“My handbags are like family members”, Johanna Boccardo
Noblivity Spotlights Emerging Designer Johanna Boccardo
Company/Designer Name: Beautiful People / Johanna Boccardo
Designer Background Summary: I see myself as “the non-fashion designer” since my formal training was in Illustration and the graphic Arts. Although I did not go to fashion school, I believe my previous studies in the design field gave me the necessary tools to create beautiful pieces of art, be it an illustration for a great book, a contemporary piece of jewelry or an avant-garde romantic un-classical-classical bag.
How did you get started?
I got into fashion by chance. I had been working in Barcelona (Spain) as a freelance illustrator for 2 years when an opportunity to move to Miami arose. My family had recently gotten involved as partners in a fashion accessories brand based in Miami and I was offered the opportunity to apply my design knowledge doing some creative direction for this new company.
Not many months passed by before I came up with a proposal for a small handbag line and some jewelry collections.
What inspires your designs?
Family, seen through my eyes as characters. My handbags are like family members among them, with different personalities and lifestyles bound by a certain something that they share. Words also inspire me a lot, and the need to see leather folded, creased and played with like it was fabric or paper.
How would you describe your design style, design signatures and who is your targeted customer? Romantic avant-garde, un-classical classical, playful chic. My customer is a contemporary urban warrior who feels like a beautiful ethereal creature on the inside. A young and young at heart woman who is always looking for something new that will set her apart from the masses.
What designers inspire you?
I believe Jenna Lyons is doing an extraordinary work in JCrew, taking the brand and its vision so much further than ever, but keeping it real and contemporary. Alber Elbaz, mighty Marc Jacobs, Phoebe Philo, and the creative geniuses behind Elizabeth and James, Rag and Bone and Clu.
What obstacles did you have to overcome? They don’t really matter… piece of cake!
How did you overcome them? By jumping ahead, dodging them in slow motion (Matrix style), a lot of humor and the ability to look beyond.
What has been your greatest moment on your journey so far? Being nominated for an Independent Handbag Designer Award (IHDA 2009) in “Best handbag in overall design” was a treat.
What has been the biggest change in your designs so far? Going from “what a handbag should be” to “what I think it should be”.
If money were no object what would you do right now? The same thing, bigger, faster, broader and traveling non-stop in search for growth and more inspiration.
What are the best and worst things about being a designer? The best thing is being able to realize an abstract idea or a drawing into something real. The worst is that you need to be patient with every single aspect of this business.
Describe your typical day? I wake up, open the blinds to see outside, drive to my studio, draw, design, create, destroy, re-build, think and re-think, eat lots of fruits and work out in the evening for a dose of endorphins.
What’s your philosophy of life? One must make a business out of one’s passions.
If you could do it all over again, what would you do differently? So many things…
When will you know you have made it? When will you?
