In our search for a new factory, we’ve been making samples. This post will showcase a set of the odd ones out. If you’ve been following this blog for some time now, then you have an idea of what each of these bags should look like. Or check out the regular website, www.tarynzhang.com.

So there is no point in posting the samples that came out well, the ones that look identical to the previous batches of inventory. No. Instead, this is a post about failures.

First up, a pretty big flop:

You have not seen this one before. It was a new design I conceived of in December, an utter failing flop of a design. That’s right. It’s ugly. It is an unequivocal manifestation of my failures as an amateur designer. And I’m posting it on my blog.

Some of the stuff I come up with really work and I love them and people love them and just knowing I am capable of coming up with that kind of stuff makes me feel special. Then some other stuff, a LOT of other stuff I come up with really do NOT work. And in fact are quite hideous. Like the one above.

Last Saturday I heard this fellow Frans Johannson speak at a conference about innovation, technology, and social change, called “The Intersection.”  (It was held at Pixar Studios, by the way, an amazing venue.)

I cannot properly recall what he said or how he said it (which was so stirring and powerful), but essentially, Johansson talked about the many failed paintings of Picasso that no one sees or ever mentions, the many failures of all the great minds and brilliant thinkers, but how it was those failures that helped them stumble upon their genius successes. What distinguishes the successful innovator from the rest of us isn’t her mind; she doesn’t come up with “better” ideas than us– it’s her courage to fail. The successful innovator is the one who isn’t afraid of failure.

That was my long-winded way of saying yeah, I failed miserably with that design, but I am not going to be ashamed of it. Not everything I come up with is good. So what?

Now. Not all failures are mine. Here is an amusing sample of The Executive satchel brief that came back from one of the factories:

The Executive in black on the left (labeled “CORRECT”) is what it’s supposed to look like. That’s an image of a previous sample from a previous batch of inventory. I sent the same exact set of design briefs to this new factory and even sent them photographs of the correct version and still I got what you see on the right (labeled “new factory oopsie”). Um, yikes. How did that happen!?

Not only is the silhouette and lines of the bag all wrong (and wrong hardware as well), but they didn’t even create the pleats for the bag as I had instructed in the briefs. I had given instructions on how to create those pleats. Instead, they simply sewed those lines as seen in the “new factory oopsie” image.

The Peripatetic bag has gone through so many versions. So. Many. The one made by this factory is pretty good. I like it. Except it’s a little… I don’t know, squat or something. The intended silhouette should be slightly more elongated, like the black and white illustration you see above to the left. It doesn’t even need much, just an inch or two on the length and it would be perfect. Well, no. Also the handles are a little thicker than I would like. Just those two points, though.

As I mentioned in the previous post, I’m now designing for another designer. In fact, I’ve just been named his company’s new creative director! Isn’t that fun? And I have dived right into work sketching for his 2012 collections. =) He’s made a name for himself in many countries across Asia, but not yet in North America. He’s a recent transplant to Vancouver, and I’ve been brought on to help him develop his label in the west.

At first I was hesitant to join because all his handbags use genuine leather. Lambskin, calf skin, croc, python, you name it, he’s used it. You know my stance on being cruelty-free. Ultimately, I decided this was too great an opportunity and experience to pass up. I know. I’m a sell-out. =( In any case, I figured as long as Taryn Zhang New York remains committed to vegan leather, I can make peace with myself. =)

I can’t wait to give you all more information, but that is to come soon enough, if all pans out as well as anticipated. In the meantime, I can show you two of his past season handbags, above. I *LOVE* love love these two styles, totally adore them.

My main critique of his past lines overall is that there was no cohesiveness, no concrete point of view. Some of the designs, like the two I pictured above, are simple, elegant, and classic. Others are crazy, with fur, leopard print, and bells and whistles, totally wild stuff, designs that make me go blegh. His rationale is that he’s been more of a trend follower, going for marketability. So he keeps a hawk’s eye on what’s going to be “in” next and inspires his designs off that. That is not my approach at all. Fortunately, he respects that and has given me a lot of leeway as creative director. =) Seriously, I can’t wait to share more.

