As 2016 quickly comes to a close we wanted to celebrate the end of our first year with a blog about our history. We get a number of questions asking about our background and the origin of Beau Satchelle. So in the beginning…destiny weaved her way into our lives. Co-founders, April Bayles (AJ) and T. Michael met in late 2007 and discovered they shared similar passions and interests. After countless discussions about the love and challenges of being an entrepreneur and eventually T. Michael sharing his business model of a luxury brand, a partnership was developed and Beau Satchelle was conceived. A native Detroiter and proud University of Michigan graduate, at a very young age, April adored anything to do with fashion…clothes, hair, accessories. Taught by her Mom how to sew and had inherited a talent for drawing from her Dad, she dreamed of becoming a high end fashion designer. However, life happened and she became distracted with other interests and put her love for fashion on the backburner. Her experiences through college and various jobs along with her serial entrepreneurship ventures prepared her for the opportunity to come full circle and work on building a business brand that focuses on the lifestyle of luxury. T. Michael, a Michigan native. While in college, had an initial urge to explore the art of leather crafting was when he was unable to find quality belts on a college student’s budget. So, after much research which entailed finding the local leather store and reading books on belt making, purchasing and using the right tools was the first step in what was then a necessity gone hobby to what is now an emerging business. Later in life, the situation reoccurred with the need of another briefcase after his career took him through several ‘brand […]
Learning firsthand from our growing group of affluent clients, it is without a doubt that gift giving is pivoting. Purchasing an experience or creating memories is exceeding above everything else when celebrating the gift of giving with loved ones. Opening a gift box housing a rose colored diamond tennis bracelet can still make a girl squeal with delight; yet the experience of working one on one with a top jeweler in creating her own unique design makes the gift more exceptional. Or that the golfer in your family will adore you for buying him a prestigious Titlist by Scotty Cameron -Tiger Woods Stainless Masters Winner Limited Edition golf clubs but to use those clubs while playing a round on a golf course with an acclaimed golf coach will be a memory of a lifetime. Even companies who offer products are embracing the trend of creating memories around the gifting of the product. Subscription services are gaining momentum in offering a new monthly experience of receiving a different outfit, the sexiest lingerie set, or a delivered box of fresh ingredients to cook a full meal is an upward trend for sophisticated consumers. For example, the Robb Report, a luxury lifestyle magazine that introduces the best of the best in products and services to high net worth individuals is now offering a monthly membership club that delivers a monthly exclusive box of luxury which contains curated and themed products that expose unique items from boutique brands and elite artisans. One of their delivered packages contained a tape measure and swatches of Handwoven Honduran fabric to order a bespoke hat made by the master milliners of Worth & Worth in New York City. What a delightful gift for that dapper gentleman in your life! Every industry in the luxury space from cars buying, […]
This has been an exciting first year for Beau Satchelle. Creating a brand is a big challenge; designing, building, accounting, marketing, networking and most of all, selling. However, it couldn’t have ended any better than finding someone who can give you their side in an honest and well executed way. Therefore, we are proud and honored to feature our first Brand Ambassador in this exclusive interview. We initially saw Grace on social media and started to follow her, getting to know her style and fashion sense because we were and are looking for individuals who have a certain charisma about themselves who exudes class and sophistication; in which in this case, Grace definitely has. During that time, we were convinced we would approach her with an offer to evaluate one of our bespoke handbags just added to our luxury collection. With her stating she was an admirer of our products and brand, we realized it was a win/win for the both of us. For those of you who have been following us on social media, Grace has already interviewed our luxury designer and leather artisan, T. Michael with a two part interview and handbag evaluation on our ‘Michelle’ Bespoke Handbag. Here are the links if you haven’t read the posts and would like to catch up: http://colorandgrace.com/2016/08/24/michigan-bespoke-luxury-leather-goods-beau-satchelle-interview-1/ http://colorandgrace.com/2016/08/31/michigan-bespoke-luxury-leather-goods-beau-satchelle-interview-2/ http://colorandgrace.com/2016/09/23/michelle-bespoke-handbag-beau-satchelle/ You will see photos of her showcasing this luxury beauty in many coordinated looks; featuring other brands fashion attire. A casual photo of Grace with our Grace Bespoke Clutch Purse was designed for and named after her. She couldn’t resist the opportunity to not only showcase another one of our bespoke luxuries but have one designed, built and delivered to her home. The joy of creating beauty is something we love and cherish and to see Grace filled with delight is […]
