What does it take to turn one handbag into a worldwide fashion brand? In this episode of Handbag Designer 101, Emily Blumenthal sits down with the iconic Rebecca Minkoff to unpack the journey from her first design to building an empire that changed the handbag industry forever.
It all started with the Morning After Bag—a now-legendary design born from a chance encounter with actress Jenna Elfman and fueled by early internet buzz. From there, Rebecca’s brand exploded, capturing the spirit of modern femininity and defining what it meant to build fashion with both form and function.
đź’ˇ Key Takeaways
 👜 Romance Meets Utility: How the Morning After Bag hit a cultural nerve and made Rebecca Minkoff a household name.
👩‍💼 Founder Real Talk: Why working with her brother required “business couples therapy”—and how that transparency built a stronger brand.
⏳ Work-Life Wisdom: How motherhood sharpened her leadership skills and helped her build a powerhouse team.
With nearly two decades of experience, Rebecca shares how passion, innovation, and resilience shaped her brand—from early influencer marketing to “buy now, wear now” runway shows. 🎧 Listen now.
Our Guest: Rebecca Minkoff is a fashion designer, entrepreneur, podcast host, and mother of three. Her namesake brand is known worldwide for accessible luxury and trailblazing innovation in the handbag space and beyond.
Host Emily Blumenthal is a handbag industry expert, author of Handbag Designer 101, and founder of The Handbag Awards. Known as the “Handbag Fairy Godmother,” Emily also teaches entrepreneurship at the Fashion Institute of Technology. She is dedicated to celebrating creativity, craftsmanship, and the art of building iconic handbag brands.
Find Handbag Designer 101 Merch, HBD101 Masterclass, one-on-one sessions, and opportunities to book Emily Blumenthal as a speaker at emilyblumenthal.com.Â
Youtube: / Handbagdesigner101-ihda | Instagram:/ Handbagdesigner
TikTok: / Handbagdesigner | Twitter: / Handbagdesigner
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Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:00):
You should be getting the joy and the reward or the
pay from what you do, not thedollars in your bank account.
And if you can do that, thenfind something else to do and if
it comes, woohoo, bonus.
And if it doesn't come, thenhopefully you've enjoyed it.
Speaker 2 (00:17):
Hi and welcome to Handbag Designer 101, the
podcast with your host, emilyBlumenthal, handbag industry
expert and the handbag fairygodmother.
Each week, we uncover thestories behind the handbags we
love, from the iconic brands andtop designers to the creativity
, craftsmanship and culture thatdefine the handbag world.
Whether you're a designer,collector or simply passionate
(00:39):
about handbags, this is yourfront row seat to it all.
Speaker 3 (00:51):
Welcome, superstar of all handbags, of everything.
Handbag, the template of how itshould be made, the case study
that if it has not yet beenwritten by Harvard Business
School, I will be writing it forthem.
Welcome the one and onlyRebecca Minkoff to Handbag
Designer 101, the podcast I amoverjoyed verklempt, you name it
(01:12):
.
I'm all those things.
Speaker 1 (01:14):
Welcome.
Thank you for having me and yes, please tell Harvard you know
they need to get on it.
They need to hurry up the casestudy.
Seriously, no one's reached outto you.
We were in talks about mespeaking there, but I decided
after what was happening to justtake a pause.
Speaker 3 (01:29):
I respect that and would do the same.
That's a whole otherconversation.
A whole other conversation, ifyou would.
A whole other conversation, ifyou would like to take a gander.
It's showing up in reverse, buthere is my lovely book and
there is your bag and it is mylovely book and there is your
bag and it is.
(01:49):
It is, and I was honored andflattered and all that great
stuff that you were thoughtfuland kind enough to let me
include your lovely bag.
That changed the history ofhandbags for everybody.
The morning after bag.
How did it get that name?
I know everybody knows it, butfor anybody who wants to hear it
again because I don't want thisto be all about me talking,
because I could, like I said,tell you your story back to you,
(02:09):
like when you said told yourparents you were going to be a
bartender and they're like we'recalling in your brother.
If I'm quoting, we're going tojump around.
So what's the story of themorning after bag?
For everyone who doesn'talready know, yes, for everyone
who doesn't already know.
Speaker 1 (02:23):
Yes.
So for those of you who maybeyou're new to the brand or you
you know you're Gen Alpha.
How can anybody be new to the?
Brand, that is insane Alpha andZ, it's like you know it's kind
of a new name.
Speaker 3 (02:36):
So yeah, listen, when I told my students that Kate
Spade was a real person, becauseI was teaching when she passed.
Speaker 1 (02:44):
They were like what.
Speaker 3 (02:45):
Right.
So was a real person, because Iwas teaching when she passed.
They were like what Right.
Speaker 1 (02:51):
So yeah, I get it.
So basically, I had beenstruggling in the clothing arena
for the better part of fouryears making almost everything
myself.
Couldn't see a way to grow orscale my company but was very
much dedicated to it.
And the same actress, jennaElfman, that had put me on the
map for the shirt the Isle ofNew York shirt, which you can
Google and read about.
She came back to me and said doyou make bags?
And I said yes, I do, but Ididn't, and very quickly.
(03:13):
You know, I had an opportunityto be in a film integrated on
the main character through thewhole film.
That was the one with the rabbiand the priest.
Right, that would have beengreat.
No, this was a film calledTouch it.
Touch.
It ended up going straight toDVD, so really no loss.
But at the time we didn't knowthat.
I just thought, oh my God, youknow she was huge for keeping
(03:34):
the faith and I think that wasprobably and Dharma and Greg,
and Dharma and Greg, yep.
So I very quickly had a bagmade, didn't make it to set on.
Time was crushed that theystarted shooting it with someone
else's bag.
But I carried the second samplearound with me and enough women
stopped me on the street andasked me about it that I thought
(03:56):
let me try maybe adding this tothe collection.
So I contacted the showroomthat was selling my stuff and I
said, hey, let's add the bag.
And the woman there, the buyer,was like I want to buy this for
a store in LA that was likewhere all the starlets were
going French Eagle no, it wascalled Satine.
Oh God, the other one Right,right, right.
(04:17):
So at any given day, you knowagain, people have to remember
who was famous then.
But, like you know, lindsayLohan, hayden, panettiere, like
Reese Witherspoon, jessica Alba,like that.
There was a crew of likestarlets that were going there
and getting photographed,leaving All wearing low rise
(04:39):
jeans Yep, which sadly are back,and too many people for that I
will not be partaking in thattrend.
And she said I'm going to havethis publication called Daily
Candy write about it.
And this was like the dawn ofemail, when people were excited
about getting like the newest,hottest, latest in your inbox.
And that newsletter alone wouldtransform Danny.
Speaker 3 (04:59):
Levy was the forerunner for that.
That was nuts, I remember.
Like to know someone, to knowsomeone, to get that covered.
And then it's like cause.
Then it's splintered intodifferent cities and you're like
you want daily candy.
New York, that's going to bethe game changer.
Speaker 1 (05:11):
Yep, yep.
And so at that time I believethat was it was just one, she
hadn't segmented it out yet, andI just remember the day it went
live the article.
You can't even find it on theinternet anymore, which is
really sad.
It's so sad.
It was called the catwalk ofshame and I was like it has to
be the morning after bag,because this is the bag that
holds it all.
It holds your daytime, it holdsyour nighttime and you know,
(05:34):
sex in the city was the rage,and so I just wanted to
romanticize.
I was 26.
This idea of going out, findingthe guy sleeping over and like
proudly walking home yes, you do.
Speaker 3 (05:46):
Yeah, when your hair was short, actually because you
used to have a bob.
Speaker 1 (05:51):
Don't even call it a bob.
It was some fucked up haircutthat my hairdresser just kept.
Listen the bangs Sort of abouthere.
And it was bangs, it was bad.
My husband and I look back andwe're just like I was like why
did you even like me with thathaircut?
Speaker 3 (06:07):
I mean and that's a loaded question of how many
reasons why but we go so farback, you and I, that we were
Facebook friends and I rememberand I told you like my memory is
scary Some people call it, likeyou know, stalker, ask but I
don't forget things.
