There was no red carpet at the Independent Handbag Designer Awards, held at the SVA Theater in Manhattan in June, but if there had been, nobody would have recognized any of the labels. Forty-five eager finalists from around the world were there, drinking room-temperature rosé and mingling with the buyers, merchandisers and journalists who might anoint them the next Rebecca Minkoff. “I ‘Pretty in Pink’-ed it,” she said, referring to the John Hughes movie in which Molly Ringwald, short of money, makes her own prom dress. That Ms. Blumenthal, 45, is still making her own clothes from thrift-store finds epitomizes her scrappy, entrepreneurial ethos. She began making and selling bags with no design training.

Source: New York Times July 27, 2018 16:47 UTC