The day job has been busy, so that has left little time for concentration on this blog. Although I haven’t been blogging, I have certainly been working away at the TZ project. =) In fact, I am now officially “patent pending.”

Yeah, yeah, I know what people in Silicon Valley say about design patents versus utility patents. In most respects, I agree with the silliness of design patents, except when it comes to fashion. It makes sense in this industry.

Granted I have no idea whether I filed the design patent application correctly, but I figured I’d just play it by ear. The above was the first time I ever did technical drawings for a patent app. Total DIY here, ladies and gentlemen. We’ll see what happens. =)

I went on and on here about how much I love the above swatch color, which I am dubbing Amaranth Rose (previously referred to as Amaranth Pink in the linked posts). Then, with heavy disappointment, I posted here about how the factory that makes this awesome material no longer makes it. The color was taken entirely out of production. So sad.

Then I thought and I thought and I thought. And thought some more. Did some number crunching, some introspection, some risk analysis, a little bit of everything that would ordinarily make a designer’s head ache. And then I decided.

After some heart to heart negotiations, we convinced the factory to bring it back! Just for us. It’s going to take a couple of months to make it, but that’s okay. We’ve waited this long already. What’s another two months?

We’ll be offering the Workaholic, Executive, and the Precisionist in this color. For the above two images, I scanned in the swatch card and my purse (my holding it steady over the scanner bed while I hit “Scan”) hoping this method would yield a more accurate visual of the color. It appears darker than it does in person. See the previously linked posts for what the color looks like when I shoot it head on with a DSLR, and also here and here.

So. It’s back. Amaranth Rose. I’m excited because I really, really love this color, but I’m also nervous now. Will the returns pay off? Who knows. I went with my gut and I guess by the end of 2012, if nothing else, we’ll know a little bit more about my guts.

Sorry for the lack of updates here. Earlier this month, my little sister got married. Hubby and I took some time off and visited Texas (for my first time) for the celebrations. Holy smokes is it ever hot in Texas! I don’t know how women stay put together down south. Your makeup melts off your face, your hair is perpetually frizzy, and I am a walking, sweaty, shiny mess. Horrors.

My sister agreed to let me post pictures of the beautiful newly wed couple. =P

Below is a pic someone took of Hubby and me. I think it was taken with a camera phone, so it’s kind of grainy. And don’t ask me what’s going on with my hairdo. Before the event, my sister took me to a salon, I sat down in a chair, and a lady did that to me. I had no say in it.

Let’s end with a cute photo of my sisters and me. Clearly, I’m the eldest. Clearly. Sigh. The woes of aging. Nothing makes you feel old like hanging out with two youthful younger sisters who are still full of fun and vivacity.

Oh, and although it isn’t pictured, let the record show that the TZ clutch I had with me at the wedding reception was in Amaranth Rose. =)

Found a pic. But it’s from the night before the wedding.

There’s Hubby and me. And Amaranth Rose. ::love::

While we work on production, I figured I would introduce the bags post by post, and review my uses of them. Since these are bags that I’ve designed, I won’t even pretend to be objective. =P  Of course all of them are great!

Our first stop in this series, then, is the Executive satchel brief. Read more about the bag here on the TZ website. I called it “The Executive” because there’s something so bold and confident about this bag, that it almost demands to be a leader of sorts.

I’ve been using the Executive sample in black as of late, and I always feel like a million bucks when I carry it. In fact, it may be just a little too bold for me! I get the sense that people are staring at my bag whenever I have the Executive on me.

Nonetheless I find this to be the prettiest of all the bags in the debut collection. If you want to be noticed, this bag will do it for you. If you are looking to blend in, then the Executive might not be a good option.

The two handles are short and drop down when not in use. In addition, the bag comes with an adjustable, detachable shoulder strap, which is the most functional way to sport this bag. I always use it with the shoulder strap. It’s a hassle of a bag without.