Today it's dangerous because Iremember your Facebook profile
(06:27):
picture was a black and whitepicture of your wedding, of you
and your husband, and you werelike half tilted that way and
you could see the back of yourhair and that's how I remembered
your haircut Cause I was likehow could she pull that off?
It's so chic, so lucky you.
We all had a differentperspective.
Question said morning after bagwhat was the process?
Did you sketch it out and thentake it to?
(06:49):
You know all the factories inNew York City who claim because
the funny thing is, is being anindependent designer.
In the early noughts, early2000s, when you were going to
see factories, they'd all saylike we made Kate Spade's bag
and then it turned into we madeyour bag, we made Monica
Bakkear's bag.
Did you sew it togetheryourself?
(07:10):
Did you pick out the letters ordid you sketch it out?
Like what was the process of?
Actually, because you had tohave a quick turnaround just for
that one bag.
Speaker 1 (07:17):
Yeah.
So I had had this vintage kindof travel bag that I loved but
it was big and bulky and kind ofjust whatever.
But I was like if thedimensions were different, and I
added you know, I took it outof it being canvas and made it
leather and canvas and so I'vebeen sort of toying around with
it.
So I took that bag, plus asketch, to the place where I was
(07:41):
already buying leather, becauseI was making leather jackets,
and I said do you guys knowanyone who makes bags?
And so they took me.
She recommended a woman who Idon't know, had this weird
factory, made the first coupleof samples, made the first
production run, but the qualitywas terrible.
And it was then that I asked afriend of mine who was selling
this clutch.
You'll probably remember it wasa clutch by a woman, it was a
(08:05):
clutch with like a ruffle on thecorner.
Oh my God, yeah, yeah, yeah.
Speaker 3 (08:08):
Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah.
Rich, or yeah, it's going tobother me.
We're going to be like towardsthe end of the conversation and
I'm going to be like that's whoit was, yeah, yeah.
Speaker 1 (08:21):
Yeah, yeah.
She recommended me go there andI walk in and it's funny, all
these factories, and you knowthis.
You walk into the showroom andthey're total trash.
Yes, it looks like bags made inchina, correct, but they don't
show who they're really making.
So I go in there and I said myquality of my first factory is
terrible.
And he's a russian guy, hisname is joseph by cow, which I'm
(08:41):
sure you know by cow.
Yes, you're like, hey, you likeyou know, in his thick Russian
accent.
Speaker 3 (08:47):
He went to the point and like, very much, like, I
don't have time for this.
What do you want?
Speaker 1 (08:51):
Yeah, so he said, hang on, he goes out and he gets
Monica Bakir's bag.
And she was like the hottestdesigner at the time Her trick
and I was like that's a knockoff, I don't believe you.
And then he said, okay, comewith me.
And he took me through thefactory and he showed me all the
stages of her bags being made.
I was like, great, good enoughfor me, I'm fine.
So he made my bags for thefirst, so exclusively for the
(09:15):
first four years.
But then we kept US productiongoing for probably another five,
so like almost 10 years ofworking together.
And his pattern maker wasincredible.
Like you could pass him like anapkin sketch and he'd be like,
yep, I know what you're talkingabout.
Speaker 3 (09:31):
Listen so the way you handled even like production
was so you know, we could talkabout a billion things.
Again, the case study that I'mgoing to write about you for you
with Harvard at a differenttime, the fact that you kept and
so many people lack thiswherewithal to have overseas
production but to still have alocal factory that could either
(09:53):
do immediate fulfillment or todo quick samples and quick
turnaround, and to keep boththose going until it was
obviously fiscally not viable,was so forward thinking and
because I always thought, likehow is one able to get new
inventory in so quickly forsomething that's a hot seller
without creating a glut?
So I remember you telling melike, yeah, well, we do local
(10:15):
fulfillments here and then wecan cross-reference the prices,
so it all evens out.
Speaker 1 (10:20):
Yeah, I think you know it was scary in the
beginning to have all your eggsin one basket and it takes
factories a long time to figureout your hand, and so we never
wanted to abandon our factoryhere.
At one point we looked atbuying Bical.
It was too expensive for us tobe able to do that financially.
But I think you know, in aperfect world we'd still be
there.
It's just the prices got sooutrageous that women I said a
(10:45):
survey, would you want to paythis for a bag?
And the answer was no.
I was like, oh, that I can'tmake in the US, that's what it
costs, yep.
Speaker 3 (10:53):
So I want to talk to you about because, again, I know
you didn't go to college.
I know that you were in highschool and I think you were
making costumes and that waswhere you, I guess, developed
the hand of craftmaking, fashionand making things.
Who taught you how to sew?
Speaker 1 (11:11):
My mom initially taught me because I wanted a
dress and she wouldn't buy itfor me.
But she's like let's go.
No, no, this was before.
This is when I was about eight.
She taught me how to sew.
Then, when we moved and I wasgetting closer to bat mitzvah
time period, I enrolled withthis art class and sewing
teacher and she was like adesigner from New York, you know
(11:33):
, and I was like, oh my God, Ican learn from her.
So she really taught me sewingand I did my bat mitzvah dress
with her and I got really hookedand I stayed with her and then
ended up going to a performingarts high school where my
breasts were far too large to bea dancer, so I would just
always a problem.
Yeah, yeah.
And that's where I reallylearned like, finally, like the
lady, teaching sewing was likedusting off the machines because
(11:55):
no one cared, and she's like,finally, someone who cares.
So she really took me under herwing and taught me stuff that
you pretty much learn in yourfirst two years at FIT.
Her wing, and taught me stuffthat you pretty much learn in
your first two years at FIT.
Right, do you have a machine inyour new home?
I have my aunt's machine.
That is for my daughter, butI'm not going to lie to you.
(12:15):
She wants to learn how to sew,but she thinks she knows
everything already and I don'thave patience to deal with that.
So no one is using this machineat the moment.
Speaker 3 (12:26):
It's so interesting, the things that you think that
you went through and you knowwere so groundbreaking for you
as a person, a designer, anentrepreneur, a business person.
You're like I'm going to dothis for my kids.
And you sit down and they'relike you know why can't I figure
it out?
Because putting that threadthrough the bobbin is enough for
you to have a divorce with yourown kid.
(12:46):
Yeah, because I tried thatmyself and I was like, okay, I'm
done.
And my daughter ended up takinggoing to this place called the
fashion class yeah, and now sheyep, and you know that, yeah,
you went there for judging andshe works there now.
And it's so funny that the wayyou were raised and what you
(13:07):
were taught had such an impacton me and how I'm raising my
kids, which you'd be like.
That's so weird.
But the fact that you were, youknow how, the responsibility
that you had to pay for so muchyourself and understanding what
things cost.
And I had this hard fast rulewith my kids, like if you're not
going to be on a team, you haveto have a job.
And Zoe went there as a kid andI had this hard fast rule with
my kids, like if you're notgoing to be on a team, you have
to have a job.
And Zoe went there as a kid andI was like you should go back
(13:28):
there because you already knowhow the system works.
So she cuts patterns, she workswith kids and I'm like how can
you thread the needle and thebobbin?
And she's like, oh, it's soboring Because a thousand years
ago she wanted to get intofashion and now she's so over it
just from working.
I said, yeah, working infashion it can really burn you
(13:48):
out.
You can get over it fast justfrom that alone, yeah.
So I want to talk a little bitabout the evolution of the brand
.
Because you were working alone.
You were doing everythingyourself.
You were doing well enough thatyou could do it.
And then also bartend, which isa sexy job and something all
(14:10):
parents should be so proud oftheir kids trying to make it.
Your oldest brother wascommissioned to come in and work
with you.
How, to some degree and you cancorrect me if I'm wrong.
What was that like?
You know you come from a verystrong family, a very tall
family.
What was that like?
You know you come from a verystrong family, a very tall
family.
What was it like Because howmany years did you work with him
(14:31):
?
10?
.
Speaker 1 (14:32):
No 2022, from 2005 to 2022.
Is that 17 years?
That's a long time.
Yeah, it was a long time.
Speaker 3 (14:42):
Long time.
It's hard enough to live withyour siblings growing up and
still want to be siblings withthem after.
Yeah, and it's another to workwith them, like I'm, garmento
offspring.
My dad worked in the GarmentCenter, my grandmother worked
with him, my aunt worked withhim, my mom worked with him, my
sister sold for him.
