Lady LUX

Sherry Wolf became a handbag designer because she couldn’t find a bag on the market that excited her.

“I always wanted to design handbags ever since I could remember because it is so hard to find a handbag that I like,” Wolf revealed. “I always said I just wanted to make them myself. I had so many ideas.”

Marrying fashion and function, her first handbag collection was released in 2004. Since then, Wolf has taken the industry by storm, with her handbags featured in Bloomingdales, Nordstrom and countless boutiques across the nation, as well as the arms of a number of celebrities.

Her success spans across industries, from designing fine jewelry sold at Neiman Marcus to debuting her wares on shopping channel QVC. Through it all, handbags have been her favorite to design.

“Nothing’s like handbags,” Wolf explained. “Handbags are the best. It’s gotta be functional. So it’s a real challenge.”

And her bags are exactly that: functional. Perfect for the busy fashionista, her purse designs incorporate a number of features that make them practical: top zippers so nothing falls out, inside and outside pockets to find everything easily, and convertible straps for either over-the-shoulder or cross-body.

“So I take all these things that women want and kind of put it in a blender and take all these good properties that we want and then I add my style,” Wolf said.

But practicality is not her only goal. Wolf also aims to evoke a sense of sensuality with her bags.

“I try to make them sort of sexy,” she said. “Bags are usually not considered sexy like clothes are, but I try to make mine have an appeal that you feel good wearing it during the day and then … have it be cool enough to wear out into the evening.”

Her bags also reflect her somewhat offbeat personality. “They have a lighter quality to them,” Wolf said. “They are not all serious-looking bags. They might have some fun elements.”

She works to include that “surprise ingredient”: a little something that makes her bags different from her competitors.

“(My designs target) somebody who maybe is a little bit of a quirky person and (has) a little bit of edginess to them and doesn’t just follow the mold of everybody else,” Wolf said.

She uses only Italian leathers – the Italians know how to tan leathers – taking the time to hunt down soft, buttery skins that shoppers will want to touch, smell and feel.

“A lot of designers … find a skin of crocodile or alligator and then just design a simple bag and then use the skin to be the main idea behind what they were going for,” Wolf disclosed. “I try to go for style.”

As a super-realist painter, Wolf has always been caught between two worlds: the fashion industry and the field of art. Her paintings – which are featured in major museums and collections – are painstakingly done, often taking a year each to make.

Fashion, in contrast, supplies instant gratification, as it has a fast-paced environment that allows her to churn out ideas in just one sitting. While some may court an ever-elusive muse, Wolf has always found a fountain of inspiration at the design table.

“I don’t know where I muster up the inspiration. It just sort of flows out. I’m very prolific. When I need to design something for the next season, I can just sit down and find the inspiration … I design one bag after another,” the designer disclosed.

Wolf declares she can brainstorm up to 30 bags in one sitting, giving her a great deal of latitude to pick the ones that truly pop.

She takes her passion for fashion seriously, shopping around to ensure that her designs are distinct from anything else on the market.

“I love to be ahead and more of a trend setter,” Wolf said. “Most designers today follow trends – you have to know what is happening – but I want to be the most innovative as possible, without being too cutsy. That’s my goal in designing.”

She believes her background as a painter makes her especially attentive to details in her designing.

“Being a super-realist painter, it’s all about detail,” she revealed. “So when I design, sometimes it’s the small details that make all the difference in the bag and being attentive to all the small details just makes it a little more classier, a little more sophisticated.”

Wolf credits her accomplishments to hard work. A self-professed workaholic who toils into the evening and on weekends, she believes success comes from being dedicated.

“You can’t rely on just being inspired,” she asserted. “As a professional artist, you have to realize that what you are doing is a business, and I get up just like anybody else and work all day.”

The fashion world is always changing and Wolf aims to keep pace. “You have to stay tuned in to what the fashion is because you want to have bags that complement the clothes,” Wolf said, explaining that her style has evolved.

The future looks bright for Wolf. She plans to continue her work on handbags, but hopes to branch out to other accessories and clothing. “I have ideas for everything,” she laughed.

To see her collections, visit www.sherrywolf.com.

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Fashion / Features