Some people lust for shoes. Others, for bags, and some, for both. In the Venn Diagram of fashion, if you are one of the women who belong to the bag circle, then here’s a designer that can satisfy your inner hunger – Abby Jocson.

Abby started harnessing her love for fashion when she sold products to classmates while taking her double degree in Behavioral Sciences and Marketing Management at   De La Salle University.  She then ventured into retail and worked for Bayo, a well-known retailer in the Philippines. Abby gained knowledge from the industry from first-hand experience in working under Bayo’s marketing operations and in industry dealings.  Deciding  to shift from marketing others’ designs to her own is something her current customers are thankful for.  After Bayo, she took technical courses in bag design from the Fashion Institute of the Philippines and was able to reconcile her love for fashion, her management background, and her new technical knowledge in her creation AbbyJocson.com.

Her personal aesthetic is basic clothes paired with statement accessories which is why she opted to design accessories rather than clothes. “Let the accessories make the statement” and “the key is in the details” are what she likes to say. But why bags specifically? Spoken by a true marketer, she chose bags because she saw the need for it. In today’s corporate world, there is a new type of woman to cater to – the career woman. Abby, being one herself, realized there was a need for big and functional yet fashionable bags – in her own words, “the kind of bag that suits the modern busy woman – both ambitious and romantic/feminine.”

Hence, bags that could fit laptops and gym gear while still looking very stylish were born. Quoting from her site, they are “contemporary designs that cater to both the alpha female and modern Juliet – hybrid bags that suit strong women yet are flexible enough to attract their charming romantic alter egos.” Pictures of these designs are shown below.

Abby’s top pick, being an animal print fan herself, is the Samantha collection, which was also her first. After that, she would create a new design at least once a month, which isn’t really hard considering she gets inspiration from pretty much everything. “When I run, I get a lot of time for myself to think, I really allow my mind to wander.” Aside from running, inspiration comes from people-watching, reading magazines, surfing fashion sites and watching movies. These lead to her doodling and sketching in coffee shops right after. “The most important thing I try to practice is to keep myself in a happy mood. I believe that in doing so, inspiration and design will just follow.”  Positive outlooks definitely yield positive results.

These designs, that she comes up with at coffee shops, are actually very unique. They seem basic but have a hint of surprise like pockets for the Karla bag or the asymmetrical zippers in Carina, an application of her “key is in the details” motto. Us, women, don’t want to bump into others with the same bag, and if you are one of us, then you should really consider getting a bag from Abby. I have actually been eyeing that yellow Carina bag for quite some time now. I should get one already. And you should get a bag too. Happy shopping everyone! 😉

Check out her designs at http://www.abbyjocson.com/

You can also Like her on Facebook at facebook.com/abbyjocson

and follow her on Twitter twitter.com/abbyjocson

*thank you to Abby Jocson for the interview!