Over the weekend I transcribed an interview we did with Wendy Barry, founder of JP Lizzy for fashionCEO. It was really refreshing to hear her story. In case you're not familiar with JP Lizzy, its a really cute line of fashionable baby bags. Wendy started the line when her twins were just months old. Can you imagine? She obviously has some serious time management skills. But she did it and the line has become a huge success. What I love about Wendy is her overall attitude about the business. She says she is mainly a stay-at-home mom. She doesn't live and breathe her business, yet it has been thriving since she launched the line over 5 years ago. She worked hard for it, don't get me wrong, but she worked at her own pace, developed business relationships and before long sales reps were seeking her out. Check out the rest of Wendy's interview on the main fashionCEO site.

Okay, one more tidbit from Wendy's interview and then you must go to the main site to read the rest! Working on Denney Bags, I often wanted to find unique fabric prints for my line that no one else had. I've always wondered how designers create their own fabrics. Well, Wendy shed a little light on that. She went to the Printsource show in NYC to find designs for her fabrics. Printsource is a tradeshow where textile designers exhibit their styles. You flip through their fabric designs and pick the ones you want. You pay for each design (I have no idea the price) and then its yours exclusively. The trick is then to find a manufacturer who can actually print the design on the fabric. She uses a factory in China that can make her fabric and her bags. That's one way to make sure no one else has the same fabric as you!

Here are a couple JP Lizzy baby bags...cute huh?






Its really nice to see successful designers share their startup stories with emerging designers. We've interviewed Rebecca Minkoff, Liz Lange and Wendy Barry now and every one of them have been incredibly open and honest about how they got started. Some people are so guarded, but I've been fortunate to find really great designers willing to share and help others. My goal is to continue that trend. I've got a few good ones coming up...so stay tuned!Is there a designer you'd like to read about? Let us know who it is and we'll track them down!

Have a fashionable day!