“When I returned to the UK and searched for similar pieces” says Natasha Kapur “I discovered that the handbag market is so overcrowded with either ridiculously expensive designer pieces or incredibly cheap, mass produced bags…… Well, it was this very situation that led me to start creating my own pieces. I spent about 4 months designing a small, simple range of evening bags and I decided to only focus on evening bags as there are sooooo many big leather bags on the market and the small, simple beauty that is ‘The Clutch’ was being forgotten.”
So started the creation of the Aksuona range of evening bags. We have to say, having seen the range to date - thank goodness for Natasha and Aksuona!
With a choice of three materials used in the Aksuona range - leather (the Bloom), silk & satin (the Candy) and crystal (the Cristal) - we can kiss goodbye to one of those irritating but ever present problems that hits us with any evening affair - what evening bag to use.
Unless you’ve been able and happy to spend huge amounts of money, finding a good quality evening bag or clutch that adds style and an aspect to your outfit, as opposed to being totally overblown or invisible has been a total bind and half a nightmare at best!!
Let’s let Natasha pick up the story of how Aksuona came to be, shall we?
“By profession, I am a geneticist however after 3 dreadful years of working in sales I decided to give up the big salary and follow my passion for creativity and more specifically, my passion for handbags!
Since an early age, I have always been mesmerised by sparkle, glamour and glitz. I’ve always preferred to spend my money on well made, timeless, rare pieces…….
I spent 2 months in India at the beginning of 2007 and realised that they have the most wonderful hand made accessories. They use the most beautiful materials, the colours are vibrant and the craftmanship is all done by hand which gives the feeling of buying something extra special.
When I returned to the UK and searched for similar pieces, I discovered that the handbag market is so overcrowded with either ridiculously expensive designer pieces or incredibly cheap, mass produced bags…… It was this very situation that led me to start creating my own pieces.
I spent about 4 months designing a small, simple range of evening bags and I decided to only focus on evening bags as there are sooooo many big leather bags on the market and the small, simple beauty that is ‘The Clutch’ was being forgotten. I sourced materials from all over the world….leather from Europe, Swarovski crystals from Austria, chains from USA and silks and semi-precious stones from India. I wanted to utilise each country for what they do best so that each handbag had a little bit of every culture incorporated into it.
By June 2007, I had 3 designs :
1. ‘Bloom’ which is our best seller to date. It is so versatile as it can be a simple, chic shoulder bag (without the brooch) or it can be a feminine, fun clutch (with the brooch). I envisaged 20-something girls carrying this on a night out with jeans.
2. ‘Candy’ which is so reasonably priced yet so glamorous. This can be worn to dress up jeans or to compliment a formal dress.
3. ‘Cristal’ which is our show-stopping, jewellery-like piece. This is hand embellished with over 2500 genuine Swarovski crystals. This is such a timeless classic that can be passed down from generation to generation…. it is so perfect for all those Xmas parties coming up.
Within only a month or so of releasing my first 3 designs, they were snapped up by many classy North West boutiques such as Emma Somerset, French Dressing, Muse Womenswear and many more. We are now expanding across the country to Me Me Me in Newcastle, Farfallina in Cambridge and next season we will be found in London’s finest boutiques also…………
Next year we will also be found in boutiques throughout Mexico and the USA which is such an exciting prospect as it has only been such a short space of time and thankfully, our designs are loved by so many people.
My S/S08 collection has been slightly expanded to a few new designs but we do not want our bags to be seasonal as they are ’simple, stylish and sophisticated’ classic pieces. However, our collections will always evolve, the colours will change and new designs will always be added.
We have also added a bespoke service for all our loyal customers as we feel that getting something hand made especially for you, in the exact colour, shape, size, material that suits you is every woman’s dream……
We want to continue creating hand made, unique evening bags for our fellow like-minded, glamorous handbagista’s and always offer affordable prices but with uncompromising love and attention to detail and this is what we want Aksuona to be associated with.”
Here’s a picture of the serious Cristal Clutch.
2,500 Swarovski crystals hand embedded is not a quick nor painless job. I bet this clutch goes a LONG way to making any evening sparkle - and it is set at a much more sensible price than you’d imagine, especially considering the amount of time and hard work that it must take to make each one. (I LOVE with a capital L the way this catches the light and twinkles !)
We’ll cut no bones as feverish Handbagistas - we like these evening bags, for a couple of reasons.
Firstly, the various designs available in the range are different, vibrant and most importantly - utterly usable. After all, when we’re glamming at a party, the last thing we need or want is a bag that is an encumbrance or a right pain! We want simple, effective and we want it to shout out “Cool - serious cool, look at me!”
Secondly, the quality of these bags are such that we can easily see these being items that are passed from Mother to Daughter. We suspect that daughter would be looking for this transfer to happen faster and earlier than Mom might want but hey - that speaks volumes too. Anything that becomes a cross generation “can I just borrow your …. item” has to be taken very, very seriously!
The final reason we like the Aksuona range? As opposed to a number of ranges where money is clearly the prime motivator, Natasha evidently takes her passion for classic beauty, quality and a touch of funk and puts it into her bags. Sure she sells for profit - what business doesn’t? But a business does NOT have to be all about cash flow and positive accounting - it can also be about the people involved and their love of something.
When you receive a bag that is not only well packaged but also carries a hand written, personal note of thanks - you know you are dealing with a passion, not just a business.
We’re filing this post away under “Ones to Watch”.
My guess?
Won’t be long before Natasha and Aksuona gets her own section!
written by Julie
Here’s a good example of an evening bag - The Abigail. Silver handles matching the silver brooch and ruff, this little black number would go with quite a few different get up that I can think of.
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