Sitting in her office, Nathalia Gonzalez looks a little bit perplexed. She keeps staring at the pattern for the newest bag in her line of handbags; this one is called Eva, after the girl that requested this particular shape, a circle. Suddenly, a spark of inspiration illuminates her big, round eyes and she exclaims, “I got it!” And there she goes, making just a slight change to the pattern, which in the end makes the bag balanced and symmetrical.
Nathalia Gonzalez is the designer of a line of handbags called Moo. This brand evolved from children’s wear to swim wear to a line of super chic and conscientious handbags. How might these handbags be conscientious, you might ask. Well, in a world where everything is made in China, these bags are completely 100% made by hand in good ol’ Lutz, Florida by the designer herself. This means that there is no pollution in shipping, no gas used, these are complete hippie bags, perfect for that tree hugger friend you have. Along with the purchase of the bag you get a lovely handwritten note with instructions for the specific care of the bag, because the material is not like any other you might find at Target or anywhere else: the felt material of the bags is 100% made out of recycled plastic bottles, this specialized fabric means that the bag needs a little TLC every once in a while.
When I asked what the most difficult part of being a “bag lady” is, the answer shocked me a little.
“Selling, for sure its selling.” She says in her soft voice while tucking in a strand of black hair behind her ear. “You see, I have to compete with the Target’s and Walmart’s of the world. These people sell handbags for a fraction of my cost, which is already a loss for me. It takes me anywhere from 4 to 5 hours to make each bag. If I price my hours based off of minimum wage and to that add the materials cost the bag would be around $60. This I realize is way too high for a small designer in Tampa to be charging, nobody would buy them, and it’s already hard enough at $40. So what I do is take the loss and sell them cheaper than they should be. Even with this huge loss, I still can’t compete with a $10, made in China bag, even though mine is way cooler and way more special.”
he truth of the matter is that no local designer can compete with the Target’s, Wal-Mart’s, Kmart’s or Abercrombie’s of the world. Its all a matter of economics: these corporations buy materials in bulk to lower costs. The labor that goes into making these mass-produced products are also very low, most factory workers get around 50 cents a day, local people cannot even pretend to properly compete in such a market, which is a great tragedy. Locally made items usually are more imaginative, they are more unique and personalized and don’t conform to the generic, “vanilla” items that we find in huge stores that are made to please masses of people.
So my challenge to you reader is for this holiday season to buy local products, especially given the recent small business Saturday. Yes, these items might cost a little bit more, but think about the work, the quality and the love that goes into them. You can find handmade goods at the flea market, on campus, on Facebook and Etsy; all you have to do is look for them, they’re waiting for you.