Ta-da! Here at the Spanishoegallery Blog we are thrilled to feature the inaugural collection of luxury handbags by a hot new Spanish shoes and accessories designer – Naiara Elgarresta.
The Spanishoegallery Blog first introduced Naiara’s inspiring story two years ago. Her passion for her craft, her ambition, her willingness to take risks and work hard, and her talent, of course, were sure indicators of greater things to come.
Naiara‘s creative profile is a happy mix of masculine and feminine energies – the Ying and Yang of design. She is both a dreamer and a pragmatic, a meticulous planner and a lover of adventure, a sports fanatic and a girly girl. When these qualities intersect, great things are created. Case in point: a handbag collection under the designer’s own brand name, launched online last week through her new website.
Naiara Elgarresta Luxury Handbags
There is Beauty in Simplicity.
“Gio” leather handbag in black by Naiara Elgarresta.
Designer
Naiara’s design philosophy is “There is beauty in simplicity“. To prove this point, the designer envisioned her collection as a series of simple geometric figures: triangle, square, rectangle, and diamond. Using her well-honed artisan skills and her knowledge of leather, she turned each of these shapes into a handbag – the one fashion accessory that women never stop craving.
Naiara Elgarresta “Gio” leather handbag in black. Width: 11”, height: 8”, depth: 3.1”.
240,00€ on the designer’s website.
The highlight of the collection is the triangle-shaped “Gio” bag available in black and light cream. At the 51″ strap length, the “Gio” will drop to your hip like a glamorous saddle bag. The shorter 24″ long strap will make the handbag rest nicely under your arm. The “Gio” has a special significance for Naiara – it is her way of thanking her parents Mari José and Pello for being her biggest cheerleaders, always encouraging her to follow her dreams.
Naiara Elgarresta “Brina” handbag in red. Width: 10”, height: 4.3”, depth: 3.1”.
199,00€ on the designer’s website.
The miniature rectangular “Brina” bag (“Brina” is one of the Italian words for “princess” ) is dedicated to Naiara‘s grandmother.
Naiara Elgarresta “Sella” handbag in natural (russet). Width: 11.6”, height: 11.6”, depth: 3.1”.
230,00€ on the designer’s website.
The “Sella” handbag represents Naiara‘s aunt. The name means “she is free” in Italian. The square-shaped bag comes in natural (russet) and black. It is worn on an angle, so it actually looks like a simplified diamond.
Naiara Elgarresta “Gioia” handbag. Bovine leather, cotton lining. Width: 11.6”, height: 8.5”, depth: 3.1”. 220,00€ on the designer’s website.
Finally, the “Gioia” bag is dedicated to the designer’s mother Mari José . The name “Gioia” translates from Italian as both “delight” and “jewel” – a fitting name for a bag that is shaped like a diamond and a touching tribute to the most precious relationship of Naiara‘s life.
The dynamic geometry of Naiara Elgarresta‘s handbags brings to mind colored geometric units created by Russian avant-garde artists about a hundred years ago. At the heart of the movement, which at different times encompassed Cubism, Suprematism, Constructivism, and many other “isms“, was a group of brilliant, confident, and independent-minded women. Art critics now refer to them as the “Amazons of the Avant-Garde“. These women were avid promoters of artisans, many of them also women, and collaborated with them to create consumer goods which they regarded as the logical extension of their own art.
Naiara Elgarresta “Gio” leather handbag in cream. Width: 11”, height: 8”, depth: 3.1”. Cotton lining.
Artisan
Shoe and accessories designer Naiara Elgarresta at work. Photo courtesy Naiara Elgarresta.
When it comes to luxury leather handbags, Naiara Elgarresta learned from the best. While studying shoe and accessories design at the prestigious Polimoda Fashion Institute in Florence, Italy, she would spend summers working at the artisan studios that create bags for legendary French fashion brands like Chanel and Dior. This experience made her keenly aware of the material dimension of fashion and taught her how to fulfill a creative vision without sacrificing high quality standards she absorbed in Florence. A regular visitor of the famous Lineapelle Trade Fair in Milan, Naiara knows how to choose the right materials at the right cost. Her own luxury handbags collection is manufactured in Elche – one of the main footwear and accessories production centers in Spain.
A Naiara Elgarresta handbag (detail).
To create the faces and vertices of her geometrically-inspired handbags, Naiara Elgarresta used firm, exceptionally smooth leather with a soft luminous sheen. Each bag features a pale gold metallic logo and matching hardware. The logo – a maze of geometric lines representing the designer’s initials – is a visual statement of Naiara‘s brand philosophy: “There is beauty in simplicity“.
Woman and Brand
By her own account, Naiara Elgarresta designs for women like herself: vital, direct, independent, ambitious, and hardworking. Naiara‘s ambition has long been to create her own brand: the launching of her inaugural luxury handbag collection is only the first step in that direction. A shoe collection is currently in the works. Naiara Elgarresta the brand is the designer’s most audacious project to date, but Naiara Elgarresta the woman is up to the task. She will need luck, but no one knows better than Naiara that luck comes to those who do everything in their power to find it. One day she may well join the illustrious group of other Basque dreamers whose sonorous names have become synonymous with elegant order, beauty, and artisan know-how.
