Meet Our Signature Bag, the Empress and Empress Mini

Empress bags and Empress Minis' in Alligator, Ostrich, and Karung

Meet our Signature Bag, The Empress and it's more petite counterpart, The Empress Mini.

In 2010, we launched our Empress Bag, which bears all the values we aspired in becoming our collection's signature piece. We named it the Empress because after all, she is indeed the supreme Queen of our designs.


Empress in Ruby Red Alligator
 

I was originally inspired by the shape and rhythm found in the geometry of a seashell when drafting this piece. I wanted this structured bag to be balanced with organic qualities. The result is a breathtaking design that is at glance simple for its repeating flowing curves yet upfront a mind spelling array of details that only a seasoned master artisan can approach. After rigorous prototype adjustments and detail specs, it was confirmed that my design would require two master artisans working side by side an entire week (so roughly 80 hours) PER BAG! 

Details of Empress Curvilinear panels and French Binding

 
For this reason alone, it is the most labor intensive and technically complicated handbag to construct on the market. Why you might ask? Several reasons:

-We have always employed a special detail in our bags explained in an article on this blog, "Not All Designer Bags are Equal", called a 'Turned Edge.' Using a turned edge detail requires a special type of artisan who has decades of experience in advanced handbag making techniques. The prep work and execution of this detail can multiply the total labor costs many times over, but this is the very nature of a handmade couture approach. The end result, a self-contained edge detail unrivaled by none. While all of our handbags employ the luxurious detailing of Turned Edges, we went a step further with the Empress adding to the complexity bringing us to the next detail:


Close-up panel details with turned edges and French Binding

- Every panel is trimmed with French Binding. Not only does this detail use a tremendous amount of material that is tooled from individual strips of exotic skin, it adds a type of luxury that simple top stitching can't achieve. It creates a beautiful trim that adds another layer of dimension to the edges of each panel. Prepping French Binding strips, and sewing to each panel which is then overlapped or under lapped to the panel adjacent, complicates things. Then, as if reading this hasn't caused your head to spin, there is another feature to take into consideration.

- Each panel on the bag is a curvilinear panel. Doing a turned edge detail  or French Binding detail on a straight edge is something to behold, but working those details on a curvilinear plane adds much more time and workmanship to get the material to behave and respond around the curves. 


Empress in Cognac Alligator & Ostrich




Empress in Karung, and one combined with Alligator

The end result is a unique and timeless beauty which has been enjoyed and collected by the likes of Royalty, Celebrities, and Socialites. We offer The Empress in a full range of materials and combinations of, including Alligator, Ostrich, Ostrich Leg, and Karung. The options are limitless and customizable if desired. 

Empress Mini in Alligator



Empress Mini in Ostrich

To celebrate our 5th year, in 2015 we launched a more petite version of the Empress, The Empress Mini. This compact version of its mother design, boasts no less in the complexity of it's details.

Thank you you for taking the time to learn more about our Empress!

Pirarucu Handbags , A New Exotic Fish Skin in the Luxury Accessories Market!

FARBOD BARSUM Pirarucu Totes



Pirarucu - Photo Credit: www.in-fisherman.com

A while ago, we started to use a new material on the exotic skin market, Pirarucu, which is the largest freshwater fish in the world! This gorgeous fish comes from the Amazon River in Brazil and sometimes weighs in at over 200lbs ...some record breaking Pirarucu have weighed in at over 400lbs!



Feel good! The Brazilian government regulates the harvesting of this fish and local fisherman make an income by catching the fish that feeds many villages and fishing communities and with the added revenue of the skin, they have made good use of the entire fish. The labor to remove the scales which are all hand cut and prep the skins for tanning is another professional source of labor income for locals. We have ensured that the suppliers of this material only source these skins using sustainable farming/harvesting techniques and furthermore that the tannery uses Chrome-Free dies.



African Violet Pirarucu

Cobalt Blue Pirarucu




People tend to assume that fish skin is very thin and delicate thinking of the store-bought types. Pirarucu however has a very tough, thick, and durable skin...think cow-hide! What you see in the finished product is not the scales, but the carefully removed and cut scales that reveals the beautiful scale-like texture of the skin beneath.










We have introduced this beautiful supple and texturally vibrant material in our collection in the form of our classic tote bags for easy daily use. The look of the skin is so exotic and unlike any other familiar material: Alligator, Ostrich, Python, etc...that the allure often pulls people to stop our clients and inquire what they are wearing. It's always a feast to come into our Beverly Hills boutique and see what exciting new colors and combinations we have made in this gorgeous material.


