A soft well worn white tshirt. A bright white button down. A slouchy black cashmere sweater. Yoga pants. My favorite jeans that transcend any current trend. No matter how dressed down I am, to the point where I hope not to run into anyone I know, I think a great bag takes care of everything. Any handbag I carry is a statement that I'm not completely devoid of style. My messy hair may suggest I have no interest; but my bag says that I am a serious lover of design. In fact the more casual I am dressed, the more brightly my bag stands out. For me, a great bag is an excuse to be a bit slouchy everywhere else. A great bag that no one else has seen before is a conversation piece, and a defining element of the person who carries it.
It's easy to pick up the latest IT bag of the season. IT automatically flashes a sign that you carry the most desirable handbag that everyone wants. I started lucque to break the IT bag conventions of the world that encourage and fuel the inevitable knockoffs -- suddenly an “original” is not so original. And although the majority of these IT bags are worthy of coveting, each season I still search to find a great bag for me that few others will see.
The birth of lucque was built on another equally important rationale: bags are an investment, so it’s harder and harder to buy multiples. Yet there are many different functions that demand different bags. I wanted to create a bag that would be fairly unique and jam-packed with style. I wanted to fuse my love of classicism and counter balance it with something unexpected. I wanted to create a bag that could be more than one thing — a true transformer and chameleon.
lucque gained steam as I connected with a woman who supplied leather to one of the most exclusive home design showrooms in the country. As I went through the collection of leathers for walls, floors, and furnishings, I was in awe of the treatments applied to the hides. There were floral embossings and hand painted prints and filigreed paisleys carved into beautiful soft leather, colors so rich you could eat them. The first reaction was — I want a handbag out of this. And this. And this. Realizing that no one was going to do “this”, I decided it would be me. I wanted to make my own personal IT bag. A ME bag.
Thus the life of lucque had begun.
From one handbag lover to another, I hope you enjoy wearing your lucque as much as I have enjoyed creating them.
Susan Paillassou
Los Angeles, California