(15:02):
I mean, he was a converter andI was the only one who didn't.
Ironically, I'm the only onewho still goes there, so that
says something.
But how is that, consideringthe vision of the brand, the DNA
, the fashion, how you saw it?
How is that able to betransmitted?
Working with a family member.
Speaker 1 (15:22):
So I think that the first, probably four years were
like fantastic.
You're both like oh my God,this is all growing so fast.
There's so much momentum, likewhat do you got?
What do you got, let's go.
I think where it started gettingstressful was when the stakes
got bigger and more real and anerror or a bag that didn't sell
(15:44):
was a bigger like problem.
I also don't think it helpedthat over the course of a couple
of years we had either had apresident or a head of sales
that was kind of always tryingto insert themselves within.
You know we call it thetriangle.
That led to a lot of like well,rebecca thinks this and Orgy
thinks this, and sort of pittingus against one another.
So we ended up with like acouple's business counselor that
(16:06):
we would turn to when it gotreally tough, which I highly
recommend for any co-founderrelationship, especially if
you're married or siblings, andI think you know it was like
when it was bad, it was bad.
You know we got really good.
I remember there was like aperiod of nine months where we
wouldn't speak to each otheroutside of work and outside of
like things that were workrelated.
(16:27):
So at family gatherings no onefelt the drama we were really
good at, like you're all goingto be here and we're not going
to talk to each other, but thatdoesn't affect anyone else here.
And then in the office it wouldbe like Rebecca, what do you
think about this?
But there would be nothing elseyou know.
And so there were times when itwas like that and I think we
did the best we could and Ithink we're both relieved that
(16:49):
we don't have to get in fightsanymore and argue and we can
just be brother and sister.
Because, you know, I think whata lot of people see is just the
romantic side of business andthey don't see how hard it can
get.
Or, if you read my book, howmany times it can all go away.
Yeah, you know, and then youonly have that one person you're
working with and it can getreally tough.
Speaker 3 (17:10):
So it you know and I got to tell you the romantic
side of it, I mean seeing him attrain shows and talking to him
I'm like I am so impressed thatthe two of you can work together
.
I am so impressed.
I tried, with my husbandrunning an online store selling
independent handbag designerbags and running an online store
selling independent handbagdesigner bags, and that in
itself was such a challenge thatI would kill myself to get the
press and the coverage.
(17:30):
And then, like the deliverieswouldn't come where the quality
was off, or you know, we gotsomething in style.
And then this is me dealingwith him on the back end and me
on the front end and me doingthe press and, like you know,
the fact that we were beingmarried after that.
I was still impressed and Iremember talking to your brother
about this and him being like,yeah, sometimes it's not easy.
Speaker 2 (17:55):
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didn't know where to start, thisis for you.
Speaker 3 (18:01):
If you had dreams of becoming a handbag designer but
aren't trained in design, thisis for you.
If you have a handbag brand andneed trained in design, this is
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Speaker 2 (18:06):
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Speaker 3 (18:26):
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(18:47):
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(19:07):
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Speaker 1 (19:33):
Now let me rephrase that for him.
Most times it's not easy beingin this business, but as I meet
more and more incredible womenand founders, no one has it easy
, even when you think they're atthe top.
Speaker 3 (19:40):
Yeah, I think, especially with a handful of
female founded handbag brandswhere one of the female founders
comes out or word gets out thatthey were difficult or psycho
or crazy or keeping everybody 24seven.
It's such a fine line, you know, because part of it.
(20:01):
I'm reading the story and I'mlike, yeah, it sounds like there
definitely was an abusive power, but on the other side it's
like I think women get a rawdeal, you know, like a woman
being crazy and being worriedabout her brand and how it's
received versus how a man doesit.
It's like there's a certainclassical understanding of what
we should expect from a femalefounder versus a man.
Speaker 1 (20:23):
I think that would go with that.
No, I never struggled with thatBecause, you know, I was
probably at the influx of whenthings were starting to shift in
terms of I had a president whogrew up in the Calvin Donna
Ralph era.
Work like a dog, never sleeplike that was your first
president, right?
Speaker 3 (20:41):
That was my first president, so, with her being
that way, that was your firstpresident, right.
Speaker 1 (20:44):
That was my first president, so with her being
that way, I almost always wantedto be like it doesn't need to
be this way.
You know, to a point where Iremember on one of my I think it
was my second maternity leavewhich I didn't even get to check
out and like be on leave.
But when I came back and Iwould bring my kid into nurse,
she's like must be nice, youknow, getting to nurse your kid
(21:08):
in the office when others don'thave that privilege.
And I was like, first of all,everyone can do that.
Second of all, I didn't get afucking maternity leave.
So, yeah, my baby's going tocome in when I need.
And like it wasn't until herdaughter had a baby, you know
didn't have any flexibility orfreedom that she's like I'm so
sorry that I put that on you.
You know I'm seeing my daughterstruggle with it and it was a
big mistake I made.
(21:29):
And I was like, yeah, it was abig mistake you made, not that
she could tell me what to do,but just no one needed that.
So I think I always had a.
I want it to be more equitable,fair, whatever it is, and you
don't get anything good done attwo in the morning.
Speaker 3 (21:46):
So why bother?
No, no, nothing good can comeat two in the morning.
I can totally, totally attestto that.
In fact, the later it gets, Ithink, the more clarity and
lucidity people have of theirthought.
Like I think as humans, we juststart to go a little crazy at
that time and where you're like,you're not even seeing things
straight.
So the last thing you should bedoing is trying to dictate to
other people how they should beworking, let alone for you,
because what's going to come ofit?
(22:07):
Yeah, how was it, you know,when handbags became the core
and the bread and butter of yourbrand?
What gave you the courage tosay, okay, we're going to move
into other categories, becausethat's something I think a lot
of people grapple with becauseyou were making that or you were
(22:28):
making them Making what work?
Like, did you license it out?
Speaker 1 (22:32):
or you're like okay, this is also going to be under
the Rebecca Minkoff umbrella, sobasically what we decided to do
is we very much felt that youcould get pigeonholed at the
time as she's just a handbagdesigner and we wanted to sell a
lifestyle, and to do that youhad to launch categories.
(22:52):
So, because I felt comfortablein clothing that felt like okay,
now we have the infrastructure.
Let's add that, because thatreally is the backdrop,
basically, of who the womanshould look like, and then the
bag she's carrying.
And then we decided to do amanufacturing and design
relationship, not a license witha shoe company.
So they would make it, we woulddesign it, they would make it
and we would sell it.
But it was it's not really likethey weren't a factory that they
(23:14):
were doing the fitting.
They had the expertise in thatindustry, they were doing the
sourcing and then from there,everything else we wanted to
license bags, belts, jewelry,eyewear, luggage.
All those different things weresort of categories we didn't
expand into right away.
But, like we said, okay, here'sthe roadmap, this is what we're
doing.
So today you know things a lothas changed, but you know
(23:35):
in-house shoes, clothing andbags, soon to be in-house
jewelry, and then the rest islicensed out Because I know you
launched a fragrance.
Speaker 3 (23:44):
I know you know all of those other spaces, because I
spoke with Elise Aaron, who wasone of the co-founders of
Kate's Fade, and I spoke to herabout that and the first thing
they went into was stationery.
And I said you know who goesfrom bags to stationery?
And she's like, well, it reallyis tied into the DNA of our
(24:06):
brand.
It made sense Like that was ourcustomer and I just found that
so fascinating to go intosomething that was like a
completely different category.
I want to ask you because,again, you, being this insane
early adopter doing thingsbefore anybody else does like I
basically had been yourunderground PR without you
(24:26):
either, and no talking to M&Apeople like, well, if you want
to know how it's done, watch her, see this, buy now, sell now.
Like before you, I think it wasBrazil that had during their
fashion week that they were theonly fashion week that you can
actually buy off the runway andthen you did it, and then you
were it, and then you were thefirst ones to have influencers
(24:50):
to be part of your show and Ijust want to talk about like
these seem like bold risks, butthey just seem so methodical to
do things before anybody elsedoes them.
Did you have trepidation tomove into the market of like?
Okay, you know what.
We're going to have this whereit's available for sale.
