Kerry turns 4

 Over four years ago, I sat in the kitchen counter and cut a tan suede fringe with dull kitchen scissors. But the small inconveniences did not matter then. The process was excruciating and fascinating at the same time.

My fringe bag later became the start of the JVD line, my most joyful accomplishment so far. I learned to cut fringe with multi-blade tools, sew leather and, eventually, plan construction for more intricate pieces.

Kerry bag

Although, we do not make Kerry bags in stock anymore, they're still offered via Custom Service in the same three original colours: Royal Blue, Tan and Mocha (or the colours of the customer's choice)

Kerry, Mocha

I will always have a special place for fringe in my collections, and try to keep a fringed style for most summers. Below are other great ways of fringing in clothing and accessories of different decades.

Info on the sources of the images and where to buy the items, is on our FB fan page.

Posted by Jolanta http://jolavdesigns.com

The year in Custom....

One of the things, that started in the just by-gone 2012, was our Custom Service. Since Spring we received a substantial number of vintage, old, damaged, outdated leather coats, skirts and other random pieces, even a few fur outerwear articles, to re-make into custom OOAK handbags.

Pre-made leather items make for a very different work process, than plain hides, due to their varied characteristics, existing features and surface treatment. Every pre-made item poses a new creative challenge.

Our designs transformed along with the source items, and became unique blends of both, carrying over the best features and qualities of the source item, adapted to our wearable build.

Here are some of the highlights amongst our Custom Service creations:

Some of you wished to slightly modify our existing designs to better suit your needs.

Telia with a cross-body strap

Telia with a cross-body strap and hardware

Vintage coats are incredibly adaptive - the softness of garment leather works great for tassels, folds and other detailing. It was an exciting exploration to work with them.

The Starter, made of a vintage coat

Kerry, made of a vintage coat, featuring unique front pocket

Some of you gave us your old leather or fur items, just out of the kindness of the heart - like this wonderful coat, that was handed over in October. Parts of it were integrated into a one-of-a-kind design for the coats former owner: a shorter strap shoulder purse with upholstery leather and recycled fur.

Satchel, Harness Brown and Fur

This particular design challenged me to figure out some new ways to construct, close and seal a bag, which I would not have learned otherwise. Building after someone else's design is a great learning experience.

Satchel, Harness Brown and Fur

Satchel, Harness Brown and Fur

Some of you went for our designs without any changes --

Telia, Harness Brown

Vintage coats host some great built-in features, that can become a focal point of the design. This large tote will be released shortly, as a part of our upcoming collection, and this is a recycled version of it made right in the outset of the Custom Service.

Tote (Marife) in black vintage coat

Some of you brought your old gifts - to be re-made into new gifts, in a form of a handbag. This beautiful vintage skirt has been repurposed as a slightly altered Virga bag, from our Pre-Fall Coming Of Age 2010 collection...

... and there was a bunch more....

To learn more about our Custom Service, pls check out this post.
We will continue to re-use and recycle the old and rescued jackets into the new year...

Posted by Jolanta http://jolavdesigns.com

Custom Service - Old Coats Turned OOAK Bags - part I

We are making progress in turning the leather jackets from the past decades into truly One Of A Kind bags of various shapes and sizes.

There has been a lot of cutting up, re-stitching, re-lining. We now have some of the "After" looks - complete new handbags, built from once unusable, ill-fitted coats, that despite their dated silhouettes, were still made of beautiful leather with some incredible details and finishes...

This project only proves, that leather is indeed timeless...

Jola V. Designs Custom Service:
Sarah bag + Soon-to-be -released tote

More images will come soon, and in this case, pictures really do speak a thousand words... 

Recognize the flap pockets on
the Tote on the left?...

Another large, beautiful tote, made from....

... this coat - can you recognize
 the pockets?

The new tags are making their way in...

All new Tomboy bracelets, made from
small leather cut-aways

I love using men's jackets for Sarah bags - the masculine
detailing really complements my feminine pleats

If you have a leather coat, skirt, trousers or other quality item, that you no longer wear - consider re-using it for a new bag. Leather does not go out of fashion, while clothing designs and finishes have.


But it is not just leather clothing that we can re-make. Your upholstery pieces from an old chair/ couch or home decor will do great too. 

Also, this burlap purse, built of a recycled bulk coffee traders' bag and remnants of our deer-tanned leather, makes for a very trendy unique piece..

All details on our Custom Service are in this post.







Posted by Jolanta http://jolavdesigns.com