Saturday, October 13, 2007
Life, Style
Bags: not just for the label-conscious
Traveling far and wide does not just mean going to New York City or Los Angeles...
CREDIT: Photos/Barry Taratoot Photography
Traveling far and wide does not just mean going to New York City or Los Angeles to get the fashionista essentials anymore. Now traveling down the street to pick up Kimberly Jackson’s collection is the norm. She was the nomad, so you didn’t have to be. During her worldly explorations in Dubai, Afghanistan and other countries in that region, she traveled through souks and bazaars buying exotic materials and tapestries to have made into clutches and other handbags, which clearly are the next it item.
So relax already, you don’t have to get on the waiting list for a bag just yet, the Kimberly Jackson collection is available to all of those hipsters who appreciate the beauty of the intricately woven antique fabric. Dressed up with precious metals such as jade, or dressed down with simple embellishments like antique mandarin coins, these bags are not your typical Louis or Birkin. They’re all one of a kind, which almost makes you kind of like a celebrity. You trendsetter, you.
Clearly, we are loving the Stargate bag with its lapis and the German silver adornments, the Omega bag with the ornamental hand-hammered jewelry and the Royal Gem bag with the silk wristlet and handcarved jade. But there are more of them where those came from, and they’re are all different and distinctive.
The handbag designer recently got some new ideas from droves of fans out west who came flocking to her booth at art shows. They had special requests for her and out of those came her new bags-smaller clutches, cylinder bags and slightly bigger bags for those who can’t seem to cram all of their stuff into a clutch. But hey, with KayJay clutches, it seems that one will do a lot to make everything fit in there. Just so they can show off the bag.
Jackson has been working long hours in her studio for years to perfect her original designs and now her labors are finally coming to fruition. “You have to follow your dreams,” she says. And she certainly has. Jackson is helping those who need it, doing what she loves and making a living doing just that. Just as Britney Spears followed her dreams to become … er, wait, never mind. Really though, Jackson says she had a passion to help others and to create something beautiful.
Not only is she funding a new roof on the family who helps her acquire all of her wares house in Afghanistan, but Jackson’s desire to make a difference in the developing world led her to support CARE, the international poverty fighting organization. Jackson donates a portion of her profits to CARE, and promotes CARE’s health, education and economic development work at special events and trade shows.
Recently, Jackson was featured at a fundraiser for the YWCA Atlanta in which she donated proceeds of the sales of her bags to both the YWCA and CARE. “These tribal women who weave the tapestries I use to create the bags are so talented,” Jackson says. “The fabric is so fabulous and beautiful. I want to help these women have better access to clean water, nutritious food and education.”
The women who weave these magical fabrics recycle everything and the tapestries Jackson uses to make the bags are made of old clothing, blankets, wedding dresses, wedding tapestries and other scraps. I mean, here when we recycle a Coke can and some AJCs, we talk about it for days. Oh, is that just me? Imagine never giving away any clothes or anything—just reusing it all.
But don’t worry about not getting a bag. Next thing you know, all the fab girls (read: too tan socialites) in US Weekly will be schlepping them around, so get ’em (the clutches, not the socialites) while they’re hot. Pick one or more up at various locations around our hot town like Threadhouse, 10Ten Nail Bar, Twelve Boutique and Beth Ann’s.
Visit www.kayjaycollection.com for more information. SP