(25:11):
Like.
How did you decide and that wasa bold choice, crazily enough
at that time.
Speaker 1 (25:17):
I think each scenario was just.
Sometimes it was.
You know, when we first startedworking with influencers, it
was because it was like wecouldn't afford an ad in Vogue
and these guys were excited topromote the brand.
You gave them a bag, theyphotographed it, they put it on
their blog and it was like, wow,this is great.
Social media was a great wayfor me to connect to my customer
(25:38):
.
I'm sure you remember the purseforum and all the crowdsourced
what they call crowdsourcing noworders that we would get from
just women, being like, well,you would make the purple bag,
but this time with the pinkzipper, and I'd be like, go get
me 50 women who want it andtheir credit cards.
And, yes, I will.
And so some of that was justbeing an on-the-ground
(25:59):
entrepreneur.
Other things later on, withtechnology, we can credit my
tall brother for because he hada keen sense of wearables and,
you know, using technology toinnovate.
And so I think it just becamethis your eyes and your ears are
always open to opportunity.
And because, again, we wereself well, not self-funded.
(26:21):
We were self-funded for thefirst seven years, but we would
do things because we didn't havethe money.
But that ended up always beingmore innovative and exciting
than these older behemoths whomove too slow, overthink
everything.
They're worried about publicperception, whereas, yeah, we
had a couple of fuck ups alongthe way.
Yeah, I think that damaged thebrand in the long term.
Speaker 3 (26:41):
You know, I interviewed Julie Dean of the
Cambridge Satchel Company and ifyou have a chance to listen, it
was a two-parter, just becauseher story was so amazing.
And when the first time hercompany was acquired or she gave
a percentage away I think itwas a majority stake and they
were going through all thiscrazy stuff about like OK, we're
(27:02):
going to go into the science ofthis color and that color and
this.
And she's like, can't we justdo it based on a banana, the
color banana?
Like this is like why are wemaking things so much more
complicated?
Like let's just focus on whatworks and to your credit, I
think you always have to haveyour feet on the ground and like
combing through the purse forhim to see like this is what
(27:22):
sells.
And I think that's a testament.
Where you know I hosted thisevent with you and your brother
at Saks a million years ago andthe pair of you were discussing
and this is one of the firsttimes I'd heard it how your
social strategies were different, that you knew like I could be
saying this wrong like Instagramwas like more celebrity focused
(27:44):
and Facebook was more productfocused and understanding the
analytics so narrow castedbetter than absolutely anybody.
Do you think in terms of like,following this strategically,
taking this analytical approach?
Was that just an organic way todo things?
Or it was like, ok, we have noother choice?
(28:06):
I think it's it's both.
Speaker 1 (28:08):
It's sort of like, at first you have no choice.
Then you start experimenting.
Then you see what works andyou're like great, let's follow
that.
And then it's my brother.
It's a different point sayingthis is happening in other
consumer product goods companiesor in other parts of the world.
Maybe it works for bags, let'stest it.
And then you know you're likesort of like trying, augmenting
(28:30):
and sort of expanding what isworking.
And then you're testing and youjust kind of you know
technology engineers and theyhave an A and a B, right yeah,
and they're testing and if Adoesn't work they go to B.
So I think that's how weapproached all of the things we
did.
Speaker 3 (28:49):
You opened up your first store, was it either Japan
or Korea before you opened oneup in New York?
Is that correct?
Speaker 1 (28:55):
It was Japan yes, it was Japan, and it was because
they were so bullish on we needa store now.
This was a partner.
They opened it and we were likewe don't even know what the
store should look like and it'sgoing to take a designer to
properly do this at least sixmonths to design it and be
thoughtful about it and gothrough the brand exercise.
(29:17):
And they're like we don't haveit.
Send us a Pinterest board oflike your inspiration.
And I was like okay, so bigmistake, very expensive store,
wrong location.
Like okay, so big mistake, veryexpensive store, wrong location
.
It was in ginza, which is likethe beverly hills, like people
are there to buy gucci andchanel, right, and so it was a
big waste of money for them.
And you know we ended up havingto close it, or they closed it
(29:38):
because I was like shocker,didn't look like the brand
really and didn't make any moneybecause the rent was so fucking
expensive.
So it was exciting, but it waslike uh, right.
Speaker 3 (29:50):
It's one of those things that it's a flex to say
like, yeah, oh my God, oh my God, I'm opening something in Japan
, but meanwhile you're like thisisn't going to go the way I
want it to, but you still moveforward because it's an
opportunity.
Speaker 1 (30:01):
Yeah, it's that fine line.
Like you don't want to say noto that, but like you know it.
It's that fine line.
Like you don't want to say noto that, but like you know it's
not going to be done right, andthat's the hard part.
Speaker 3 (30:09):
And I ask you so you went seven years before you gave
away a piece of the company.
Is that correct?
Was that one of those thingsthat you were like, ok, we have
absolutely no choice, or if wewant to grow, or because that's
scary to start recognizing that,ok, I have my brother that I
have to deal with for control.
I have a president who isrunning this the way I wouldn't
(30:32):
run a company Now.
I need to have more peopleinvolved.
Like can you talk a little bitabout?
Speaker 1 (30:39):
that experience?
Yeah.
So in 2012 or 2011,.
We realized that in order togrow, to do our own stores, to
expand product categories anddistribution, we needed money.
And right around then, privateequity this is pre-VC yeah,
private equity was lookingaround hunting for brands and we
(31:02):
were getting really greatvaluations.
So we did our rounds, we got agreat offer, we sold 26% of the
company and at the time it wasgreat because you know they're
talking about Kool-Aid.
And then you're like, yeah,that sounds great Billion dollar
brand.
Here we come, you know, andeveryone's like smoking this,
(31:24):
like pipe dream of opportunity,and so it was great to do.
And then I think we made acouple mistakes, probably a year
later, that would have had likedifferent outcomes had we been
different, had we seen thefuture.
Speaker 3 (31:41):
You know, I know I've taken up a lot of your time.
I want to wrap up with justsome e-learnings, because I
could literally talk to you.
You know, the sun could go upand down and the kids would come
, eat and like I'd be, like, goaway.
I'm still talking to her Interms of the evolution and,
again, just I need to call thisout that and I don't think it
(32:02):
was you, I think it was yourpublicist who did apply to the
Handbag Awards twice and then Iwas able to honor you and then
we were able to have you as ajudge.
So that was one of the excitingthings and you know, through
the awards we've had so muchtalent that had come through.
But in terms of the evolution,of where your brand is at and
(32:22):
where it is now, what are somelike e-learnings and things that
you reflect and things that youwish you hadn't done or moving
forward, because how you run acompany, how you do anything as
someone who is single versus amom of one versus a mom of
multiples is very, verydifferent.
Who's single versus a mom ofone versus a mom of multiples is
(32:45):
very, very different, like Ihad the experience of recently
working with someone who didn'thave kids and it was.
It's hard to explain to peoplethe time schedule that I will be
up at 2 am till 3 am workingand then, like I, cannot be
available for certain time slots.
So how do you?
Because you have thisincredible platform, you have
this amazing podcast, you knowwomen empowerment, female
entrepreneurship that's now likea key thread of who you are and
(33:07):
what you're promoting.
How do you tie this and I don'twant to ask this stupid cliche
question how do you balance itall?
Because there's no such thingas balance.
But, like going back to yourbrand and handbags, how are you
handling all of that movingforward, especially like with
what's going on in the industryand the circular economy?
And are you going to bring backthat original morning after and
start selling it that way?
(33:28):
Oh, my God, we had a motorcycle.
Speaker 1 (33:30):
I don't even know which question to add to start
with, but I'll see if I can wrapit all up.
So, with regards to the morningafter bag, we actually did
bring it back last September of2022.
We relaunched it.
We called the map 2.0.
We did a huge eventpresentation tech forward.
It was fantastic.
Uh, morgan stanley, yeah,stanley, the banker bag, the
(33:55):
banker bag.
In 2025, it'll be our 20-yearanniversary, so we're planning
for it to really come back in abig way.
Then, as far as how does she doit all?
I remember someone talkingabout having a deep bench
Players on the bench.
