People love something when it is authentic. Creating a work that feels that way is always a challenge, which is why it is both exciting and frightening when you are facing a blank piece of paper, a canvas, a PowerPoint presentation…waiting for you to start your creative journey. When the work is done there is always a story and today we want to tell you a little about what went behind creating our most representative bag.
Designing Nokota was a deeply gratifying experience, especially because we had to overcome many fixed ideas we held when the process started. We wanted a truly distinctive handbag and very early we realized we would have to explore different approaches to complete such a task. Every creation starts from an idea so that was the first angle we wanted to work out.
Start From Compelling and Stimulating concepts
We always had a directive in mind when working with leather (we only use leather obtained as a byproduct of the food supply chain) and that is to honor and respects its essential qualities. With Nokota we challenged ourselves to find potential shapes concealed by this natural fabric and bring them to life!
On top of that, we wanted a concept to tie together the whole collection, and we decided to dedicate it to the majestic breeds of feral horses* around the world. We took their elegance, courage and silhouettes to integrate them into the whole collection. Every handbag gets her name from one distinctive feral herd; Nokota gets it from a versatile breed found in the southwest of North Dakota.
Having a couple of abstract concepts to inspire us, and versatility as our guide, we were ready to get our hands dirty!
Look for Inspiration Elsewhere
When designing a handbag it is common to look for inspiration in what other brands are doing, we do it; we believe authenticity is the result of building over what others have built before, but the emphasis must be on the building over, not in merely using other’s work and adjusting slight details. To make sure we are always going beyond what is already out there, we are constantly exploring different approaches to design.
During the initial stages, we were obsessed with the esthetical beauty and simplicity of arcades in building design, we decided we wanted to introduce the concept in the bag but were very careful not to force it. We also knew we wanted a structured piece and looking at architecture and interior design helped us strengthen the idea, we now were also trying to create a bag that would harmonize with its surroundings in a carefully decorated room. Exploring these ideas resulted in the final shape and built of the bag.
Two Creative Minds are Better than One
Our lead designer Michelle puts a lot of time studying and designing on her own, but she is also very keen on getting more people involved in the process, it is very common for us to have brainstorming sessions as well as more detail-oriented group sessions to enrich the products with deeper dimensions.
On one of the group sessions while discussing ideas on how to create an original, yet comfortable solution to how the bag could be carried, one of us noted how the way buckets are carried up and down a water well can be very visually compelling. You might guess this lead to the team looking to A LOT of related pictures and in time to Michelle designing a solution that added a single shoulder strap through the middle of the upper section of the bag, but also using this solution to add the versatility we were looking for, remember? There would be an open slot where the strap would go through, but it would also serve the purpose of a handle, to elegantly carry the bag with one hand whenever you are pleased to.
As you might see here is where we started to put together some of the ideas we had been exploring, but of course, we were not done yet.
Go Out and See the World Around You
The one source of energy and inspiration that cannot be overstated during the whole process was nature itself. As a team we are always reminding each other to take time to look to the outside, you come back to work feeling charged when you intently pay attention to the white clouds on the blue sky or the shades of green the light produces on a tree.
With a clear mind, we faced every day of creating, and when the details were defined and the drawings were ready, we welcomed the needed energy for the final stage of the process.
Gather What You Learned and Translate it Into a Beautiful Piece of Work.
Conceiving a handbag and expressing it in a drawing is one thing, to actually bring it to life, creates a whole new set of challenges. As you may imagine, to come up with a finished handbag that we are truly proud of is a hard an iterative job, what you pictured in the drawings isn’t always easily translated to the actual pieces, even when we thought we were ahead of some of the complexities that may present, as we worked with the artisans to create the model, there were many obstacles that were only conquered through a lot of teamwork and some solutions even enriched the final piece in ways we haven’t planned.
There is really no other way to deal with this than to embrace it, it is a stage of high tension but also of high creativity, you need to be true to your vision but also be open to the opportunities that present as you work through the hurdles. In the end, as is often the case, this turned out to be the most satisfying phase of the whole creating process. And when it was all done, we had a beautiful handbag to share with you! We hope Nokota in itself can fill the rest of the story, and that it keeps on going, as amazing women make her a confidant to share many of their adventures.
What we feel when we look at it now, is that it wasn’t so much that we were creating Nokota, but that in a way it was Nokota that aided in creating us ever more fully.
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