Our team has been working non-stop to build an ambitious collection of treasured luxury leather goods ready for this time of the year. This blog post continues to reveal our latest products to be acquired for this holiday season. Two of the designs we are introducing in this post were inspired from receiving beautiful skins with deep colors that just spoke to our designer’s talent to create simple yet exquisite products. The first bag speaks for itself….. the color, the shape, the design. One of a kind! It had its public test drive at a couple of special events and without fail, many women swooned over this jewel. The bag is vintage inspired with a structured box look and matching handle made from a stunning gator embossed Italian lambskin in a dramatic lipstick red. Hand-cut and hand-sewn with fine black waxed thread, it was finished off with black hand dyed and burnished edges. The nickel plated hardware was selected perfectly to give more attention to this bespoke design. The interior is plush with matching red suede and a suede sleeve to hold your smartphone or smaller tablet. Executive Bridle Briefcase – Dressing down seems to be the norm at emerging companies, yet we see an uptick among men from the boardroom to celebrities who desire to embrace the well-dressed lifestyle with an array of stylish suits. Just as important, is the carefully selected accessories that range from bracelets, watches, ties, hats, lapel pins, cufflinks, pocket squares, belts, etc. needing to be in sync, subtle and elegant. To finish off that stylish look, let’s take a peek at a Beau Satchelle bespoke briefcase. Made of bridle leather in black, it was hand-cut and hand-stitched with black waxed Tigre thread and was finished off with black hand painted and burnished edges. The […]
The art of leather accessory design has layers of processes that only the artisan’s hands involved or a leather aficionado can appreciate. A well-made luxury bespoke bag takes 20-40 hours to make and entails hundreds, perhaps over a thousand, hand-sewn saddle stitches; all done with hand tools, two needles and thread. The choice of leather is a vital decision as to the ultimate look and feel of the product to ensure the owner’s delight of the product each time it is used. With those values and work ethic driving us, we are especially proud of the latest creations of our Master Leather artisan, T. Michael. This year, the number of requests to expand our luxury clutch offerings has amplified. Particularly with the upcoming holidays and celebrations looming on the horizon. As promised, it is our pleasure to introduce the first two bags that involve our eveningwear collection: The Grace Bespoke Clutch Bag (pictured above) is making its debut this November as a true one of a kind for Beau Satchelle. As with all of our products, it was necessary that we, first and foremost, provided good design and superior craftsmanship. The clutch’s design has a concave shape and is petite enough for a woman to comfortably carry in her hand. The leather is made from Italian lambskin in silver metallic and feels amazingly soft. The interior is made of black goatskin to contrast the silver exterior. This luxury jewel is sewn with fine waxed black thread and the edges are hand painted and hand burnished in black. An interior sleeve was created to provide accessibility for a Smartphone and keep it separated from other items like keys and makeup. The remaining interior has just enough room to carry a few personal items for that special evening out. A nickel chain […]
A favorite time of the year for Beau Satchelle is in October when one of Metro Detroit’s premier non-profit organizations educate and promote the growing cut and sew industry in Michigan. Their annual FashionSpeak is part education, part networking, and all about the business of fashion. It is a time for professionals (designers, manufacturers, retailers, buyers, and bloggers) in the industry from veterans to college students to meet and learn from each other. So here’s Beau Satchelle’s takeaways from a packed day of learning: The morning began with Lauren Kirsch Weiss who serves as a buyer at Freeds of Windsor who shared tips on surviving trade shows from two standpoints that of a designer displaying their lines and secondly being an efficient tradeshow buyer. From a designer’s view it comes down to doing good prep work prior to the show (especially reaching out to potential buyers), presenting the best of you and your designs during event, and solid follow-up post show. The second speaker was Amy Dietrich, a product development expert and design consultant at Restoration Hardware whose topic was “Determine and develop your best product” and we have covered many tips that have been in previous blogs which boils down to doing your homework about your product, your customer and your competition. Karen McDonald, a public relations expert was the presentation that was key for Beau Satchelle. She offered a number of suggestions on creating a public relations plan for an emerging design business that included having good photography, a strong website, developing a press release and 3 to 6 talking points, know media’s deadlines, and practice interviewing. Karen also invited Rebecca Voigt, stylist editor from Hour Detroit, a local luxury magazine and RJ King, editor of Dbusiness an online business magazine that focuses on Metro Detroit businesses to […]
If you adore handbags, like us, you are thrilled and anticipating the approaching celebration of National Handbag Day on October 10, 2016. A day created by one of our favorite sites purseblog.com where handbag aficionados pay homage to the designers, the history and timeline of styles, and the trends of the past, present and future. So if you need some ideas to prepare for this special day, here’s eight ways to show your love! 1. Downsize your personal collection and donate your gently used bags – Pay it forward. Why not do something altruistic and take some time to find a charity that supports low income women who are returning to the workforce? For example, Dress for Success is a global organization that accepts gently used clothing and accessories for the purpose of giving women a helping hand to build an office wardrobe. In the Metro Detroit area, there are couple of non-profits that also use donated handbags as a springboard to helping survivors of domestic violence. 2. Contribute to your local economy and purchase from an up-and-coming handbag designer in your area – Nothing makes a statement like supporting an emerging handbag artists. 3. Shoes and Boots to compliment the bag – At all of the Fashion Weeks from New York to Paris, we noticed over the knee boots, embroidered boots, chunky heals and over the top embellished shoes. To compliment your latest footwear purchase, finding the perfect matching or contrasting bag will give your outfits a complete and finished look. 4. Plan your holiday gifts for your loved ones – a bespoke bag made exclusively for the women in your life is the ultimate luxury possession. Beau Satchelle has the ability to take any of its designed bags and customized it to your preferences and needs. 5. Buy […]
