PB: J.Lo was seen wearing your bag, did you see that have a great impact on sales?
Jane August: Celebrity is huge. I don’t know how long it lasts. It can be the flavor of the month, but I definitely saw a sales growth. The nice thing about it: It was one of my Number One bags, so it just made it that much stronger. In New York I see that bag a lot. Between Linda Dresner, Bergdorf Goodman and Kirna Zabete, I have probably sold about 1,500 pieces of that bag within a two-year period. Obviously it’s not all sold in New York, there are travelers, but I see that bag all the time. People also started getting on the bandwagon before Jennifer Lopez, we would be getting a lot of calls to the showroom prior. Also internationally the interest spiked up, that is how I opened in the store on King’s Road in central London.
Two and a half years ago, the New York Times ran it as the Bag Of The Century. The fashion editor wrote that this was chic and happening and they credited Linda Dresner because that is where they had found me. There was only 250 of these bags in a small store on Park Avenue at the time. 5 more big editorials picked it up and even with those you would see a spike in sales. Jennifer Lopez had an amazing impact.
PB: Speaking of celebrities, is there a particular one you would love to have wearing your bags?
Jane August: I can see Gwyneth Paltrow wearing my bags because I think that she is very, very understated. Other than that I like Jennifer Lopez. I cannot really see young, trashy Hollywood wearing my bags because that’s a really quick flash. It fades. Vanessa Carlton wears my bags, she seems very grounded, her music is great. I think anybody that’s very classic. I wish that Jackie Kennedy was still alive. When I was young, I used to play that I was her. If she was alive today, I would love her to wear my bags. It’s the iconic feel for me that I like.
PB: If someone could only carry one bag, what would be the perfect bag and why?
Jane August: This is a tough one. Nobody only has one personality… but I think I am going to go with … can I give you two? The 57th Street, it can be very hip, it can be uptown, it can be downtown, especially if it’s in black patent. It’s an “anybody bag”. The other one, I would say, the King’s Road. Jennifer Lopez wore it to hide her baby bump, she wore it hand-held and it completely changes its shape, character. When you wear this bag on your shoulder, it makes you look taller and thinner. I just think it’s so pretty!
PB: What has been your most memorable moment as a designer?
Jane August: Positive or negative? Most memorable time is getting into a factory to doing an inspection of 500 bags and nothing being there. That was pretty memorable. But then there are the memories of getting a huge order and opening up with Harvey Nichols Dubai. When you get your biggest order and it all grows from there. The nicest memory was probably getting into the Neiman Marcus Christmas Catalog with a bag that I loved. I had been in magazines and I don’t love the photograph or I don’t love the bag, but I did the catalog with Neiman’s and I loved the way it turned out.
Basically, it always goes back to an order, an ad, a photo, a magazine editorial. Very recently I was sitting at an Italian airport as I received a phone call from my assistant saying that I may want to get a copy of the February Vogue because she thought there was a bag in there! So I got the magazine, saw my bag and I got up and did what I call my “book dance”. I just wanted to go around to everybody saying “look, that’s my bag!”. It’s just an incredible accomplishment.
