If you sat down and actually counted the number of handbag designers in the world, it would probably take a long time. Of course, there are the bigger brands like Prada and Gucci, but think about of the smaller brands making western style handbags in tiny stores in major cities and even some towns. No matter how many designers there are all over the world, it is hard to break out in a field with a lot of competition. For that matter, it’s even harder for consumers to find wholesale handbags that are not being advertised.
With so many brands and styles, one woman (Emily Blumenthal) decided to create a designer handbag awards show for independent designers in New York. This event, according to Fox Business, is entering its fifth year:
“This handbag event, her brainchild, keeps growing. There are nine categories, including “Audience Favorite” where anyone can vote (starting May 16), and the winner gets to sell nationally and be in the September issue of InStyle. Last year more than 200,000 people voted for the winner. This year there are 1,200-plus applicants from around the globe, astounding considering this is a completely organic process; it simply went viral.
The first handbag awards in 2007 drew approximately 300 applicants and 500 attendees. Blumenthal knew enough to hold it at a New York landmark, the Museum of the City of New York, and to have a Lifetime Achievement Award presented to Carlos Falchi.”
Leaving Blumenthal’s mastery of business academically in the background, Blumenthal actually has designed her own product, the Yasmena. The wallet/wristlet was featured on the incredibly successful show Sex and the City, putting the award show creator right in the middle of the fashion world. Thus, the article says, she started helping small fashion designers with marketing:
“She has found a niche that combines her sales expertise and her soup-to-nuts experience bringing the Yasmena to fruition. Blumenthal shines at the practical, the numbers on the page, the black and white. There is no ‘aha moment’ so much as an idea that is then studied and run through her analytical sales mind to gauge its viability in the market.”
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