This winter term I took PD484: Bags, the next soft goods studio after PD483: Garments in the junior year progression of the University of Oregon's Product Design Program. It was a gamble since the program recently hired Taylor Winegar to teach the studio that was originally taught by the infamous Tom Bonamici so I had no idea what to expect walking into Week 1 of classes.
Taylor has a history in bag construction and also graduated through the program not too long ago which helped ease my mind on just how hard this class might be. We got the classic "What is a bag" lecture on day one and from there the class was wildly open-ended.
Here was the brief:
Create a bag for a working professional.
That's it.
Going into this class, over winter break, I would scroll mindlessly through my Pinterest boards to look at some bags in hopes to find some that would spark my interest for the next term. I kept seeing leather. Obviously, I kept seeing leather.... I was looking at purses and handbags from Hermes, Dior, and Chanel, all of whom have stunning pieces that incorporate leather as details or main body fabric.
So I knew I was going to tackle leather this term.
After getting the working professional brief I was a little confused where to go with this material choice. I couldn't make fun little purses and handbags (which in hindsight is a very good thing) so I looked back at some use cases from my time back home in Arizona.
One of the professional bags I have been most intrigued with has been the saddlebags used by trail guides and trail riders who take horses out for group tours along the many mountain trails back home. They are usually very small and ugly compared to the thousands of dollars worth leather saddle tack ups that are made by hand by saddlers.
I have found that my niche in the design world is not apparel, bags, footwear, etc. It is material and hardware choice and construction. Last term, my garments were solely focused on working WITH the powermesh rather than fitting the power mesh into what I wanted the final collection to look like. This term I knew I wanted to do the same.
As many of you know, my favorite color is red. I have painted my nails red since I was a little kid and have something red in every outfit I ever wear. When making my moodboard for the saddlebags, red was everywhere.
It is a strong, bold color that looks elegant and takes up appropriate visual space when used correctly. I found a hide and half of the most gorgeous veg tan scrap leather at Oregon Leather that was dyed this vibrant red and knew I was going to make the full piece with it.
On the construction side, I wanted to respect the saddler industry as I know it is a craft that takes tens of years to master and even though many have tried to automate the process, the results from a handle saddle-stitched tack up is unbeatable. And so I decided I was going to hand saddle-stitch the entire piece. This choice got some funny looks but I deeply appreciate the time I took to sit and learn how to construct the bags by hand.
I also fell down the rabbit hole of big fashion houses such as Vivienne Westwood and Dior having collaborations with traditionally western clothing brands that I really connected with.
After doing my research on where the saddlebags for equestrian riding market is lacking (storage, aesthetic, and fit/comfortability for the horse), I began sketching how I wanted this piece to look silhouette wise.
I knew I wanted big chunky silver hardware that emphasized the sheen and texture of the red leather. Silver and red is just an unbeatable combination in the world of luxury (i'll be thinking about the Hermes Horse line of red leather tack up for the rest of my life).
I am a college student; chunky silver hardware is expensive, and I had to find a compromise. My compromise was thrifting. I found silver star rivets, two gaudy western belts I stripped, the largest flat d-rings I've ever seen, silver rivets and more.
It was finally time to get started doing the damn thing. I am a type-A person. Which means everything has a time, place, and schedule for being completed earlier than deadline. Rather than starting my construction Week 8, I decided to start stitching Week 5.
I got myself a grand ole' stitching pony, diamond shaped chisel, awl, beeswax, red poly thread, rubber mallet, plastic cutting board, leather tape, rivet puncher, divider compass, and more. Sat myself down on the corner of the studio cutting table and saddle stitched for 52 hours in total over the course of 2 weeks. Did I stab myself accidentally? A few times. Did I get frustrated and restart when a corner didn't line up the way I wanted? Yes. Was it worth it? Absolutely!
I hand burnished the entire piece with tokonole and a wooden burnisher and by Week 9 I went up to Triple Rise Ranch to see what it looked like with the tack up. There is where I met Quinn. Miss Quinn is a beautiful 16 year old English Jumper who was a prize winning horse in her early days. She is currently owned by the lovely Sarah Daywitt and her family who were so kind and supportive through my construction process.
Quinn is absolutely gargantuan. She is much larger than any horse I've ridden back home and the first day I met her to do product user research, I was incredibly nervous she would be much too large for my bags. However, the bags worked just great. They look absolutely gorgeous with her deep brown European saddle tack up and the silver hardware from my bags matched with her bridal and stirrups.
I got to take my bags back a few times and the final photos with her at the ranch were everything I've ever dreamed of. I like to pride myself in really committing to the photo process since I believe how your present your work is how you get people interested in your work in the first place.
I put the whole book together and at the end of the day I'm just happy I got to be around horses again this term. I have really grown a liking for saddle stitching and have been making some wallets and smaller pieces here are there. As a junior in the Honors College, I have to start narrowing down my thesis topic and I think leather working may be a strong direction for me.
This term was absolutely wonderful, I am proud to announce I will be working at adidas this summer as a Product Design Intern for the Footwear Color and Materials, Apparel Color team at their North American HQ in Portland, OR. I am absolutely stoked to be taking another soft goods course with Taylor Winegar this upcoming spring term. If spring term is anything like the last four absolutely sunny days I think it'll be the best term yet.
As always, I am so grateful to you for reading about this journey,
Have a great spring break! Be safe and get some sun!
Saachi Poddar
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