Yeah, there's the team outthere and then there's the ones
(34:15):
on the bench, and so I have anincredible CEO running Rebecca
Minkoff.
I have an incredible CEOco-founder running female
founder collective.
I have a babysitter, I have myhusband, I have me, you know
like, and then it just keepsgoing.
And I think what I've gottengood at is letting good people
do good work and not trying tolike be in it all the time and
(34:39):
micromanage.
And you know, if I didn't comeup with that one idea, at the
end of the day did the customerlike fucking care.
You know, like if my designerdid it better, better shade of
blue, better.
You know application of studslike it's fine.
I did this for 20 years.
I'm good, and so I think it'slearning to let go.
Who's your bench and how arethey supporting you?
(35:01):
Because learning to let go.
Who's your bench and how arethey supporting you?
Because it's you know it's notall possible for my podcast.
I have a producer.
I have a copy.
As someone who writes the copy.
I met a woman, or a good friendof mine was struggling with her
podcast and she was listeningto every episode that she
recorded herself and I was like,why, why would you do that?
She's like well, I have to tellthem what to take out.
And I said, no, that's what aproducer is for.
(35:22):
Right, you're investingvaluable time Record.
Once a week, it's an hour of mytime Done, goes off and then
all the elves go to work, and sothat's how it's done.
My kids are at school eighthours a day and daycare eight
hours a day, so it's like I havethe way I look at it.
I have eight hours to geteverything I need done, and then
(35:42):
obviously there's peak timesfashion week where I'm working
late or working weekends, but Ithink the more kids I've had,
the more I've been able tocontrol that better.
And you can't get into thisbecause, as my daughter says,
when I grow up, I want to berich and famous.
You can't get into thisbusiness to be rich and famous.
You can't get into thisbusiness to be rich and famous.
(36:03):
You have to love what you doand be so, yeah, but be so
connected to that that you willweather any storm.
Because, as we have discussedonline and offline, it is more
hard than it is not.
There are more pitfalls thanthere are like momentum, and so
you should be getting the joyand the reward or the pay from
(36:27):
what you do, not the dollars inyour bank account.
And if you can do that, thenfind something else to do and if
it comes, woo bonus.
And if it doesn't come, thenhopefully you've enjoyed it.
Speaker 3 (36:39):
Girl, let me tell you , I hear you, I see you.
It is so funny because, like Ihave my kids historically, even
when they were little, if theydid things because I don't
believe in giving my kids anallowance I think that teaches
my opinion.
It teaches bad connection withmoney that you should get paid
for household chores, then Ishould be getting paid for them
(37:02):
too.
So if you're going above andbeyond and doing things outside,
so I have them invoice me.
I want to quantify the time, Iwant all of that.
And my daughter said to meshe's like I think I'm going to
be a doctor.
And I was like where the helldid that come from?
And she said, and I quote Ithink it would be easier than
being an entrepreneur, becausewhat you do is exhausting.
(37:24):
I can't even watch it.
Speaker 1 (37:25):
So I'm like, ok, I mean let's let you know that
being a doctor and being on callwill be very stressful.
When she has to tell someonelike their dad is dead.
But don't spoil it for her yet.
Speaker 3 (37:36):
Listen, listen.
My mom has already told herthat she should go into
dermatology to make it, you know, to amortize the cost for
everybody involved in the family.
Speaker 1 (37:46):
So that's a good.
You know, botox will pay for alot of things.
Speaker 3 (37:50):
Let me tell you I'm here for it.
Listen, rebecca Becky, all ofthe monikers you go by.
Thank you so very much for yourtime, your generosity, all of
this.
How can everybody find you andyour eponymous name?
Speaker 1 (38:06):
All right here we go you ready, do it, do it, do it
At Rebecca Minkoff for the brandand me at Becky Minkoff for
just me and everything outsideof the brand.
I'm launching a sub stack,probably in the next couple of
days.
So RebeccaMccaminkoffsubstackcom, my
podcast Superwoman with RebeccaMinkoff, my book Fearless on
(38:26):
Amazon and what else.
If you're not exhausted by allthose things yet, oh, my
LinkedIn newsletter, the storiesof failures that entrepreneurs
have encountered.
It's called.
You Can't Make this Shit Up.
Speaker 3 (38:39):
So those are all the places that I'm active With shit
as an exclamation point to keepit.
You know, pc, keep it, pc.
Thank you so very much Love toyou and your 80 kids who no
longer live in a Brooklyn shoe.
I hope to see you very soon,but thank you so much for
absolutely everything andanything.
Thank you.
Speaker 2 (39:00):
Thanks for listening.
Don't forget to rate and review, and follow us on every single
platform at handbag designer.
Thanks so much.
See you next time.
You should be getting the joy and the reward or the
pay from what you do, not thedollars in your bank account.
And if you can do that, thenfind something else to do and if
it comes, woohoo, bonus.
And if it doesn't come, thenhopefully you've enjoyed it.
Speaker 2 (00:17):
Hi and welcome to Handbag Designer 101, the
podcast with your host, emilyBlumenthal, handbag industry
expert and the handbag fairygodmother.
Each week, we uncover thestories behind the handbags we
love, from the iconic brands andtop designers to the creativity
, craftsmanship and culture thatdefine the handbag world.
Whether you're a designer,collector or simply passionate
(00:39):
about handbags, this is yourfront row seat to it all.
Speaker 3 (00:51):
Welcome, superstar of all handbags, of everything.
Handbag, the template of how itshould be made, the case study
that if it has not yet beenwritten by Harvard Business
School, I will be writing it forthem.
Welcome the one and onlyRebecca Minkoff to Handbag
Designer 101, the podcast I amoverjoyed verklempt, you name it
(01:12):
.
I'm all those things.
Speaker 1 (01:14):
Welcome.
Thank you for having me and yes, please tell Harvard you know
they need to get on it.
They need to hurry up the casestudy.
Seriously, no one's reached outto you.
We were in talks about mespeaking there, but I decided
after what was happening to justtake a pause.
Speaker 3 (01:29):
I respect that and would do the same.
That's a whole otherconversation.
A whole other conversation, ifyou would.
A whole other conversation, ifyou would like to take a gander.
It's showing up in reverse, buthere is my lovely book and
there is your bag and it is mylovely book and there is your
bag and it is.
(01:49):
It is, and I was honored andflattered and all that great
stuff that you were thoughtfuland kind enough to let me
include your lovely bag.
That changed the history ofhandbags for everybody.
The morning after bag.
How did it get that name?
I know everybody knows it, butfor anybody who wants to hear it
again because I don't want thisto be all about me talking,
because I could, like I said,tell you your story back to you,
(02:09):
like when you said told yourparents you were going to be a
bartender and they're like we'recalling in your brother.
If I'm quoting, we're going tojump around.
So what's the story of themorning after bag?
For everyone who doesn'talready know, yes, for everyone
who doesn't already know.
Speaker 1 (02:23):
Yes.
So for those of you who maybeyou're new to the brand or you
you know you're Gen Alpha.
How can anybody be new to the?
Brand, that is insane Alpha andZ, it's like you know it's kind
of a new name.
Speaker 3 (02:36):
So yeah, listen, when I told my students that Kate
Spade was a real person, becauseI was teaching when she passed.
Speaker 1 (02:44):
They were like what.
Speaker 3 (02:45):
Right.
So was a real person, because Iwas teaching when she passed.
They were like what Right.
Speaker 1 (02:51):
So yeah, I get it.
So basically, I had beenstruggling in the clothing arena
for the better part of fouryears making almost everything
myself.
Couldn't see a way to grow orscale my company but was very
much dedicated to it.
And the same actress, jennaElfman, that had put me on the
map for the shirt the Isle ofNew York shirt, which you can
Google and read about.
She came back to me and said doyou make bags?
And I said yes, I do, but Ididn't, and very quickly.
(03:13):
You know, I had an opportunityto be in a film integrated on
the main character through thewhole film.
That was the one with the rabbiand the priest.
Right, that would have beengreat.
No, this was a film calledTouch it.
Touch.
It ended up going straight toDVD, so really no loss.
But at the time we didn't knowthat.
I just thought, oh my God, youknow she was huge for keeping
(03:34):
the faith and I think that wasprobably and Dharma and Greg,
and Dharma and Greg, yep.
