There are worse problems for a fashion designer to have: Pierre Laborde simply can’t make his handbags fast enough.
The Haitian-born, New York-based designer has become one of fashion’s most unlikely viral success stories. After years of handcrafting colorful leather bags and selling them at New York City’s Grand Bazaar, Laborde saw demand explode after his work began gaining attention on social media. What once might have been a quiet day at his booth can now mean lines of shoppers hoping to get their hands on one of his creations.
And these aren’t bags rolling off an assembly line. Laborde is a graduate of New York’s Fashion Institute of Technology, and his designs emphasize old-fashioned craftsmanship. He selects his materials, cuts and matches the leather and cowhide, stitches components and pays close attention to the finishing details. His philosophy combines what he calls “vintage quality with modern sensibility.”
That hands-on approach also creates one enormous problem: there are only so many bags he can make.
At the height of the frenzy, Laborde said he could produce roughly 200 bags a week, while demand could require closer to 1,500. Some releases have sold out in about 30 minutes, with customers lining up before the market opens and some reportedly traveling from other states just for the opportunity to buy one.
Even more remarkable is Laborde’s reluctance to simply turn his newfound popularity into mass production. Despite the demand, he has remained protective of the craftsmanship and individuality that made the bags special in the first place.
That may ultimately be part of their appeal.
In a fashion world filled with enormous luxury companies, conspicuous logos and factory-produced accessories, Pierre Laborde has created something increasingly rare: a bag that still feels as though it came directly from the hands of the person who designed it.
For now, shoppers hoping to own one may need two accessories of their own — patience and a little luck.
