Ashley Watson Q&A + Heron Bag Giveaway!

Soooo this pending Autumn continues to excite me…  To ring in the season we’ve teamed up with one of our FAVE accessories designers, Ashley Watson, to bring YOU a FAB BAG GIVEAWAY!

Last time we visited with Ashley in her Vancouver studio to pick out our Fall order‘s color palette from her collection of secondhand leather clothing, we asked her a few questions that might be of interest to all of you aficionados out there…

Where did you learn your craft? I did a fine art degree in Nova Scotia at NSCAD and then did a fashion design program here in Vancouver at a community college.  In terms of my specific craft working with leather – I guess I kind of taught myself.

What inspired you to produce your collection? My inspirations are all over the place, but for the most part anything antique or vintage really inspires me!

How do you find your muse? I guess by doing – I’m not a draw-a-whole-bunch-of-designs designer – I start with a small idea, draft a pattern and change it five million times until I have the finished piece that I like.

Do you have a favorite story of appreciation of your work? I once got a letter from a man that had bought a bag for his wife as a present and he wrote the letter to say thanks…it said something like, “Thank you for the bag.  My wife loves the bag almost more than me!”  It was just really cute and really sweet that he bothered to write that to me.

If you could change one thing about the fashion industry what would it be? I think it would be the disposable nature of the fashion industry – always needing something new.  This mindset really encourages things being made cheaply because the average person can’t sustain their fashion needs by buying ethically, etc….they can’t afford it!  So then people turn to big box stores that get things made very cheaply and unethically – which honestly, for me, is very hard to compete with as well as horrible for the environment.  Admittedly, I am completely guilty of this myself…it has become so prevalent that it’s impossible to avoid entirely.  If we all were just happy with buying one more expensive thing every so often as opposed to ten cheap things it could be realistic to sustain.

Do you have a favorite piece that you’ve created? My favorites change all the time, but right now I’d say my favorite style of mine is the Grebe – it is what I carry every day!

Favorite tunes for work and/or play? My music obsessions change all the time, but I’m currently obsessed with the whole Head and the Heart album as well as a Decemberists song called June Hymn.  While I work, I usually listen to podcasts – my favorite is by two comedians from Vancouver and its called Stop Podcasting Yourself.

If you weren’t reincarnating beautiful leathers into fabulous accessories what else would you be doing? I have always wanted to have a jewelry line and thought that would be what I’d do instead of making handbags, but I’m actually currently in the process of starting a jewelry line that will be available for fall!  Other than that I would probably do something to do with food as I love everything to do with it – cooking it, eating it, etc. etc.

…Sounds like we’ve got a lot of good things to look forward to!  Don’t forget to enter to win the Heron Handbag! Thank you to Ashley and Good Luck to everyone! : )