side that there can't be a there's huge opportunity to look at how women are dressing in sport. When you think of it two years ago with Challenger and tennis, so there's ski and tennis and golf and pickleball and soccer, and certainly again paying attention to the market. You can see many brand. Can you see me? Yes. Okay, I can see many brands who, even outside of bags, collaborating with active sport. So to summarize, I don't have a there's a trend with crossbody straps, and that this is my opinion. It it's really what fits the consumer and the brand. I do think that in my opinion, it could be a little early, but with the change in weather that will continue, that there will be.

SPEAKER_02:

If you had dreams of becoming a handbag designer but aren't trained in design, this is for you. If you have a handbag brand and need strategy and direction, this is for you. I'm Emily Blumenthal, handbag designer expert and handbag fairy godmother, and this is the handbag designer 101 masterclass. Over the next 10 classes, I will break down everything you need to know to make, manufacture, and market a handbag brand. Broken down to ensure that you will not only skip steps in the handbag building process, but also to save money to avoid the learning curve of costly mistakes. For the past 20 years, I've been teaching at the top fashion universities in New York City, wrote the handbag designer Bible, founded the handbag boards, and created the only handbag designer podcast. I'm going to show you like I have countless brands to create in this in-depth course from sketch to sample to sale. Whether you're just starting out and don't even know where to start up again, or if you've had a brand and need some strategic direction, the handbag designer 101 Masterclass is just for you. So let's get started, and you'll be the creator of the next it bag. Join me, Emily Blumenthal, in the Handbag Designer 101 Masterclass. So be sure to sign up at Emily Blumenthal.com slash masterclass and type in the code oncast to get 10% off your masterclass today. It's funny, but usually we use it just so I can send him memes of animals, pandas rolling down the hill, you know, just silly things. But I saw that in I think it's Finland, they paint anytime they come across a reindeer that they will, or moose maybe, I can't remember, but they they paint the antlers, they make sure that so with an iridescent paint, isn't it? So they could be seen. Because when it snows, you can't see them in the dark. But it's funny, and all I kept thinking about, and this is how my mind works, I'm like, oh, like a handbag. That's so funny, like a handbag, because they are literally glowing in the dark. You just see these antlers glowing in the dark. And I thought, okay, that could be translated for a handbag.

SPEAKER_01:

And it has been, yeah. Yeah, that's exactly there's even um materials I've looked at, just have not found the right place to put it where it's just plain white.

SPEAKER_02:

Yeah.

SPEAKER_01:

And then, you know, you can put a message on it, and then in the sunlight, it says something.

SPEAKER_02:

Let's get to my next favorite topic, color. Now, because you and I talk about this all the time. I love it. About what are the must-have colors for a palette to make it successful? And how many colors do you think are necessary? Like the last time we spoke, and it's so unfortunate that we always need to have a black, a version of a brown, a version of an oxblood, which I hate, and then a muted, and then like an off-white. It's like paint chips. Like, what color are you gonna paint the safe house in or the room that's a safe color? And then maybe if you can afford it, have a colour pop, maybe a hot pink. I'm blah, blah, blah, you know, the best part of design. But what's your take on what's going on?

SPEAKER_01:

I believe in I've said this as a new designer. Yes. And then this doesn't then mean every new designer has to look the same. Correct. Before you know it, I don't know, and it's direct to consumer and physical retail, right?

SPEAKER_02:

Correct.

SPEAKER_01:

And one's ahead of the other. And we all know the growth of DTC.

SPEAKER_02:

Yes. Yet the investment sometimes to get the eyeballs there, unless you're ironically, though, with even with retail, so many retailers like the big ones will take on newer designers, and then the designers get so excited only to learn that it's drop ship and drop ship.

SPEAKER_01:

But I think drop ship, Matthew, my dear colleague over here and friend. I learned so much from him.

SPEAKER_02:

It's an opportunity.

SPEAKER_01:

However, when you're police a great way to also look at where consumers are shopping from, it could be identification of people love your products on the West Coast or in Australia, you know, for whatever reason. So there is an advantage to that. And of course, there's also no liability.

