If you’re an “Entourage” fan, you may have seen our gleaming Silver Small Tie Tote on the show’s “Murphy’s Lie” episode.  (It first aired August 16, 2009 and re-airs intermittently on HBO.)   We found this out via a great website called The Purse Forum – a place we’re now huge fans of.

Alexis Dziena, the sleek young actress who plays Ashley on the hit show, was the one who wore it.  The show’s a great fit for us because the star of “Entourage” Adrian Grenier is very dedicated to the environment and has his own show called “Alter Eco” on the Planet Green channel.

How did we get this coup? Well, let’s just say we’re very thankful to Lisa Greenfield, who’s a dear friend and a big supporter of our Rebagz. And thanks also go to the “Celebrity Bags and Style” section on The Purse Forum, a part of The Purse Blog, where you can go to get the expert lowdown on designer bags.

We also loved our previous Rebagz “appearance” on TV when our Multi-Color Large Tie Tote was featured on several episodes spanning three seasons of “Ugly Betty.”  The show’s star America Ferrera had received the bag at an Emmy Awards party in September 2007, just a few months after we launched the line.  That January, we started getting calls from our customers telling us they’d seen the bag on “Ugly Betty.”  Sure enough, we discovered America had decided to wear it on the show – and we were (and still are) so grateful!

Things like these TV appearances have really helped put us on the map.  Granted, our company’s based in Los Angeles, so we’re kind of over the whole celebrity thing.  But when Adrian Grenier and America Ferrera are involved, given the stands they take in their public life, we feel extremely fortunate to be affiliated with them.

XOXO Marty

In Part 1, I talked about wishing for and designing a new line of bags for our Rebagz Eco-Chic Handbag line. I’d just ordered samples of the bags - and was keeping my fingers, toes and everything else crossed…

Ah, samples. When new samples arrive, it’s occasionally a champagne moment, but more often than not I’ve had to reach for the Pepto Bismol. So when I got the first box of samples delivered to me when I was in New York for the Gift Fair, I hesitated before I opened it. I was so nervous! I took a deep breath and told myself that we could always do revisions, that there had to be a way to make these new bags work. I then took my little cuticle scissors – the only sharp thing I had – and cut the tape on the box.

I’m sure I must have scared the people in the next room because I shrieked that loud. They were that beautiful! And I was that relieved. We showed them to some of our customers at the Gift Fair and they loved them as much as we did. (Have a look here.)

I had big plans for the designs I’d developed for these bags, and now that I knew the line would work, I needed to start setting things in motion. That means coming up with a name for the line and aligning ourselves with organizations that I hoped would agree to let us donate proceeds from sales to them.

The name “Statement Makers” was the result of a very fun and illuminating strategy session with my dear friend and long-time publicist Lisa Elia.  We were brainstorming and “Statement Makers” just popped out of her mouth. Why was that the perfect name? Because from a distance, these bags are a style statement. But up close, they’re a personal statement – about peace, about environmentalism, or about being a she-geek. (Being smart is sexy again – ‘bout time!)

A big part of the Statement Makers vision is that they’re a way to show your point of view in a fun and amiable way. I don’t know about you, but all of us here at Half the Sky and Rebagz feel that all the nasty, noisy nonsense that dominates public dialogue right now is depleting, pointless and destructive. We strongly feel that one should have opinions, but have you noticed that a lot of the noisemakers don’t actually take a stand? Instead, they just tear down any idea they don’t like without offering any kind of sound, alternative solution to the problems facing us.

So that’s why we’ve aligned ourselves with the organizations that we have, and we’re proud and thrilled that they’ve accepted our invitation. Just so you know, I’m extremely picky about what non-profits we’ll work with, both here and abroad (where they’re called NGO’s – non-governmental organizations). Having done humanitarian work in Chiapas, Mexico and worked with organizations here as well, I’ve discovered there are a few very good groups and a lot of others that range from mediocre to downright awful.

The groups we chose to approach are ones that I know to have a strong track record for effectiveness in their arena. They’re part of the solution, and I can’t fully express how much I admire the work they do. I’ll be blogging about each one separately in the coming week or so, and I’ll highlight each of the new bag designs too.

So we proudly announce the launch of Statement Makers. It’s time to start the conversation…with style.