So I very quickly had a bagmade, didn't make it to set on.
Time was crushed that theystarted shooting it with someone
else's bag.
But I carried the second samplearound with me and enough women
stopped me on the street andasked me about it that I thought
(03:56):
let me try maybe adding this tothe collection.
So I contacted the showroomthat was selling my stuff and I
said, hey, let's add the bag.
And the woman there, the buyer,was like I want to buy this for
a store in LA that was likewhere all the starlets were
going French Eagle no, it wascalled Satine.
Oh God, the other one Right,right, right.
(04:17):
So at any given day, you knowagain, people have to remember
who was famous then.
But, like you know, lindsayLohan, hayden, panettiere, like
Reese Witherspoon, jessica Alba,like that.
There was a crew of likestarlets that were going there
and getting photographed,leaving All wearing low rise
(04:39):
jeans Yep, which sadly are back,and too many people for that I
will not be partaking in thattrend.
And she said I'm going to havethis publication called Daily
Candy write about it.
And this was like the dawn ofemail, when people were excited
about getting like the newest,hottest, latest in your inbox.
And that newsletter alone wouldtransform Danny.
Speaker 3 (04:59):
Levy was the forerunner for that.
That was nuts, I remember.
Like to know someone, to knowsomeone, to get that covered.
And then it's like cause.
Then it's splintered intodifferent cities and you're like
you want daily candy.
New York, that's going to bethe game changer.
Speaker 1 (05:11):
Yep, yep.
And so at that time I believethat was it was just one, she
hadn't segmented it out yet, andI just remember the day it went
live the article.
You can't even find it on theinternet anymore, which is
really sad.
It's so sad.
It was called the catwalk ofshame and I was like it has to
be the morning after bag,because this is the bag that
holds it all.
It holds your daytime, it holdsyour nighttime and you know,
(05:34):
sex in the city was the rage,and so I just wanted to
romanticize.
I was 26.
This idea of going out, findingthe guy sleeping over and like
proudly walking home yes, you do.
Speaker 3 (05:46):
Yeah, when your hair was short, actually because you
used to have a bob.
Speaker 1 (05:51):
Don't even call it a bob.
It was some fucked up haircutthat my hairdresser just kept.
Listen the bangs Sort of abouthere.
And it was bangs, it was bad.
My husband and I look back andwe're just like I was like why
did you even like me with thathaircut?
Speaker 3 (06:07):
I mean and that's a loaded question of how many
reasons why but we go so farback, you and I, that we were
Facebook friends and I rememberand I told you like my memory is
scary Some people call it, likeyou know, stalker, ask but I
don't forget things.
Today it's dangerous because Iremember your Facebook profile
(06:27):
picture was a black and whitepicture of your wedding, of you
and your husband, and you werelike half tilted that way and
you could see the back of yourhair and that's how I remembered
your haircut Cause I was likehow could she pull that off?
It's so chic, so lucky you.
We all had a differentperspective.
Question said morning after bagwhat was the process?
Did you sketch it out and thentake it to?
(06:49):
You know all the factories inNew York City who claim because
the funny thing is, is being anindependent designer.
In the early noughts, early2000s, when you were going to
see factories, they'd all saylike we made Kate Spade's bag
and then it turned into we madeyour bag, we made Monica
Bakkear's bag.
Did you sew it togetheryourself?
(07:10):
Did you pick out the letters ordid you sketch it out?
Like what was the process of?
Actually, because you had tohave a quick turnaround just for
that one bag.
Speaker 1 (07:17):
Yeah.
So I had had this vintage kindof travel bag that I loved but
it was big and bulky and kind ofjust whatever.
But I was like if thedimensions were different, and I
added you know, I took it outof it being canvas and made it
leather and canvas and so I'vebeen sort of toying around with
it.
So I took that bag, plus asketch, to the place where I was
(07:41):
already buying leather, becauseI was making leather jackets,
and I said do you guys knowanyone who makes bags?
And so they took me.
She recommended a woman who Idon't know, had this weird
factory, made the first coupleof samples, made the first
production run, but the qualitywas terrible.
And it was then that I asked afriend of mine who was selling
this clutch.
You'll probably remember it wasa clutch by a woman, it was a
(08:05):
clutch with like a ruffle on thecorner.
Oh my God, yeah, yeah, yeah.
Speaker 3 (08:08):
Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah.
Rich, or yeah, it's going tobother me.
We're going to be like towardsthe end of the conversation and
I'm going to be like that's whoit was, yeah, yeah.
Speaker 1 (08:21):
Yeah, yeah.
She recommended me go there andI walk in and it's funny, all
these factories, and you knowthis.
You walk into the showroom andthey're total trash.
Yes, it looks like bags made inchina, correct, but they don't
show who they're really making.
So I go in there and I said myquality of my first factory is
terrible.
And he's a russian guy, hisname is joseph by cow, which I'm
(08:41):
sure you know by cow.
Yes, you're like, hey, you likeyou know, in his thick Russian
accent.
Speaker 3 (08:47):
He went to the point and like, very much, like, I
don't have time for this.
What do you want?
Speaker 1 (08:51):
Yeah, so he said, hang on, he goes out and he gets
Monica Bakir's bag.
And she was like the hottestdesigner at the time Her trick
and I was like that's a knockoff, I don't believe you.
And then he said, okay, comewith me.
And he took me through thefactory and he showed me all the
stages of her bags being made.
I was like, great, good enoughfor me, I'm fine.
So he made my bags for thefirst, so exclusively for the
(09:15):
first four years.
But then we kept US productiongoing for probably another five,
so like almost 10 years ofworking together.
And his pattern maker wasincredible.
Like you could pass him like anapkin sketch and he'd be like,
yep, I know what you're talkingabout.
Speaker 3 (09:31):
Listen so the way you handled even like production
was so you know, we could talkabout a billion things.
Again, the case study that I'mgoing to write about you for you
with Harvard at a differenttime, the fact that you kept and
so many people lack thiswherewithal to have overseas
production but to still have alocal factory that could either
(09:53):
do immediate fulfillment or todo quick samples and quick
turnaround, and to keep boththose going until it was
obviously fiscally not viable,was so forward thinking and
because I always thought, likehow is one able to get new
inventory in so quickly forsomething that's a hot seller
without creating a glut?
So I remember you telling melike, yeah, well, we do local
(10:15):
fulfillments here and then wecan cross-reference the prices,
so it all evens out.
Speaker 1 (10:20):
Yeah, I think you know it was scary in the
beginning to have all your eggsin one basket and it takes
factories a long time to figureout your hand, and so we never
wanted to abandon our factoryhere.
At one point we looked atbuying Bical.
It was too expensive for us tobe able to do that financially.
But I think you know, in aperfect world we'd still be
there.
It's just the prices got sooutrageous that women I said a
(10:45):
survey, would you want to paythis for a bag?
And the answer was no.
I was like, oh, that I can'tmake in the US, that's what it
costs, yep.
Speaker 3 (10:53):
So I want to talk to you about because, again, I know
you didn't go to college.
I know that you were in highschool and I think you were
making costumes and that waswhere you, I guess, developed
the hand of craftmaking, fashionand making things.
Who taught you how to sew?
Speaker 1 (11:11):
My mom initially taught me because I wanted a
dress and she wouldn't buy itfor me.
But she's like let's go.
No, no, this was before.
This is when I was about eight.
She taught me how to sew.
Then, when we moved and I wasgetting closer to bat mitzvah
time period, I enrolled withthis art class and sewing
teacher and she was like adesigner from New York, you know
(11:33):
, and I was like, oh my God, Ican learn from her.
So she really taught me sewingand I did my bat mitzvah dress
with her and I got really hookedand I stayed with her and then
ended up going to a performingarts high school where my
breasts were far too large to bea dancer, so I would just
always a problem.
Yeah, yeah.
And that's where I reallylearned like, finally, like the
lady, teaching sewing was likedusting off the machines because
(11:55):
no one cared, and she's like,finally, someone who cares.
So she really took me under herwing and taught me stuff that
you pretty much learn in yourfirst two years at FIT.
Her wing, and taught me stuffthat you pretty much learn in
your first two years at FIT.
Right, do you have a machine inyour new home?
I have my aunt's machine.
