Handbag Designer 101: The Stories Behind Handbag Designers, Brands, and Industry Icons
Emily Blumenthal
116 episodes
2 days ago
What if the secret to growth isn’t chasing the next trend—but carrying a dream with enough grit to outlast them? In this episode, Adriana Castro shares how she turned Colombian craftsmanship and business discipline into a timeless accessories brand. Leaving a safe corporate path for design school, she transformed professors into mentors and built her first collection—and its production—from the ground up in Barranquilla. Adriana breaks down her hybrid strategy of pairing indigenous natural fi...
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What if the secret to growth isn’t chasing the next trend—but carrying a dream with enough grit to outlast them? In this episode, Adriana Castro shares how she turned Colombian craftsmanship and business discipline into a timeless accessories brand. Leaving a safe corporate path for design school, she transformed professors into mentors and built her first collection—and its production—from the ground up in Barranquilla. Adriana breaks down her hybrid strategy of pairing indigenous natural fi...
From Macy’s to QVC: Karen Giberson’s Accessories’ Journey | Emily Blumenthal & Karen Giberson
Handbag Designer 101: The Stories Behind Handbag Designers, Brands, and Industry Icons
37 minutes
2 months ago
From Macy’s to QVC: Karen Giberson’s Accessories’ Journey | Emily Blumenthal & Karen Giberson
Ever wonder why it’s so hard to break into the accessories world? Karen Giberson, President of the Accessories Council, pulls back the curtain on an industry made up of specialized silos that rarely connect. From Macy’s competitive executive training program to navigating the stigma of QVC, her path shaped a mission to create meaningful connections across accessory categories. "I’d rather put my product in the trash than sell it to you." That early rejection in television retail revealed the ...
Handbag Designer 101: The Stories Behind Handbag Designers, Brands, and Industry Icons
What if the secret to growth isn’t chasing the next trend—but carrying a dream with enough grit to outlast them? In this episode, Adriana Castro shares how she turned Colombian craftsmanship and business discipline into a timeless accessories brand. Leaving a safe corporate path for design school, she transformed professors into mentors and built her first collection—and its production—from the ground up in Barranquilla. Adriana breaks down her hybrid strategy of pairing indigenous natural fi...