XOXO Marty

You’ve heard me mention our new Statement Maker line about a zillion times - and now they’re finally here!

Where did our Statement Makers come from?  About a year and a half ago, I started thinking that at some point I’d want to create a third branch of our Rebagz Eco-Chic Handbag line.  I wanted something I could really make my own in terms of the graphic design.  Don’t get me wrong – I love love love our recycled rice sack line and our colorful bags made from recycled juice packs.  But there were two issues I had.  First, when you’re making anything out of recycled materials, you sometimes have to wait for things to come through the recycling system – which means that production gets delayed, and your customers are stuck tapping their foot, waiting for their handbags.  And I like keeping our customers happy.

Second, from an artistic standpoint, I’d so far only been able to work with the colors of the juice packs or the graphics that were already printed on the rice sacks.  As much as I love the bags we have, my designer’s ego was getting the better of me.  I wanted to put my own visual stamp on my bags, damn it!

I thought of doing something along the lines of an organic cloth bag, made from cotton, bamboo or something like that.  I even considered silk.  But I wasn’t finding anything that I could really wrap my heart and eye around, plus there were other bags out there – beautiful ones – already made from these materials.
So what to do, what to do…

Well, it’s funny how things work.  At the beginning of the summer, our Philippine broker Malu mentioned that she’d found an organization that was making hand woven bags from a recycled material that could be printed on, and that had straps made from recycled plastic.  (I don’t like plastic, but it’s out there, so it needs a second life.)  This meant that we didn’t have to worry about production, seeing as this organization had located an abundance of these two materials to recycle.

It was a real “Eureka” moment for me.  (That term comes from the ancient scientist Archimedes, who ran naked through the streets of Syracusa one night…On second thought, I think I’ll just stick to handbags.)  It’s so wonderful to put a wish out there and then have what you’re seeking find its way to you.  I immediately set to work coming up with new designs and artwork, and then had samples made.

(You can’t really see it in the photo, but it says “SAVE” in the black part of our “Panda Love” design.)

How did those samples turn out?  Stay tuned for Part 2.


XOXO Marty

In case you’re looking for Part 1 and Part 2, just follow the links. With our new “Statement Makers” line about to debut, I thought it was a good time to do some reflecting - and also to create a place online where I can send people who ask, “How’d you get all this started?” (If you’d like a sneak peek of our Statement Makers, check out the new slide show on our Rebagz homepage.

Part 3 - Day-to-Day Life @ Rebagz
When the work day ends in Los Angeles, where our offices are, the work day is just beginning in the Philippines, so it’s not unusual for me to be up past midnight doing business by phone and email. But I consider myself incredibly fortunate to be working this hard because I know there are so many people who would love to be in my position.

I love talking to our customers. It’s actually one of my favorite things – seriously! Sometimes that’s the only social time I have all day. I encourage them, and our sales agents on the road, to give us feedback. We want to know the bad as well as the good so we can make our designs and the way we do business as user-friendly as possible. And if you’re one of our customers already, you’ve probably noticed how fantastic Rorey and Shasta are. I’m so lucky to have them working with me.

Our customers are the reason we’re as successful as we are, and one of the things that’s so vital to me is to celebrate every small inch of success and express my gratitude wherever and to whomever I can. We’ve had a lot of extraordinary opportunities that have seemingly fallen into our laps and I’m so grateful for each and every one of them.

For anyone thinking about getting into this sort of business, I highly encourage it! It’s incredibly rewarding. But in terms of creating one’s own design business, just realize fear is a part of it. Most people let the fear stop them, but there’s no true courage without fear, and you need a lot of guts to stick your neck out in fashion. When you have those dark, frustrating days, and I’ve had scores of them, just remember that if it was easy, everybody would be doing it - and succeeding at it. The only thing that can keep you down is if you choose not to get up again.

I think 3 parts is enough for my retrospective on Rebagz. Any more navel-gazing on my part and I’m afraid I’ll get a crick in my neck.

Thank YOU so much for all your support!

XOXO Marty

Between typhoons, tsunamis and earthquakes, it seems like the calamities over in Asia won’t stop.  The people we work with in the Philippines managed to survive their second catastrophic storm in eight days, thankfully, but they’ll have a lot of rebuilding to do.   I know they’d appreciate any support you’re open to giving them.  CauseCast has some good links, if you’d like to make a donation.