That is for my daughter, butI'm not going to lie to you.
(12:15):
She wants to learn how to sew,but she thinks she knows
everything already and I don'thave patience to deal with that.
So no one is using this machineat the moment.
Speaker 3 (12:26):
It's so interesting, the things that you think that
you went through and you knowwere so groundbreaking for you
as a person, a designer, anentrepreneur, a business person.
You're like I'm going to dothis for my kids.
And you sit down and they'relike you know why can't I figure
it out?
Because putting that threadthrough the bobbin is enough for
you to have a divorce with yourown kid.
(12:46):
Yeah, because I tried thatmyself and I was like, okay, I'm
done.
And my daughter ended up takinggoing to this place called the
fashion class yeah, and now sheyep, and you know that, yeah,
you went there for judging andshe works there now.
And it's so funny that the wayyou were raised and what you
(13:07):
were taught had such an impacton me and how I'm raising my
kids, which you'd be like.
That's so weird.
But the fact that you were, youknow how, the responsibility
that you had to pay for so muchyourself and understanding what
things cost.
And I had this hard fast rulewith my kids, like if you're not
going to be on a team, you haveto have a job.
And Zoe went there as a kid andI had this hard fast rule with
my kids, like if you're notgoing to be on a team, you have
to have a job.
And Zoe went there as a kid andI was like you should go back
(13:28):
there because you already knowhow the system works.
So she cuts patterns, she workswith kids and I'm like how can
you thread the needle and thebobbin?
And she's like, oh, it's soboring Because a thousand years
ago she wanted to get intofashion and now she's so over it
just from working.
I said, yeah, working infashion it can really burn you
(13:48):
out.
You can get over it fast justfrom that alone, yeah.
So I want to talk a little bitabout the evolution of the brand
.
Because you were working alone.
You were doing everythingyourself.
You were doing well enough thatyou could do it.
And then also bartend, which isa sexy job and something all
(14:10):
parents should be so proud oftheir kids trying to make it.
Your oldest brother wascommissioned to come in and work
with you.
How, to some degree and you cancorrect me if I'm wrong.
What was that like?
You know you come from a verystrong family, a very tall
family.
What was that like?
You know you come from a verystrong family, a very tall
family.
What was it like Because howmany years did you work with him
(14:31):
?
10?
.
Speaker 1 (14:32):
No 2022, from 2005 to 2022.
Is that 17 years?
That's a long time.
Yeah, it was a long time.
Speaker 3 (14:42):
Long time.
It's hard enough to live withyour siblings growing up and
still want to be siblings withthem after.
Yeah, and it's another to workwith them, like I'm, garmento
offspring.
My dad worked in the GarmentCenter, my grandmother worked
with him, my aunt worked withhim, my mom worked with him, my
sister sold for him.
(15:02):
I mean, he was a converter andI was the only one who didn't.
Ironically, I'm the only onewho still goes there, so that
says something.
But how is that, consideringthe vision of the brand, the DNA
, the fashion, how you saw it?
How is that able to betransmitted?
Working with a family member.
Speaker 1 (15:22):
So I think that the first, probably four years were
like fantastic.
You're both like oh my God,this is all growing so fast.
There's so much momentum, likewhat do you got?
What do you got, let's go.
I think where it started gettingstressful was when the stakes
got bigger and more real and anerror or a bag that didn't sell
(15:44):
was a bigger like problem.
I also don't think it helpedthat over the course of a couple
of years we had either had apresident or a head of sales
that was kind of always tryingto insert themselves within.
You know we call it thetriangle.
That led to a lot of like well,rebecca thinks this and Orgy
thinks this, and sort of pittingus against one another.
So we ended up with like acouple's business counselor that
(16:06):
we would turn to when it gotreally tough, which I highly
recommend for any co-founderrelationship, especially if
you're married or siblings, andI think you know it was like
when it was bad, it was bad.
You know we got really good.
I remember there was like aperiod of nine months where we
wouldn't speak to each otheroutside of work and outside of
like things that were workrelated.
(16:27):
So at family gatherings no onefelt the drama we were really
good at, like you're all goingto be here and we're not going
to talk to each other, but thatdoesn't affect anyone else here.
And then in the office it wouldbe like Rebecca, what do you
think about this?
But there would be nothing elseyou know.
And so there were times when itwas like that and I think we
did the best we could and Ithink we're both relieved that
(16:49):
we don't have to get in fightsanymore and argue and we can
just be brother and sister.
Because, you know, I think whata lot of people see is just the
romantic side of business andthey don't see how hard it can
get.
Or, if you read my book, howmany times it can all go away.
Yeah, you know, and then youonly have that one person you're
working with and it can getreally tough.
Speaker 3 (17:10):
So it you know and I got to tell you the romantic
side of it, I mean seeing him attrain shows and talking to him
I'm like I am so impressed thatthe two of you can work together
.
I am so impressed.
I tried, with my husbandrunning an online store selling
independent handbag designerbags and running an online store
selling independent handbagdesigner bags, and that in
itself was such a challenge thatI would kill myself to get the
press and the coverage.
(17:30):
And then, like the deliverieswouldn't come where the quality
was off, or you know, we gotsomething in style.
And then this is me dealingwith him on the back end and me
on the front end and me doingthe press and, like you know,
the fact that we were beingmarried after that.
I was still impressed and Iremember talking to your brother
about this and him being like,yeah, sometimes it's not easy.
Speaker 2 (17:55):
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Speaker 3 (18:01):
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Speaker 1 (19:33):
Now let me rephrase that for him.
Most times it's not easy beingin this business, but as I meet
more and more incredible womenand founders, no one has it easy
, even when you think they're atthe top.
Speaker 3 (19:40):
Yeah, I think, especially with a handful of
female founded handbag brandswhere one of the female founders
comes out or word gets out thatthey were difficult or psycho
or crazy or keeping everybody 24seven.
It's such a fine line, you know, because part of it.
(20:01):
I'm reading the story and I'mlike, yeah, it sounds like there
definitely was an abusive power, but on the other side it's
like I think women get a rawdeal, you know, like a woman
being crazy and being worriedabout her brand and how it's
received versus how a man doesit.
It's like there's a certainclassical understanding of what
we should expect from a femalefounder versus a man.
Speaker 1 (20:23):
I think that would go with that.
No, I never struggled with thatBecause, you know, I was
probably at the influx of whenthings were starting to shift in
terms of I had a president whogrew up in the Calvin Donna
Ralph era.
Work like a dog, never sleeplike that was your first
president, right?
Speaker 3 (20:41):
That was my first president, so, with her being
that way, that was your firstpresident, right.
Speaker 1 (20:44):
That was my first president, so with her being
that way, I almost always wantedto be like it doesn't need to
be this way.
You know, to a point where Iremember on one of my I think it
was my second maternity leavewhich I didn't even get to check
out and like be on leave.
But when I came back and Iwould bring my kid into nurse,
she's like must be nice, youknow, getting to nurse your kid
(21:08):
in the office when others don'thave that privilege.
And I was like, first of all,everyone can do that.
Second of all, I didn't get afucking maternity leave.
So, yeah, my baby's going tocome in when I need.
And like it wasn't until herdaughter had a baby, you know
didn't have any flexibility orfreedom that she's like I'm so
sorry that I put that on you.
You know I'm seeing my daughterstruggle with it and it was a
big mistake I made.
(21:29):
And I was like, yeah, it was abig mistake you made, not that
she could tell me what to do,but just no one needed that.
So I think I always had a.
I want it to be more equitable,fair, whatever it is, and you
don't get anything good done attwo in the morning.
Speaker 3 (21:46):
So why bother?
No, no, nothing good can comeat two in the morning.
I can totally, totally attestto that.
In fact, the later it gets, Ithink, the more clarity and
lucidity people have of theirthought.
Like I think as humans, we juststart to go a little crazy at
that time and where you're like,you're not even seeing things
straight.
So the last thing you should bedoing is trying to dictate to
other people how they should beworking, let alone for you,
because what's going to come ofit?
(22:07):
Yeah, how was it, you know,when handbags became the core
and the bread and butter of yourbrand?
What gave you the courage tosay, okay, we're going to move
into other categories, becausethat's something I think a lot
of people grapple with becauseyou were making that or you were
(22:28):
making them Making what work?
