Aki Takada is a United Nations diplomat turned bag and purse maker.
I’VE BEEN FASCINATED by textiles and paper since I was a little girl and collected origami and vintage postcards, but I never thought of this as anything more than a hobby until recently. I was working as a diplomat for the Japanese government at the UN when I became pregnant with my first son. The nonstop schedule—and taking calls from Tokyo at 3 a.m.—soon became too much and I resigned. After my son was born, I worked from home, translating books from English to Japanese. Then one day, while I was shopping in the East Village, I walked by a bag boutique and was mesmerized. When I realized that each bag in the store was handmade by the owner, I instantly knew I had to learn the craft.
I applied for a yearlong course in handbag design at the Fashion Institute of Technology and decided to use traditional Japanese elements in my clutches—the metal frame style is called gamaguchi (“frog’s mouth”) in Japanese. I also mimic elements of kimonos, like the bold color combinations and surprising designs of the lining fabrics, which are just for the enjoyment of whoever’s wearing them. I have almost 600 different textiles that feed my imagination, and I’m planning to go to a screen-printing class so that I can design and make my own in the future. And maybe someday I will move my sewing machine out of my bedroom and into a proper studio.
Bags are limited productions based on fabric availability; for similar styles go to oktak.etsy.com.
Click here to learn more about a career in handbag design.
Got to Howcast.com to learn how to turn an old book into a handbag.
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