Aishii Designs

This evening, I would like to bring to you another great Etsy Shop - Aishii Design. Simply follow the link to this shop and you will find beautiful handcrafted handbags, clutches, totes, and jewelry for women. To bring you this feature, I had the wonderful opportunity to speak with Clarissa, one-half of the designing duo for Aishii Designs. Marcela was unavailable at the time of the interview.

The pair have been best friends since High School. Both shared a passion for design and wanted to pursue careers in design. What kindred spirits! Clarissa and Marcela are currently full time students at UNSW (Sydney, Australia) - pursuing a Bachelor of Arts in Media & Communications. I am sure you are wondering, as was I, how these two young entrepreneurs got started. "I was influenced by the fabric/silk bag trends at the time - back in 2006 (I think) and decided to give it a go and make my own. I was more of a beginner sewer at the time - but surprisingly I did a pretty good job with the silk bag and had comments on it from my friends. So in 2007 - I collaborated with Marcela after we graduated from High School and had more time during our first year at UNSW to give making bags a go." March 2008 marks their first year anniversary and they have sold over 160 bags! Quite an achievement for these young ladies who are excitedly anticipating hitting the big 200 mark soon. Beaming, Clarissa says, "I recall Marcela saying, 'the best feeling is to be appreciated by others for what you design/make - it makes you feel warm and fuzzy inside!'" As a fellow designer, I second that emotion!

The duo began selling their creative handbags on Soompi, an entertainment, fashion/beauty discussion forum for teen girls and young adults. A great idea as this age group was their initial target market and they continue to see positive sales results today. It was not until the beginning of this year that they began selling on Etsy, thus expanding their target audience. But these two are still on the move... you can also purchase handbags designed by the future Vera Wang and Donatella Versaci from their website: http://aishii-designs.net/ .

Clarissa and Marcela love working with fun yet elegant/chic patterns - mostly inspired by Japanese bags and the prints. "We love pleats! It simply adds an elegant touch to the bags. Not a lot of people dare to wear floral prints, but we try to appeal these prints to them through our designs. It's amazing how you can make a not-so-appealing fabric beautiful!" Making ugly, beautiful...now that is an inspiring thought. When asked, "What inspires you?" Clarissa responded, "Fun, chic looking, Japanese bags and the "East meets West" fusion thing."

Currently, the designers behind Aishii Designs are full time students. Their student status only allows the pursuit of fashion passion on a part time basis. "If Aishii Designs is successful in the future and can become a business - that would be great!" Clarissa also maintains a blog - visit to learn more about what these college students are up to these days... http://clarzzy.aishii-designs.net/.

I will leave you with a word of advice from the creators of Aishii Designs, "Everyone can be creative. They just need to take the time and experiment, hence practice makes perfect. With a positive mindset - you can almost achieve anything." Additionally, Clarissa left a special note for her fellow Etsyians..."We believe presentation is important, as it is the first point that captures the audience's attention, people love eye candy! Oh, and make friends with other Etsyians! Having contacts will make your time at Etsy more enjoyable and worthwhile!"