Metallics - new and unexplored...

Platinum coloured leather

 On one of my supply runs, I reluctantly picked up a small, but sturdy side of metallic leather. A bunch of them just got liquidated out of the States, so I decided to get one and see if I can ever work with it.

Now, I am no big fan of metallic purses. They had a few strong years of presence back around 2004, and it appears to be, that Fall of 2011 may become their another cyclical return. On occasion, I would find a metallic bag I would like in some ways, like the silhouette, or the feel of leather, but always found it hard to wrap  - even my tolerant mind -  around the bedazzled atrocities of the decor, tacky logo medallions or out-dated hardware. So, when the leather landed on my table, I knew I will need some time to distance my imagination from the countless images of other people's unfortunate metallic creations.
For the next few days I started doubting if it is even possible to make a tasteful metallic bag...Or, if I can even see any of my existing designs in a Metallic...  I almost decided to give the idea up, thinking that "bling" just was not me.


I found images of these several bags, that appeared to be free of all the traditional mishaps of the Metallic trends:

Stella McCartney

Lucca-Elliott

Salvatore Ferragamo

Foley And Corinna

 
 Ironically, all these bags, even though Metallic,- are still of Earth colours - modified shades of brown and beige. My leather was beaming Platinum, making me as nervous, as ever... 


I received some great advice from fellow bag makers and fans - to use my Metallic for accents, small purses, etc. Some were way bolder, encouraging me to "just do it" - cut it that is...


I decided to start with the latter, and take steps to tackle my points of anxiety one my one: 

1.To soften the look of the Platinum coloured 4.5 oz'er, I needed to apply it to one of my softest and simplest designs.  In Metallic.

Metallic Limited Finish Sarah

2. In order to not take the look overboard, I shortened the strap, creating an evening version of the Sarah bag.

1/2 strap for Evening version

3. Since ties would not work very well of a stiffer leather, I used an understated buckle for strap adjustments.

Buckled strap - all one tone!

Done - The prototype will make it's debut at my booth at Make It Vancouver next weekend....

I was surprised how happy I was with the final result. The next day I wore it out for my very necessary "sampling" walk, and the feedback I got, tells me, that we are on the right track with this one... Needless to say, I went back to my supplier and retrieved another Platinum side for future production.

Full metal

 Till further notice, the Limited Finish Metallic Sarah bags will only be available at the Webshop.

Posted by Jolanta http://jolavdesigns.com