As is so frequently the case with inspiration, a brilliant idea struck Tamara Bowens at the most unlikely moment. For the Buckhead marketing executive, it came when she was cleaning out her closets.
“I was going through old handbags, and the thought occurred to me that it would be neat to have something seamless,” Bowens said. “I wanted something that was easy to clean, something I could open up and easily wipe out. And I didn’t want a lot of snaps. They always wear out.”
That light-bulb moment spawned a new partnership and sideline career for the 38-year-old Harvard Business School graduate: designing and producing wooden handbags. Through a previous job in real estate development, she had met many local craftsmen, including noted furniture designer and woodworker Ray Bergeron, and Bowens knew he was just the person to help her come up with a prototype.
“Ray and I had always wanted to do something together,” Bowens said. “I first started working with him when I was designing wood jewelry, but I soon discovered that thousands were doing the same thing. But purses were different.”
The idea was so different that Bergeron had a hard time envisioning how it would play out.
“I was taken aback from the beginning, thinking that handbags were artsy-craftsy,” said the designer, known more for his large-scale pieces such as game tables or custom bars. “It took me a while to wrap my mind around it. But after a while, I saw the potential and thought it was fantastic.”
Bowens came up with the designs, the concepts and the linings, which are usually colorful ultrasuede swatches for easy cleaning. Each bag takes four days to make from exotic woods such as zebrawood, rosewood, lacewood and bamboo, usually reclaimed from cabinet and floor makers. Each piece is woven, stained and polished by hand.
“I’d equate it to making a small sculpture,” Bergeron said.
So far, the response has been enthusiastic, particularly from unlikely handbag buyers.
“Our biggest response has been from men,” Bowens said. “They recognized right away that the bags are wood.”
Just a year ago, BowensBergeron was born. The fledgling company’s first venture was a trunk show at Neiman Marcus that was part of a program showcasing examples of merging fine art and fashion. Since then, the bags have been featured in Texas, Los Angeles and New York, where a line Bowens created specifically for Mercedes Benz was part of the city’s fashion week. For that show, BowensBergeron was tapped by the luxury automaker to design an exclusive line of purses made of the same wood that decorates the cars.
Just as Bowen was struck with inspiration when she least expected it, she also had a fateful encounter that recently snagged her a major honor: The American Craft Council named her one of the year’s Style Makers for her contributions to the craft world.
“It was definitely one of those fate-driven moments,” Bowens said. “Someone on a photo shoot was so taken with the bags that they passed my name onto the council. I didn’t even know what a ‘style maker’ was until they told me I was one!”
That honor also secured her a coveted spot at the council’s juried event in Atlanta and made her one of just six Georgia artists to be featured at the exhibition. For her first ACC show, she’s showing off 50 bags, ranging in price from $595 to $2,750. And if consumers see something they want tweaked, Bowens will gladly customize it to exact specifications.
“I can come up with whatever someone wants,” Bowens said. “But each line is already special. We only make 25 of each, so they are very limited editions. I hate when I go out and people have something I do. These bags are very special; you will not see them everywhere.”
What began as a hobby has turned into a second career. Bowens now spends most of her spare time coming up with new shapes, sizes and materials for the line.
“It’s been great fun,” she said. “People can’t envision a wooden bag. They certainly don’t expect it to be at Neiman Marcus or to be so functional.”
The ACC show wraps up at 5 p.m. today at Cobb Galleria Center. For more information about Bowens and her bags, visit www.bowensbergeron .com.
