When Chetan Bhagat left engineering for his love for writing, many raised their eyebrows in surprise. For them, he was not following his dream, but rather leaving a ‘stable’ profession which we all aspire for. Ayesha Malhotra, an entrepreneur who hails from Delhi shares a similar response. Her story echoes the story of all those who leave a profession which our society considers as ‘secure’ for something that she always wanted to do. She runs her own label of leather handbags and it doesn’t only attract her, but it is the medium for her to profess what she believes in.
The journey started two years ago when she went to Tuscany. She was intrigued by the process how craftsmen worked in the leather industry.
“When I went to Tuscany for a couple of days, I was charmed by the process of making leather bags. I observed very carefully how did the italian artisans did it, and for that moment — I wanted them to let me do it. I loved everything about it — finishing of the intricate designs, embossed prints on leather and the quality that is not available here,” she said.
After coming back, she realised that she had an uncanny desire to go back. “After I came back, I knew I wanted to know more about the process of crafting leather bags. I went back, worked under one of the craftsmen and opened my own label,” she shared.
But even before that, she had an overpowering inclination for leather. “Even, before going to Italy and learning about the art of producing the finest leather bags, I had always loved it. I was always fascinated with the prints, textures and colours of it,” she pointed out.
She further added, “Coming from an engineering background, where she was creating models of bridges, cars and buildings and putting everything together, she even in her dreams had never thought that designing a bag can also be technical. She told us surprisingly, “I never thought that while designing a bag, you need to have the technicalities in the right space, but while working in Italy,I learnt how difficult is to select the strap of a bag, give it the right colour and make it stand out from the rest of the bags in the market. It was actually like learning the basics.”
“I wanted my Indian clients to have access of the quality of leather that I was enchanted by. We import it and then the production and designing all happens in our factory in Udyog Vihar,” she told.
The quality of leather that she loves is pebble grain leather. She shared with us, “It is not only functional and beautiful but it is durable and delicate as well.The training that I got from Italy, I am actually applying the process here and trying to re-create the same quality and designs for my customers. Not only this, we do not wish to cater to only one kind of customers. With the best quality, we are also making sure that price of these bags come in affordable range.”
Talking about her journey so far, Malhotra mentioned, “We started with seven people which has turned into a huge factory now. The response that we get from our customers actually makes the journey more worthy.”
One of the bags from her collection, The hobo bag — is as spacious as it can be. From your 13 inch laptop to anything that you need for your bag to hold, it can fit it all. She explained, “It is a versatile tote bag which can be converted into a sling bag. The striking feature of this bag is that nothing falls from it even when you turn it upside down. There is no zip in it, we have placed a safety hook at the one end of the bag and enclosed a magnet to the other end.”
She is not only successfully running her own label, but she has managed to grab international eyeballs as well. She recently exhibited in the US and later this month, she will be heading to the US again for another exhibition. “The response there was really exciting and seeing the project grow to this extent, has been really overwhelming. We wish to expand in other countries as well,” she concluded.