SPEAKER_02:

But the flip side is the flip side is though, it really depends of all the way going back to your cost. And, you know, you do take that gamble of not knowing, or maybe if you're clever, you already do know what your best seller theoretically would be. But that puts you at a risk of going into production and keeping your fingers and toes crossed that hopefully these will sell, or else I'm stuck with inventory. So you're at this like strategic juggle balance of inventory versus, oh my God, it's selling versus I went into product production so I could have some sort of economies of scale and lower my prices in order to sell it at an affordable price point. And honky doo, look at this. It's it's not selling, you know, or this one oversold versus this one. What's is Matthew making faces at you?

SPEAKER_01:

No, he's leaving me my Christmas presents and Louise's presents and the problem with dropship. We are a comedy show, like literally we should we should have a TV show.

SPEAKER_00:

The problem with hello. The problem with drop ship is one thing. The retailer has no skin in the game. Correct. Basically, they said we'll allow you to use our website and you can put all your SKUs up, but we're not going to pay for them and we're really not shipping paying to ship them. We'll give you a little bit of money stipend for them. Meanwhile, they haven't purchased the inventory that they get part of the sale. But it is really the fact is, and then you should use it as a SKU extension. So if you want to have the hot pink, lime green, and yellow along with those basic SKUs, that's when I think dropship is okay. Because I understand that retailer only has a certain amount of open to buy and can only go so far. And peanut butter doesn't really spread evenly and cost the same. So I do think that that's it's okay, but they you shouldn't, I don't think they should put all the responsibility on you to own the inventory, house the inventory, ship the inventory, and you know, we'll just benefit from the sale. It should be like anything, a partnership.

SPEAKER_02:

Do you think as a new designer, you're able to have some negotiating leverage with that, or do you think you need to prove your work?

SPEAKER_00:

I think sales prove everything, but I don't think it's an unreasonable request. I think when you have someone guiding you. No, so I think if they believe in it, you know. So I mean, you know, I mean, look at like what the press fans did years ago with Prada. They had that Prada, those nylon bags on the shelves. They didn't sell, they didn't sell, they didn't sell, they continued to believe in it, and finally it took. You know that was at Luminos first, and then went to the must be at Macy's, actually. Oh my god.

SPEAKER_02:

But uh Prada, yeah, Prada, Prada did reverse.

SPEAKER_00:

But you know, they but they but the presidents believed in it, they believed in it, they believed in it, and eventually it took.

SPEAKER_01:

And that is the same with any, I mean, it does not happen overnight.

SPEAKER_00:

But I do believe that I don't believe that people should retailers should expect that we the brand should have everything drop ship. But it I do think it's a way to test and to also have color extensions. And and if you really believe in the style and the retailer doesn't believe in it, it gives you the ability to put it up. But and you can control your pricing. That's the other thing, because you're the one that really decides to mark it down and not mark it down. So you're basically controlling your own profit, but it does not let allow you, it kind of can help you prevent you from getting all tangled up in, well, because it's you know June 30th, we're gonna mark down all white, you know, or whatever. If but you can kind of control your own inventory, so uh in your own pricing. So I think that's a good thing.

SPEAKER_02:

But can you if they buy inventory, even if it's a little, then they own it, which then allows the retailer to get it if it's a drop ship skew, they're not supposed to be owning any of it.

SPEAKER_00:

No, but now she's saying beyond drop ship. Oh, well, they're technically that's why you need to keep the color pure. So, well, once it's dropshipped, they're not typically going to turn it on to a regular inventory thing until maybe the following season. But that's your only thing that can kind of help.

SPEAKER_02:

And you And what's the volume and what is the volume season?

SPEAKER_00:

Well, I mean, the following season would be like the next spring. Let's I'm just saying white. I'm saying white because it was spring. It would be the following spring.

SPEAKER_02:

And do you think so? You're saying use dropship as an opportunity to test those pops of color?

SPEAKER_00:

Yeah, or maybe fabrication or whatever, you know. At one point, Dillers used to believe that all white had to be marked down at a certain time of the year, and they would just do these massive markdowns because that's what their customers dictate. That's what they kind of thought. Now they don't do that anymore because they've realized that, you know, we all decided white does sell past Labor Day or whatever, you know, or just like, you know, like it's like cold weather. Uh, every scarf goes on markdown. Now it's just really the winter's just starting. It's like seasons are we buy and bring it in way too soon and mark it down way too soon.