Once things are up and running again, we’ll be keeping them busy with our new Statement Makers bags.   These new eco-friendly handbags made using a recycled material we can print on, plus the straps are made from recycled PET plastic.  We’re in the process of making arrangements with some wonderful non-profits who’ll be receiving part of the proceeds from the sales of Statement Makers.  As soon as everything’s in place, I’ll tell you more about who we’re working with.

We will, of course, continue to donate $1 per order to Global Exchange.  That goes without saying.

I’ll talk more about the whole concept behind Statement Makers in future blogs because we’re really making an effort as a company to be part of the solution to the world’s ills rather than part of the whining, fear and anger we see all around us.

I want to thank a terrific blog named SheSez.com (love that name!) for writing such a flattering article about our Rebagz. SheSez is all about “the art of living well,” and it’s a site that’s beautifully put together. Make sure you check it out. SheSez is chock full of fashion advice and really great information - fashion, beauty and otherwise.

XOXO Marty

“I’m so glad you’re a she-geek!” Marty just said to me.


I’d mentioned that although we don’t say it on any of our marketing literature, our bags are actually vegan - they’re made without using any animal bits or animal testing. This means they’re eco-, human-, AND animal-friendly.


Truth is, though, we Rebagz types try not to resort to pre-existing labels and definitions, because it hampers our thinking. Case in point was our recent decision to send me to listen to a presentation by John Eagan, a vice president and general merchandise manager for Costco Wholesale. I mean, using reductionist thinking we don’t have much in common as organizations because they’re a massive, mainstream corporation and we’re a little winky eco-chic handbag company. Yet Costco is one company we actually DO want to learn from, because there’s something about their culture that enables them to consistently receive great praise from their members and their employees while making millions of dollars. Like I said, we don’t just accept pre-existing definitions for big ideas like financial success, so, for us, the manner in which we succeed is just as important to us as the fact that we succeed.


I took so many notes at this presentation that my hand was sore, and most of it had to do with little examples that inspired me. For instance, wrapping pallets differently and choosing a different model of truck allowed them to increase their trucking efficiency by about 30%, which is not only a massive financial improvement, but an environmental one. And at some locations they’re sending food waste to a worm farm, and the waste later comes back to Costco in the form of compost. I think that is the coolest thing! See? Marty’s right - I’m a geek.

As I was leaving the talk, I saw a woman carrying a really cute bright yellow tote, and I was like, HANG ON! That’s a yellow Large Tie Tote! I had to introduce myself, because, given the context, chances were it was somebody Marty knows. Sure enough, it was Cindy Baker Gilbert, who is, in Marty’s words, “a wonderful writer and a dear, dear friend. I love her spirit and her Texas twang, and she’s one of those people you can talk your heart out to.” In honor of Cindy and her cute bag, this week we’re featuring the Large Tie Tote in yellow. Regularly $95, it’s $71.25 through next Tuesday.


All the Best to You,


Bonny

I love Friday Night with Jonathan Ross, a BBC interview show that not only has great guests, but treats them, and us, to that uniquely British brand of intelligent, quick silliness. A few weeks ago, one of the guests was Dame Vivienne Westwood.


Viv is one of my all time favorite fashion designers, and people, for that matter. She was Malcolm McLaren’s partner when he managed the Sex Pistols. The shop they had together, named at various times Sex and Let It Rock, among other things, supplied the Sex Pistols with the clothes they wore at their first gig, thus cementing the link between Punk and Vivienne Westwood. Safety pins? Dog collars? Tartan fabric? Vivienne Westwood.


At any rate, Viv actually had contacted Jonathan Ross with a request to appear on his show. She wanted to talk not about fashion fabulousness, but about climate change. And I’ve now re-watched this interview on Youtube about 10 times: Part One and Part Two.


See, what’s so remarkable if you’ve been alive for a little while is that Johnny Rotten of The Sex Pistols sarcastically sang God Save the Queen to protest England’s conformity and deference to royalty in the face of rampant social injustice. And a little over 30 years later, Vivienne Westwood of bondage pants fame is sincerely singing the praises of Prince Charles because he’s working to reverse climate change through an organization called Rainforest SOS.