Admittedly, the handles are just for looks. You can grab onto them and strut into a courtroom feeling sharp and confident, but for every other occasion, they’re just a pain. I tried making prototypes with longer more functional handles, but they looked crappy. You can see what I mean about the crappy longer handles here, in a previous blog post.

This proportion of handles that I have above is the best aesthetically, and I figure it’s fine, since there’s always that shoulder strap.

A back zipper pocket fits smartphones, keys, or wallets easily, and I designed it specifically for this purpose. When I’m headed to my car or on the go, I dislike rummaging through my bag for the essentials. Hence, the back pocket.

Also note the purse feet. I love them purse feet!

Since this is a slim bag, it basically tops off after a 1-inch 3-ring binder, my sketchbook, and a composition notebook. You could tuck in maybe a few more files, but that’s about it. And if you want to carry around your laptop, then this will pretty much just fit the laptop and your few girly essentials (and that is only if your laptop is the same size as or smaller than the standard 3-ring binder). Oh, but if you’re like my sister and swear by those new ultra-slim Macbooks, then you’ll comfortably fit the ultra-slim Macbook, a law school casebook, and heck, maybe even a few of those law school supplements as well.

The Executive is definitely for the economical packer. If you’re a minimalist, this bag will be just fine for you. If you’re a packrat, I don’t recommend this bag.

This is why I typically don’t carry around the Executive. I carry tons of crap to and from work everyday, and need something roomy like the Ambitionist, Catalyst, Peripatetic, or Workaholic. I seem to be able to stuff in way more junk into those bags., esp. since the side walls of the Executive are not expandable. We previously made prototypes with expandable walls, and it really messed with the proportions of the bag and made it look funky, so we took that option out.

The Executive in Traditional Black is very… black… so to give it a pop of color, I like to tie a silk scarf to one side. Here in the above photo, I’m using a lovely scarf Hubby got me as a gift from one of his business trips. The scarf is from Tie Rack, London. Incidentally, Tie Rack, London was also started by a lawyer back in 1981. Three decades later… Wow, if 30 years from now Taryn Zhang could be as big as Tie Rack is now? I’d be the happiest person ever.

Let me get to the best feature of the Executive though: all the miscellaneous pockets. To each side of the main compartment, there are small open pockets for your business cards, phone, wallet, keys, makeup, etc. Thus, I put away all my papers or my laptop in the main compartment and stick my compact, lip gloss, phone, etc. in the small side wall compartments.

Here are a few views of the interior. On one interior side wall there’s a zip pocket.

(Note how the interior zipper heads are not metal like the exterior zipper heads. Originally they were all the nicer metal zipper heads, but I found that it’d bang into my sunglasses or phone, etc., and that was a no-no. So now the interior zipper heads are as you see in the above pic. Not as cute, but better than getting your stuff all scratched up.)

On the other, three open pockets. All Taryn Zhang bags have this interior feature: one zipper pocket on one wall, and three open pockets on the other. In the above photo, I’ve used one pocket for my pens, another for lotion and lipstick, and the third holds my sunglasses. I never have to go hunting through my bag for these items. =) They’re right there neat and organized in the pocket compartments. Love it!

For a compilation of links on The Executive, visit the Alpha Collection page.

There’s the resident kitty posing with some of the remaining TZ bags for review. He’s been such a trooper through all this, putting in just as many hours as I have, that he definitely deserves a corporate title and should be put on payroll.

For some time now I’ve been meaning to feature each of the bags in an individual blog post, but just hadn’t gotten around to it. I use all of my bags regularly and even have a couple of close friends using them regularly as well to give me feedback and criticism. I have spent the last year and a half tweaking each bag per the feedback, so that was another reason why I hadn’t featured the bags here yet– each bag was still a work in progress.

The Executive, though, is done. What you see above is the final product that we are going to sell. I love this bag, absolutely love it, because it fits into the high-professional corporate conservative work environment, and yet does so on its own terms– it’s unique, bold and even borderline brash; feminine without being dolly pink, princessy or frilly; and works with either a full suit (super conservative) or jeans and a nice blouse (super casual).