Cognac Pirarucu Tote

FARBOD BARSUM  luxury exotics has great pride in going above and beyond to find new materials and to introduce them in exciting and chic ways. Enjoy!

Qualities to look for while purchasing an exotic skin handbag

It’s hard for me to not be biased as a couture bag designer in terms of what to tell customers to look for when purchasing an exotic skin handbag. This is based on the assumption that what I am presenting within my own collection represents the top category of available luxury details. I couldn’t write so boldly to tell you where designers go cheap in design detail and then offer that kind of cheapened product myself.

Quite frankly, when I started designing my first collection, creating the language of “Farbod Barsum” standard details was the most time consuming aspect of the whole venture. For example, how does typical stitching, facing, zipper collar, piping, hardware connection, and other such details manifest themselves so they give my bags character and identity that is unique to my brand. When executing these standard details, both myself and my manufacturer came to the agreement that these will end up being the most difficult, time consuming, and luxury conscious of market designs. I will explain why as we go along…

First and foremost when you’re about to plunk down a sizeable amount of money for an exotic, you must realize that material and labor are the major components affecting price. Being the most expensive material available on the market for making handbags, exotics must be used carefully and wisely. Some designers use this approach to use exotics conservatively and minimize the overall consumption of material and give the most amount of show for the least amount of input. For example, I personally find it distasteful to approach an exotic handbag in a specialty retailer and open it up to find that there is no show on the inside of exotics. For the owner, the inside of a bag should be just as luxurious as the exterior. Otherwise, it becomes much like a Hollywood movie set where the façade of a building was created and behind it an empty hollow structure.

Allow me to outline some of these details: The outside edge that folds inside a bag is the facing of a bag. Sometimes it’s a continuous piece or sometimes it’s sewn as a separate piece that goes around the inner rim of the handbag opening which is then called a collar. When you open a clutch, the inside flap is also called the facing. The more luxurious option is to create these out of exotics as well. I find that time after time, many fashion houses, even the revered ones use cowhide or lambskin as a cheap alternative. I get turned off when a sales associate tries to make it a bragging point that it has an interior of lambskin, even if it is lined in lambskin. Please! Even some custom woven linings are more expensive per yard than lambskin.

Look underneath shoulder straps and handles. If the top is exotic, the bottom should make use of exotic if you want more out of your bag. If the designer wishes to elaborate on the interior, you will often find a ¼” or ½” trim around the zipper (called a zipper collar) and a similar trim around the top edge of envelope pockets and cell phone pockets. Again, if they are made of corresponding exotic, you are getting more value for your money.

Next, look at how your bag is finished along the edges. This is really important to know how much time was spent creating and assembling the panels. If they are top stitched and the edge is painted or filled in with a waxy resin, this is called a raw cut resin painted edge. If the exotic skin folds inwards and disappears before the panel was top stitched, then you are looking at a very calibrated couture detail, a turned edge. These edges need a lot more planning and preparation often requiring the skin to be thinned out and pre-folded with a special tool before being perfectly lined up for stitching.

If the panels slip during sewing, it will show and nothing can be done to fix it whereas a slight slip of the raw cut treatment will be remedied during the final trimming and resin painting phase. I’m shocked to see how many fashion houses will finish their bags like this.  Even one of the most expensive handbag makers in the market, which I cannot name, uses this detail to finish their ‘prized’ product. Over time, be assured that the resin will tend to crack and chip off. It’s a calibrated gimmick to get the consumer to take the bag in for repair and treatment and possibly look at new arrivals and make another purchase.

Other couture details that are not imperative to holding the bag together, but make for visual array is the number of seams and panels in the design of the bag and also how they are trimmed. If there is a lot of piping and French binding, this is again more time consuming and difficult to achieve. Also, are there curves in the design? Design and perceived value in the design is entirely up to the taste of the customer, but remember that curves are a lot harder to cut and sew than straight lines.

If the bag is relatively structured and has a flat bottom design, I advise that you look for a bag with metal ‘feet’ placed at regular intervals in that panel. If it is flat and has no feet, then the design house went cheap on the consumer. The feet will obviously protect the bag from dirt and oils from being placed on tables and other surfaces.

In short couture handbags make use of more detail, hardware, labor, and exotic skin throughout. Some designs opt for a mimimalisitc approach and if so, they must be priced accordingly. The eye doesn't fool you so trust your instincts.