{"id":82792,"date":"2017-02-27T08:30:55","date_gmt":"2017-02-27T13:30:55","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.realstylenetwork.com\/fashion-and-style\/?p=82792"},"modified":"2017-03-02T09:07:23","modified_gmt":"2017-03-02T14:07:23","slug":"canadian-handbag-designer-jane-ip-of-jeanne-lottie-talks-accessories","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.realstylenetwork.com\/fashion-and-style\/2017\/02\/canadian-handbag-designer-jane-ip-of-jeanne-lottie-talks-accessories\/","title":{"rendered":"Canadian Handbag Designer Jane Ip Of Jeanne Lottie Talks Accessories"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"\"<\/a><\/p>\n

With their vivid colours and playful, youthful aesthetic, Jeanne Lottie purses certainly stand out in a room full of neutral accessories. Launched in 1985 by founder Jane Ip, the Toronto-based handbag line has been part of the Canadian fashion industry for over 30 years. Easily recognized by the use of pastel brights and floral accents, Ip\u2019s creations are cheerful and girlish, much like the handbag designer herself.<\/p>\n

Ip finds her creative inspiration from artists such as Monet and from attending painting classes at the Art Gallery of Ontario. Meanwhile, her brand is headquartered at a charming Yorkville property, painted rosy blush and suitably called The Pink House. With a new garden inspired Spring 2017 collection out and another season upon us, Real Style spoke to the Hong Kong-born and proudly Canadian designer about her passion for accessories. From discovering the art of crafting a handbag to her favourite new trends, here\u2019s what Ip had to share with us about purses and far more.<\/p>\n

Real Style: What originally inspired you to start creating handbags? <\/strong><\/p>\n

Jane: <\/strong>I didn\u2019t really have any design background. After graduation [from my MBA program], I went back to Hong Kong and I just happened to know someone who had a factory, producing handbags. I came back from Hong Kong and said to my sister Charlotte \u201cLet\u2019s start a business.\u201d Our dad was a very successful businessman and he always inspired us. He said \u201cStudying is great, education is fantastic and working for someone is good too. But the best is to own your business, because you have more freedom to do what you\u2019re passionate about.\u201d<\/p>\n

That\u2019s how we got started. Handbags are so easy; it\u2019s kind of like cooking. You just combine things together. At the beginning, we just carried what the factory was producing. Then we showed their designs to our customers and built clientele. After a season or two, we found that it\u2019s not very viable, because they were not our designs. Then we started to combine things together and we sourced materials, hardware and just created our own. You just pick the colours you like, and you cook a meal! I really think anyone can create a handbag.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a><\/p>\n

Real Style: You\u2019re very involved in the creative process, and also in the selling process of your purses. Tell us more about the Jeanne Lottie customer. <\/strong><\/p>\n

Jane: <\/strong>Every handbag has someone to appreciate it. It\u2019s like an art. There\u2019s always a buyer for art, because it appeals to different people- handbags, too. That\u2019s why the handbags sell the best at the Pink House, because people are here to look for something for themselves. Handbags are the easiest way to showcase your personality and express yourself to others. You can carry any handbag, and it\u2019s a statement.<\/p>\n

Real Style: Do you have any favourite handbag trends for Spring 2017? <\/strong><\/p>\n

Jane: <\/strong>I find 2017 is very optimistic. There are a lot of flowers. That\u2019s why our theme for Spring 2017 is you walk into the Garden of Jeanne Lottie, the Pink House. It\u2019s a lot of fun, it\u2019s like things are blooming.<\/p>\n

Real Style: You\u2019re known for your usage of bright colours. What are your favourite shades? <\/strong><\/p>\n

Jane: <\/strong>I don\u2019t like black, when I do designs. Whenever I do bags, I love colours. I love to put different things on the bags, and play with accessories, zippers and details. For colours, I like pink and purple.<\/p>\n

Real Style: What are your best tips for maintaining a leather or vegan leather handbag? <\/strong><\/p>\n

Jane:<\/strong> I would say 60 per cent of the collection is vegan. For leather handbags, use some hand cream, put some lotion on it, and be careful when you are using it. Also, just have many purses, don\u2019t just carry one! *laughs*<\/p>\n

Real Style: When it comes to accessories, trends such as designer monograms are coming back in style. What do you think of this? <\/strong><\/p>\n

Jane: <\/strong>It\u2019s possible that some women don\u2019t really know what they want. So maybe with a brand there, they know that this is a very good designer, whatever she does. \u201cI\u2019m going to carry it and get compliments!\u201d<\/p>\n

Real Style: What are some changes that you would like to see in the Canadian fashion industry?<\/strong><\/p>\n

Jane: <\/strong>We really need support from the government and also the people. I think Canadians have to support Canadian designers, instead of going to Europe. We just have to support local [talent], even if the [designs] are not made in Canada.<\/p>\n

Photos: Jeanne Lottie <\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

With their vivid colours and playful, youthful aesthetic, Jeanne Lottie purses certainly stand out in a room full of neutral accessories. From discovering the art of crafting a handbag to her favourite new trends, here\u2019s what Ip had to share with us about purses and far more.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":17,"featured_media":82798,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[287],"tags":[5068,30577,30573,30574,30576,30575,30578],"class_list":["post-82792","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-interviews","tag-canadian-designers","tag-handbag-designers","tag-jane-ip","tag-jeanne-lottie","tag-jeanne-lottie-designer","tag-jeanne-lottie-interview","tag-spring-2017-handbags"],"aioseo_notices":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.realstylenetwork.com\/fashion-and-style\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/82792","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.realstylenetwork.com\/fashion-and-style\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.realstylenetwork.com\/fashion-and-style\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.realstylenetwork.com\/fashion-and-style\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/17"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.realstylenetwork.com\/fashion-and-style\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=82792"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/www.realstylenetwork.com\/fashion-and-style\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/82792\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":82800,"href":"https:\/\/www.realstylenetwork.com\/fashion-and-style\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/82792\/revisions\/82800"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.realstylenetwork.com\/fashion-and-style\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/82798"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.realstylenetwork.com\/fashion-and-style\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=82792"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.realstylenetwork.com\/fashion-and-style\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=82792"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.realstylenetwork.com\/fashion-and-style\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=82792"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}