Prada Handbags

They found a manufacturer in Mexico, after weighing their options and ruling out the U.S. and China.

“It was hard to find a manufacturer here, so I ended up going with Mexico, with leather custom made at a tannery in Guanajuato,” she said. “While it’s much more expensive and labor intensive, I just don’t believe in manufacturing in China, plus I travel to the manufacturer a lot and China wasn’t an option in the long run.”

Then in fall of ‘08, only days before her first trade show, the economy took a sharp downturn.
“That first trade show was like a ghost town,” she said. “Buyers got really nervous and instead of buying the new thing, they were sticking with what they knew.”

With sales that doubled in the last year, Free Endearment may have ridden out the worst of the storm, but others weren’t so lucky.
“Most people who were in the same boat as us when we started have since quit,” she said.

Publicity eats up a lot of a designer’s budget, Jaclyn said, but it’s essential to growing the business.
“The biggest expenses are the trade shows, which can be $50,000 a year, and PR firms,” she said. “But you have to do them. It’s kind of sad, but nowadays people don’t like to buy something they haven’t heard of.”

They now have a second El Paso-based investor and Free Endearment bags are carried in about 20 boutiques nationwide. Ruby Lola carried the line when it first launched, and she’s looking to have a trunk show there soon. Thus far, the highest sales come from boutiques on the East Coast, Jaclyn said.

Her ultimate goal, she said, is to create a sustainable brand and not be another fly-by-night designer.
While letters and offers from retail stores are starting to trickle in, she plans to hold out and continue to expand her label.