The Amaranth Pink was quite possibly my favorite color from the selections. Darn it!

Apparently this happens a lot. Well, good lesson to learn for future endeavors. Leathers production is kind of like department store makeup: cosmetic companies introduce you to something new and it seems to be quite popular, yet a year later, they take it off market for reasons utterly unbeknownst to the consumers who have already come to swear by those makeup products. Like Shiseido’s Creamy Eye Shadow Duo in C1, Blackest Sand. Anyone remember that?

(sources: amazon.com; yahoo! shopping)

Wow, that used to be one of my favorite products. Then one day I walked up to the Shisheido counter asking for this and the lady told me Shiseido no longer makes it. What the–!? Noo!! And that was the same reaction I had to finding out Amaranth Pink was no longer available.

So I had to unload all my boxes of samples and prototypes and find alternative swatches.

Ah, I remember these bags! The faux croc:

Here’s a better snapshot of the material:

Hubby and I disputed this swatch. He likes the faux croc leather a lot. I dislike it for being faux croc. It’s like being a vegetarian and eating that fake meat stuff that’s made out of tofu.

That’s what this material is. It’s a tofu burger seasoned to taste like beef. Faux croc is vegan and synthetic, but intentionally made to imitate the backside of a crocodile. What is up with that?

Well. Hubby likes it, and he thinks it’s marketable. Guess we’ll see, because that’s what we ordered for all the Peripatetics and one Precisionist color option.

(above: previous Peripatetic sample in Lilac; no faux croc here)

Above are the swatch color combinations we picked out for the Peripatetic.

(very first sketch of Precisionist satchel)

Here is a better look at that light green swatch, seen in a first prototype of the Precisionist using the jade green faux croc:

We’re bringing it back, with a few updated design changes. Here’s a glimpse at the updates:

(Precisionist satchel redux)

(image taken from design briefs to factory)

Spot the differences?

It’s been tough, very tough to go through the painstaking process of choosing swatches and colors, struggle for months with samples making, confirm your swatches and colors for production, and then find out that the swatch color you chose, your favorite out of all of them no less, no longer exists. That then gets exacerbated further with a demanding, high-pressure day job. Day job work has consumed me this summer, which means I haven’t been able to put in the attention that this TZ venture requires. For instance, running due diligence for one of our deals had me up past 1 am yesterday. Forget TZ; I hardly have time for myself.

Ah, but let’s end on a happy note… a kitty pic!

I snapped that photo of him with my phone while sifting through the samples and swatches. Doesn’t it look like he’s saying to me: “You’re doing this…again??”

This past week I submitted more color options to my manufacturer. While the above Ambitionist briefcase comes in a traditional solid black, I wanted a fun, colorful option as well. The decision came down between a nude pink versus a lilac. I had produced both before and liked both, though found the lilac one much more popular sales-wise. People say they prefer the pink, but don’t buy it at the same frequency as the lilac for some reason.

We had run out of lilac briefcases before and figured we’d stop producing those to move on to new color options. I decided against that and am back to production of lilac briefcases. =)

We’re going with 2 different textures of vegan leather:

The above is a sheeny, smooth material. The gold and silver swatches, #16 and #18 respectively really show what I mean (though no, I am not making any bags in those colors). The colors we are going with, highlighted with yellow boxes, are more understated but still have that sheen and polish to it. This particular material will be great for the briefcases. The look is very professional and sleek.

The second texture I love, love, love, love, love. It’s uber soft and suede-like, velvety, and just super duper pretty. I’ve challenged many people to feel this material and compare it with genuine leather, and no one has been able to distinguish the difference, not even self-proclaimed fashionistas! Problem with this material is that I can’t use it for the more structured briefcases, so only the totes come in this swatch option.

I did very informal, amateur color blocking to illustrate my color selections for this upcoming purchase order. The amaranth pink looks tacky in my color blocks above, but here is how it actually looks:

Workaholic shoulder tote (above)

Executive satchel brief (above)

And here’s a look into the design business process:

That’s the first page screenshot of a memo I sent to my factory. I organized my color and swatch selections into tables to make it as convenient as possible for the manufacturer. When you first establish a relationship with the factory, each bag style is assigned an SKU (stock-keeping unit) number. For example, my bag styles are numbered SL-2______. Each material selection also has an SKU.

