- What qualities define the perfect handbag in your opinion?
“In my opinion the basis of the perfect handbag lies in quality design and materials. Also purpose defines the bag’s features – is the bag for work use or for party purposes.
There are certain requirement for a functional work bag. For example, it must be big enough to fit a laptop, and there should be space for water bottle and so on. In party bags, on the other hand, visuality becomes the highest criteria.
In the best case scenario, just one bag could be worn for any situation. With the PIHKA bags we attempt to achieve this with detachable shoulder straps, and with simple and racy design, where the main focus is on the excellence of the material.
Leather is a valuable material, which makes it festive by its own right.“
- Where do you find inspiration for new bag designs?
“Our design journey usually starts from a need. For example, we get feedback from customers saying that this or that functionality would be good. We also observe our collections ourselves and, if need be, we will develop and update them.
As a designer, lines and shapes start to immediately form in my head with a new product. The different shape possibilities start to roll in my mind – the shapes link up with each other, some of them are disqualified, some are forgotten, and some shapes form all the way to an actual design.
Sometimes the same idea pops into my head again much later. What I mean is that sometimes the ideas wait for the right time to become concrete.”
- What sets PIHKA bags apart from other sustainably produced bags?
- The domestic aspect is a big separator. For us it’s an important value that we strive to cherish.
- The producers’ sense of quality has to be as high as ours. And that is high!
- The idiom that suits an incredible amount of styles – the same bag can be worn by a diplomat on their travels and by a University student in Rovaniemi.
- The simply beautiful design also allows the customer’s imagination to fly – our bags are easy to incorporate to any outfit, they work for any occasion – which makes them a trusted accessory.
- The ability to trace our materials’ origins is super important to us!
- The fact that we offer our products as long a lifeline as possible with our maintenance and repair services – even when the product’s lifeline seems to be at its end, it’s possible for us to bring the product back to life!
- Our brand is very approachable and still extremely stylish.”
- Which of PIHKA’s current collection colours is your absolute favourite?
“We design our collection colours always as a whole. A little effect is required, mixed with harmonic balance. It also matters a lot how the colour has been used. Meaning that some colours work better for some products than they do for other products.
Why You Should Invest In The Perfect Handbag
Many think that the difference between brand handbags and fast fashion handbags is just the price. But they would be very wrong indeed!
With the perfect handbag, an actual quality handbag, you pay for what you get. Let’s recap:
With a fast fashion handbag you get:
- functionality
- design
Whereas with a more expensive quality handbag you get:
- versatile functionality
- quality, aka durability
- design
- transparent, often local production
And in addition to all this, a quality handbag can be an actual investment. You do know that old Mulberry handbags raise in value, right? That’s because the quality, design and functionality is so unbeatable that even time can’t break them.
If you buy fast fashion bags, you’ll end up buying a new bag every year. Within 5 years that accumulates a lot of ￡￡￡. Whereas if you invest in a functional quality handbag once, you’re set for decades.