SPEAKER_01:

Which is thus why why a new brand could bring newness and freshness, right? Where there's a test because you're testing something without that huge upfront investment, right? And it's the freshness that really it was the way we were taught at Blooming Nils, you know, the discovery of new, right?

SPEAKER_00:

And that's the important thing is I think most new brands need the revenue, so they don't really, you know, decide they're gonna go and bring uh design a brand and bring it to fruition that everybody's just gonna have it on drop ship because you only get paid, and then you get paid a certain amount of days after that sale. You don't get paid right away, so it's a difficult thing. I think big brands they can put basically put up your whole SKU catalog if you want to.

SPEAKER_02:

But that said, so doesn't that take us back to the power of boutiques and having a strong D2C business? And boutiques, nine times out of ten, you'll get paid up front. Boutiques, you can have a handshake relationship, boutiques you can swap out inventory if it's not working. Yes, Nancy.

SPEAKER_01:

I've seen all the on Instagram, all these ads that talk about that from experts, and I I don't know who the experts are, but I don't know who those experts are either. Talk about wholesale's dead, everybody's closed, don't focus on it. And the reality gets like any industry, things change. There's some incredible growth within specialty store retail. 100%. I mean, we see it with our own clients. I'm not saying it's easy and that the that the units are as massive, of course, as a large farm store, but there is a resurgence to a specialty store retailer because it is the hometown store. It's wonderful. I'm excited about it. That is where our focus is in regards to looking at retailers who are growing and trying to identify the best.

SPEAKER_02:

Yeah, that's what I talk about, the essence of the hometown hero and never sleep on it. Because I'm sure you guys have dealt with designers that are almost apologetic, that they don't live in metropolitan Los Angeles or Texas or Chicago or Atlanta or New York or any of those places. And I'd say, hold on, I'm sure you have beautiful people around you. I'm sure they shop someplace. I'm sure there's one local boutique that everybody goes to within a 50 mile radius from where you live. And if the answer is always yes. And it's like, go there, talk to them, be that let them make sense.

SPEAKER_01:

Yeah. And also there are incredible retailers in New Jersey, Ohio, Iowa, Nebraska, Minnesota.

SPEAKER_02:

Wasn't that? Do you remember the instyled editor who moved to Nebraska to open up a boutique? Same thing. Yeah. Yeah. I I was shocked. And everybody was shocked. And it's like, no, she was. Okay. Oh my god. Guys, I love our stream of consciousness. I can't wait. I'm gonna see you guys the next New York now. I hope we have some of your designers there. We have a great lineup of talent. And how because I am gonna keep having both of you back. I'm gonna try and make sure I can lock in both of you because this is too much fun. How can we find you? It is. I know Matthew's giving me funny looks if people are watching this on YouTube. I hope they're able to see this.

SPEAKER_01:

I want to think you have a ticket. Um one um before this, I just wanted to make sure that I uh do another shout out to Tony from Hammett. Oh, why Tony from Hammond? Why I just think that I just look at the brand and I always think, you know, that is an example of staying the course, knowing who your customer is, and just I just trust.

SPEAKER_02:

How can we find you, follow you, the Nancy Matthew dynamic duo? How can we find you?

SPEAKER_01:

At accessory think tank.

SPEAKER_02:

Okay, at accessory think tank, and it's accessory think tank singular, correct?

SPEAKER_01:

Yes, it is literally accessory singular. Everyone thinks that it's not, no, but it is okay.

SPEAKER_02:

Nancy Foreman think tank. Accessory think tank.

SPEAKER_01:

Okay, I mean, you want my handle? It's at the accessory think tank. Perfect. All one word. Accessory think tank. Yes, yes.

SPEAKER_02:

We've said it three times, and in marketing and advertising, that means the message should now be clear because it takes three times. We've said it three times. Huzzah. Thank you, thank you guys for joining.

SPEAKER_01:

And always a pleasure. Thank you for your collaborative support and you know, really being a champion of designers for the for our industry.

SPEAKER_02:

Thank you guys. I'm gonna have you on back again, as always.

SPEAKER_00:

Okay, thank you.

SPEAKER_02:

Okay, bye. 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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