Typically within one account, the first 3 digits of the SKU are the same, so for example when I call up the factory to talk about, say, the Ambitionist briefcase. I won’t say, “And for the Ambitionist in Lilac…” Instead, I’ll say, “For SL-974, in the number 13…” I say “SL” for the letter reference as you see above, and skip the first 3 digits because those 3 digits are the same for every bag under my account.

For lawyers who deal in intellectual property law, it’s similar to how we colloquially refer to patent numbers and trademark registration numbers, mais oui?

Although the descriptions (e.g., Ambitionist, Peripatetic, Catalyst, Executive, etc.) aren’t terribly relevant to the factory or for communicating to the factory, I put it next to every SKU for my own ease of cross-reference. That’s because personally I am terrible, completely utterly awful with numbers. It’s easier for me to remember “Peripatetic in Amaranth Rose” than it is for me to remember a 3-digit number. Seriously! However, for those who are good with numbers, there would probably never be the whole blurb descriptions and all you’d have are the SKUs. I could never do it that way because the numbers would make me dizzy.

So that’s what I’ve been doing TZ venture wise. Thought I’d also add a personal update:

As of last Friday that was how my hair looked. I’ve had long hair as far back as I can remember. (It’s even longer than it appears in the above photos because the front layers are shorter; from the back, the hair falls only a few inches above my waist.) Any time I referred to my hair length as “short,” it meant just below my shoulders. Never before in this lifetime had my hair actually been short enough for you to see the nape of my neck. And I had planned to go blissfully for the rest of my life like so.

Since I have ridiculously thick, coarse hair, long hair has been doubly uncomfortable this summer. When I attempt to wind it up into a bun, the bun itself is the same size as my head. Real attractive, huh? So I decided to get it cut.

Perhaps handbag designing has gotten to me or something, but now I think and plan in terms of thumbnail sketches. Below is the sketch I rendered illustrating what I intended to get done. See, the back nape of my neck would still be fully covered.

Then my cousin suggested that I donate to Locks of Love. The hair donation had to be at least 10 inches long, which is a lot more hair than I had wanted to cut off. Also, I was concerned about my colored chunks. Per the website, it can be dyed hair, but not bleached. I talked to my stylist who regularly does my hair, and she said my hair had not been bleached, just semi-permanently dyed, so it should be fine. Alrightey then.

There’s me post-cut. The length is much shorter than my thumbnail sketch, but that’s because I asked the stylist to cut off more hair to make sure we definitely got in the full 10 inches, 12 if possible. So we went for 12. Yes, a whole foot of hair. Women who prefer their own hair long and have gone their whole lives with long hair like me will be able to commiserate: watching a whole foot of your own hair get lopped off isn’t the easiest thing to do. =X

There’s my hair! Two ponytails. Hmm, looking at your own hair packaged away in plastic bags on a table is rather creepy.

“Before” and “After” photos:

There’s me with glasses. My mother’s signature hairstyle is a short bob, longer in front, and she wears glasses; so everyone, from my husband to both my sisters and my brother-in-law have remarked my uncanny resemblance to my mother now that my hair basically looks like hers. Sigh.

The shortest layer is 10 inches, with most of it approximately 15 inches, though with those split ends, I just hope it’s still usable! Eeks.

I am definitely going through a readjustment period. =)  Just as people warned me, I squeeze out wayyy too much shampoo and conditioner when washing and even brushing my hair has been different. I woke up this morning, sleepy-headed, and on automatic, grabbed my hairbrush, started at the top and applied the normal force to get the normal acceleration I need to shove a brush through what is typically the wild, wild jungle that is my hair every morning. But I painfull scraped my neck instead. Ouch! Now I was awake. I blinked and looked at my reflection and realized I had no more hair to brush. Haha. Oh dear.