September 2016 we salute you! Your predictability over seasonal changes with your cohort, the Artist, aka Mother Nature spreading her love of color particularly in the Midwest. The days grow shorter while the temperature begins to cool as Mother Earth prepares for its winter hibernation. Charities are gearing up for their fall and winter fundraisers. And those of us in the retail industry, preparations are intensifying for the upcoming holiday season. September also ushers in a month of pure delight as Fashion Weeks gets underway, first in New York then London, Milan and Paris. While following the unveiling of designers’ collections, Beau Satchelle keeps a close eye on designer’s choices for handbags collaborations. Needless to say, because of our bespoke background, many styles are too trendy and will not be embraced for our design consideration. However, we understand that attentiveness to certain trends can be incorporated into classic leather styles without compromising our design integrity. So these are the 7 Fall Trends that Beau Satchelle is keeping an eye on: ‘Hair on’ Skin or Genuine Exotic Handbags – No question that we embrace the sexiness and luxuriousness of what this style does for a handbag. Such as the above accompanying picture (red python) we selected for this blog, the more premium and exotic the skin, the better. The trends we noted integrate deep, rich dyed colors that make a handbag pop! We have seen cow leathers incorporated with alligator, python and ostrich for the side gussets or handles as contrasts to have just a touch of exotic. Beau Satchelle is currently in the design stage of an alligator leather satchel handbag that is so versatile that it can be worn both day and night. We will be introducing more modern colors but the cut, design and production will stay true […]
If you consider yourself to be a student of the fashion industry, then giants such as Tom Ford, Ralph Lauren or Tori Burch would be recognizable names as being game changers in the world of retail. As a start-up luxury business, we have to stay on top of our game by gaining knowledge from individuals such as those mentioned who have successfully forge their own paths. Auto Biographies are an important teaching tool for visualizing someones success and wanting the same for yourself. One of those giants that we recognize as a game changer in the world of fashion is Daymond John, the founder and CEO of FUBU, a television personality and investor on the hugely popular realty television series Shark Tank. He has written a book named “The Power of Broke” and it resonates well with any entrepreneur who is beginning their own journey of a thousand steps to building a business brand. In the book, he takes 15 entrepreneurs from different backgrounds who offer insight on what it took to build their successful careers and brands from nothing. In a nutshell, Daymond John bootstrapped his way to success and he feels in many ways that “the struggle”….not having money forced him to be creative which kept him focused on his goals. So in the course of reading his book, he shared in his first chapter 3 philosophical takeaways that resonated with Beau Satchelle’s growth which inspired this blog. Be Innovative – Daymond John refers to the power of broke as a mindset of providing substance over flash. It takes inspiration to stand out when you are a minnow in a sea of whales in the luxury industry. Our story is a good old fashion tale of basically learning an “old school” sewing art form from YouTube. Hand sewn, […]
The cell phone. Can’t live without it! Since our lives depend more and more on phones, tablets, and laptops, it becomes imperative that luxury leather designers stay ahead and create accessories that can accommodate these devices. Leather accessories have multiple functions that include protecting and holding the device while showing off your individual style. Although the range of textiles that can be converted into a holder for a cell phone are numerous, leather ups the game in conveying an indulgence that can’t be equaled. Offerings with leather products include: Handbags and Wallets – whether a tote, crossbody, clutch or wristlet, a woman will require a pocket that can handle her phone with easy access. From Beau Satchelle’s experience, more female consumers are requesting at least one pocket outside of the handbag or an interior pocket that is extremely handy if she hears one of her notification sounds. Even an unassuming leather wallet needs to have the ability to not only house the essentials (credit cards, money, and identification), but must offer a cell phone pocket to show a women’s style and simplicity when she runs her errands. Duffle Bags and Backpacks – these particular bags are designed and built for multiple uses whether the gym, the classroom, the office, hiking or a weekend outing, multiple pockets and specific locations for tech products are essential. It is imperative that not only books, or a weekend outfit have a perfect home, but sufficient room is set aside to secure a tablet or laptop. Of course, once again an accessible cell phone pocket is necessary for easy access. With the advent of mobile chargers stations that allow phone and tablet users to become independent of “searching for a wall plug”, these technological have raised the bar to insure that a carrier can support […]