This endorsement was surreal to me at first, and then I decided I like Viv even more because she didn’t feel beholden to a radical pose from years ago, but has chosen a new radical pose that’s just as principled as the last one was! She’s been influenced by the work of James Lovelock, who is best known as the father of Gaia Theory. Gaia Theory is basically the idea that all parts of our planet form a complex interacting system, like a single organism. So, for example, if part of the earth experiences extreme drought, extreme flooding strikes somewhere else as the planet works to re-balance itself as a whole. Lovelock’s holistic viewpoint is unusual, and he need not hold back his provocative opinions, because he’s been working as an independent scientist free of corporate and institutional funding since 1964. I find his message to be a real downer on the written page, so his charming and cheerful and classically British delivery of apocalyptic predictions is the way I prefer to hear about them. Here’s an example from YouTube.

Apocalyptic climate change, royalty, eccentricity, surrealism, fabulous fashion, silly humor – believe it or not, we actually have a bag that sums it all up: the Napoleon Cinchy Tote. The cinchy shape is a nod to vintage handbags, and on this grand scale, made out of a rice sack, it’s a cheeky reference like one Vivienne Westwood would pull. Plus, Napoleon in a rice field? That’s funny and surreal, or apocalyptic if you think about the world’s landscapes collapsing in on themselves with violent change over time. At any rate, the bag is 25% off ($71.25) through the end of next Tuesday. Wear one and feel fabulous while you save the world!


All the Best to You,
Bonny

As a kid in Sacramento I developed a very full inner life that was fueled by the images I saw on the massive pages of Interview magazine. It was about 1977 or ’78, and something big was happening in New York and London. I stared again and again at the photographs of people with bizarre haircuts, and elaborate makeup, and shredded club clothing that was seemingly safety pinned together from whatever castoff bits were available. It was unbelievably gritty and fabulous to a young person who’d always had a safe and clean suburban life.


Eventually, what became known as Punk rock and New Wave hit the radar in Sacramento, and there was a store called Evangeline’s  that grabbed the glittering darkness of the 1980s and ran with it. At Evangeline’s you could buy buttons and t-shirts that said outrageous things, accessories in lurid day-glo colors, and cheeky graphic postcards from, among others, the late Philip-Dmitri Galas (brother of Diamanda). It was at Evangeline’s that I bought the perfect belt for the day. It was shiny, black, and springy. I could wrap it around my body about 10 times. And it fastened just like the plug on an electrical cord. It wasn’t until I was in college that I realized it actually WAS an electrical cord. I probably wouldn’t have ever thought of it, but I came home one day and saw that my roommate had used it to plug in our lamp.


Another thing I remember about this transformative time was the mysterious name Fiorucci. It kept popping up in Interview in conjunction with random silly pictures, and there were little cupids in sunglasses that seemed to have something to do with it. I didn’t know then that Fiorucci was both a store and a brand - they came out with an early, possibly the first, pair of stretch jeans in 1982. Sounds like it was a scene as much as it was commerce, for the Warhol set were regulars, and singer/performance artist Klaus Nomi even played their opening in 1977. Legend has it that Madonna bought her iconic black rubber bracelets there, too.

 
Fiorucci the store closed in the mid 80s, and the brand disappeared a little while later amidst financial troubles. It’s since been acquired by Edwin Co. Ltd. of Japan, who make jeans. I can’t read Japanese to know if they mention Fiorucci licensing, though there’s also a site at http://www.fiorucci.it that may or may not be official. In terms of evidence that someone is trying to do something with the brand, I would think I had hallucinated it, but there actually was a Fiorucci collection at Target in late 2005 or early 2006 – I have a t-shirt with a big pink sparkly lip print to prove it. 

I was recently reminded of the Fiorucci in my young mind by this week’s featured bag, our silver Chained to Me Clutch. It has a certain Warhol factory-Fiorucci -Debbie Harry circa-1978 quality not only because it’s silver, but because what’s more 1978 new wave than a darling clutch with a chain that’s made out of woven trash?  For that matter, what’s more 2009 than a darling clutch with a chain that’s made out of woven trash? New wave or eco-chic, it’s a classic either way, and it’s 25% off, or $45, through September 22nd.


