Today I wanted to talk about quality, and education for consuming quality products.
About two years ago, my granddaughters, who were about 4 and 2 years old, asked me to make for them a bag. In fact, it was an initiative of Tamar the bigger girl. This little/big one, knew exactly what she wanted. She wanted a pink bag, decorated with lace and with a zipper. I was hesitant at first, I thought it might be better to make it out of faux leather, but I already made one like that for her when she was smaller. Finally, I decided that it was never too early to educate the girls to consume quality things and I made her and for little Carmel also, a pink leather bag with lace, so that Carmel would not be jealous of her sister. They absolutely loved it!
Following this, I decided to design a collection of bags for girls that I called "my first leather bag". I was thinking about a slightly more mature age, around 12, Bat Mitzvah age for Jewish girls, when the girls start to mature and become interested in fashion (maybe it's earlier today, around the age of 9, 10 already) I decided to go for 3 basic patterns
-Clutch with a zipper
-2 variations on an envelope bag. One with a snap stud, and one with a hidden magnet.
I must tell you that one of these models was bought by mature women as well!
How to design a quality product at an affordable price?
I thought these two values, should go together, the goal was to drive the girls to learn how to recognize quality, appreciate beauty, and to know how to look for it!
In order to lower the price, I thought it would be better for the bag to be simple, it would require less work and materials - in general, less costs, but, in such a way that it would not harm the visibility and quality of the finished product.
Finally, this is what I did:
1. I designed these three models in a small size - overall it fits because it's for young girls
2. The bags were designed without lining
3. The long strap, though adjustable, with a buckle, was made from one layer of leather.
This mini collection included 3 colors per pattern and was a huge success! Of course, you can always order any model in other colors.
What do you think, do you prefer to educate young people to consume quality products from a young age, or would you buy children cheaper products because they do not make a difference between quality products and non-quality products anyway?