All the Best to You,


Bonny

We have an amazing new Director of Sales and her name’s Bonny Baldwin.  Every Wednesday, I’m turning the blog over to her so she can talk about all things and bags eco-friendly.  So heeeeeeeeere’s Bonny!

We’ve had a little fire problem in Southern California recently – maybe you’ve heard about it.

Anytime I hear about a fire in the Angeles National Forest my first thought is of the big cats housed at Shambala and at The Wildlife Waystation. These two sanctuaries, in different areas of the forest, have the stupendous responsibility and expense of caring for scores of lions, tigers, and other wild animals that aren’t easy to house, let alone to load into a truck when there’s a fire threat. And this time, both sanctuaries were threatened by the Station Fire. As of today, the evacuation orders in their respective areas have been lifted, yet regardless, this was a costly and stressful disaster for everyone.

The Waystation is the bigger of the two sanctuaries, though I haven’t seen it. I’d love to, it’s just that sanctuaries are very different from zoos, and you can’t really drop in on them. I have had the repeated pleasure of visiting Shambala, in Acton, during their scheduled tour dates, and it’s a fantastic and eye-opening experience! Shambala and the Roar Foundation are Tippi Hedren’s grand calling. For those not well-versed in Alfred Hitchcock films, Tippi is most famous for having starred in The Birds and Marnie. Though before you start thinking this is some kind of fancy celebrity scene, know that Tippi is likely to greet you in full makeup, yes, but also in jungle boots and with a shovel in hand to clean up tiger poop! (She’s our kind of woman.)

A few things I didn’t know or think about until I visited Shambala:

· A full side of beef doesn’t go very far when you’re feeding big cats – you’ve got to have a lot of freezers!

· Housing and moving big cats is complicated, partly because their politics are. If you think about how hard it can be to get domestic cats to get along, you can see where I’m headed with this. When they introduce a new cat at Shambala, it’s a big undertaking to keep all of the cats and people safe from potential territory disputes. And you just don’t always know if cats of any size are going to get along until you try….

· Tigers love to play in the water. And they especially love to play with balls in the water. What kind of ball will hold up to tigers’ play? A bowling ball! Seriously – sometime in life you’ve got to see tigers bowling in the water.

This week, then, I’d like to draw attention to the big cats at our local sanctuaries by drawing attention to our selection of big cat bags. Our striking Limited Edition Tiger Messenger Bag is now $64.50, which is 25% off, through September 15^th. If you’re more of a lion person, our entire lion rice sack collection is 25% off, too! And if you’re moved to do so, please support the animals of the Roar Foundation, and/or The Wildlife Waystation in recovering from this very stressful time.

All the best to you - Bonny

Yep - I’ll be speaking in Sherman Oaks, CA on Monday, September 21 at 7pm! I’d love to meet you in person and answer any questions you may have. I belong to an amazing organization for women entrepreneurs called Smarty, and I’m one of their “Peer 2 Peer” experts.  The official topic is  “Taking the ‘Man’ Out of Manufacturing: How to Turn Your Product Idea Into a Profitable Reality” and I’ll be talking about how I’ve accomplished all I have with Rebagz Eco-Chic Handbags in just two years - and how you can do it too.  It’s free for Smarty menbers, and just $25 otherwise.

I’m launching a consulting division of my company called Manufacturing the Right Way.  There are so many women starting new businesses - yet so few of you are making products.  There’s lots and lots of service-oriented businesses and boutiques being started, but there seems to be a real fear around product creation.

No more!!!

I’m tired of having brilliant women come up to me and tell me about their brilliant product ideas - and then say, “But I don’t have a clue how to make it,” and completely give in to the fear.  So that’s why I started Manufacturing the Right Way.  My goal is to show you how to take that great product idea from concept to ready-to-sell reality and save you thousands of dollars and oodles of time in the process - ’cause it’s a “do as I say, not as I did” kind of system.

I already made all the mistakes.  There’s absolutely no reason why anyone else should have to make them again.

If you visit the website, you can sign up for my free ezine which contains articles and all sorts of free information that’ll help you along your way.  I also have a new audio program and eBook, and I’ll have a teleseminar coming up in January.

But if you live in Southern California, come play with me on September 21st!  I’d love to meet you in person and to answer the specific questions you may have.  That’s what I’m here for!

Hope to see you in 2 weeks - XOXO Marty