Like, did you license it out?
Speaker 1 (22:32):
or you're like okay, this is also going to be under
the Rebecca Minkoff umbrella, sobasically what we decided to do
is we very much felt that youcould get pigeonholed at the
time as she's just a handbagdesigner and we wanted to sell a
lifestyle, and to do that youhad to launch categories.
(22:52):
So, because I felt comfortablein clothing that felt like okay,
now we have the infrastructure.
Let's add that, because thatreally is the backdrop,
basically, of who the womanshould look like, and then the
bag she's carrying.
And then we decided to do amanufacturing and design
relationship, not a license witha shoe company.
So they would make it, we woulddesign it, they would make it
and we would sell it.
But it was it's not really likethey weren't a factory that they
(23:14):
were doing the fitting.
They had the expertise in thatindustry, they were doing the
sourcing and then from there,everything else we wanted to
license bags, belts, jewelry,eyewear, luggage.
All those different things weresort of categories we didn't
expand into right away.
But, like we said, okay, here'sthe roadmap, this is what we're
doing.
So today you know things a lothas changed, but you know
(23:35):
in-house shoes, clothing andbags, soon to be in-house
jewelry, and then the rest islicensed out Because I know you
launched a fragrance.
Speaker 3 (23:44):
I know you know all of those other spaces, because I
spoke with Elise Aaron, who wasone of the co-founders of
Kate's Fade, and I spoke to herabout that and the first thing
they went into was stationery.
And I said you know who goesfrom bags to stationery?
And she's like, well, it reallyis tied into the DNA of our
(24:06):
brand.
It made sense Like that was ourcustomer and I just found that
so fascinating to go intosomething that was like a
completely different category.
I want to ask you because,again, you, being this insane
early adopter doing thingsbefore anybody else does like I
basically had been yourunderground PR without you
(24:26):
either, and no talking to M&Apeople like, well, if you want
to know how it's done, watch her, see this, buy now, sell now.
Like before you, I think it wasBrazil that had during their
fashion week that they were theonly fashion week that you can
actually buy off the runway andthen you did it, and then you
were it, and then you were thefirst ones to have influencers
(24:50):
to be part of your show and Ijust want to talk about like
these seem like bold risks, butthey just seem so methodical to
do things before anybody elsedoes them.
Did you have trepidation tomove into the market of like?
Okay, you know what.
We're going to have this whereit's available for sale.
(25:11):
Like.
How did you decide and that wasa bold choice, crazily enough
at that time.
Speaker 1 (25:17):
I think each scenario was just.
Sometimes it was.
You know, when we first startedworking with influencers, it
was because it was like wecouldn't afford an ad in Vogue
and these guys were excited topromote the brand.
You gave them a bag, theyphotographed it, they put it on
their blog and it was like, wow,this is great.
Social media was a great wayfor me to connect to my customer
(25:38):
.
I'm sure you remember the purseforum and all the crowdsourced
what they call crowdsourcing noworders that we would get from
just women, being like, well,you would make the purple bag,
but this time with the pinkzipper, and I'd be like, go get
me 50 women who want it andtheir credit cards.
And, yes, I will.
And so some of that was justbeing an on-the-ground
(25:59):
entrepreneur.
Other things later on, withtechnology, we can credit my
tall brother for because he hada keen sense of wearables and,
you know, using technology toinnovate.
And so I think it just becamethis your eyes and your ears are
always open to opportunity.
And because, again, we wereself well, not self-funded.
(26:21):
We were self-funded for thefirst seven years, but we would
do things because we didn't havethe money.
But that ended up always beingmore innovative and exciting
than these older behemoths whomove too slow, overthink
everything.
They're worried about publicperception, whereas, yeah, we
had a couple of fuck ups alongthe way.
Yeah, I think that damaged thebrand in the long term.
Speaker 3 (26:41):
You know, I interviewed Julie Dean of the
Cambridge Satchel Company and ifyou have a chance to listen, it
was a two-parter, just becauseher story was so amazing.
And when the first time hercompany was acquired or she gave
a percentage away I think itwas a majority stake and they
were going through all thiscrazy stuff about like OK, we're
(27:02):
going to go into the science ofthis color and that color and
this.
And she's like, can't we justdo it based on a banana, the
color banana?
Like this is like why are wemaking things so much more
complicated?
Like let's just focus on whatworks and to your credit, I
think you always have to haveyour feet on the ground and like
combing through the purse forhim to see like this is what
(27:22):
sells.
And I think that's a testament.
Where you know I hosted thisevent with you and your brother
at Saks a million years ago andthe pair of you were discussing
and this is one of the firsttimes I'd heard it how your
social strategies were different, that you knew like I could be
saying this wrong like Instagramwas like more celebrity focused
(27:44):
and Facebook was more productfocused and understanding the
analytics so narrow castedbetter than absolutely anybody.
Do you think in terms of like,following this strategically,
taking this analytical approach?
Was that just an organic way todo things?
Or it was like, ok, we have noother choice?
(28:06):
I think it's it's both.
Speaker 1 (28:08):
It's sort of like, at first you have no choice.
Then you start experimenting.
Then you see what works andyou're like great, let's follow
that.
And then it's my brother.
It's a different point sayingthis is happening in other
consumer product goods companiesor in other parts of the world.
Maybe it works for bags, let'stest it.
And then you know you're likesort of like trying, augmenting
(28:30):
and sort of expanding what isworking.
And then you're testing and youjust kind of you know
technology engineers and theyhave an A and a B, right yeah,
and they're testing and if Adoesn't work they go to B.
So I think that's how weapproached all of the things we
did.
Speaker 3 (28:49):
You opened up your first store, was it either Japan
or Korea before you opened oneup in New York?
Is that correct?
Speaker 1 (28:55):
It was Japan yes, it was Japan, and it was because
they were so bullish on we needa store now.
This was a partner.
They opened it and we were likewe don't even know what the
store should look like and it'sgoing to take a designer to
properly do this at least sixmonths to design it and be
thoughtful about it and gothrough the brand exercise.
(29:17):
And they're like we don't haveit.
Send us a Pinterest board oflike your inspiration.
And I was like okay, so bigmistake, very expensive store,
wrong location.
Like okay, so big mistake, veryexpensive store, wrong location
.
It was in ginza, which is likethe beverly hills, like people
are there to buy gucci andchanel, right, and so it was a
big waste of money for them.
And you know we ended up havingto close it, or they closed it
(29:38):
because I was like shocker,didn't look like the brand
really and didn't make any moneybecause the rent was so fucking
expensive.
So it was exciting, but it waslike uh, right.
Speaker 3 (29:50):
It's one of those things that it's a flex to say
like, yeah, oh my God, oh my God, I'm opening something in Japan
, but meanwhile you're like thisisn't going to go the way I
want it to, but you still moveforward because it's an
opportunity.
Speaker 1 (30:01):
Yeah, it's that fine line.
Like you don't want to say noto that, but like you know it.
It's that fine line.
Like you don't want to say noto that, but like you know it's
not going to be done right, andthat's the hard part.
Speaker 3 (30:09):
And I ask you so you went seven years before you gave
away a piece of the company.
Is that correct?
Was that one of those thingsthat you were like, ok, we have
absolutely no choice, or if wewant to grow, or because that's
scary to start recognizing that,ok, I have my brother that I
have to deal with for control.
I have a president who isrunning this the way I wouldn't
(30:32):
run a company Now.
I need to have more peopleinvolved.
Like can you talk a little bitabout?
Speaker 1 (30:39):
that experience?
Yeah.
So in 2012 or 2011,.
We realized that in order togrow, to do our own stores, to
expand product categories anddistribution, we needed money.
And right around then, privateequity this is pre-VC yeah,
private equity was lookingaround hunting for brands and we
(31:02):
were getting really greatvaluations.
So we did our rounds, we got agreat offer, we sold 26% of the
company and at the time it wasgreat because you know they're
talking about Kool-Aid.
And then you're like, yeah,that sounds great Billion dollar
brand.
Here we come, you know, andeveryone's like smoking this,
(31:24):
like pipe dream of opportunity,and so it was great to do.
And then I think we made acouple mistakes, probably a year
later, that would have had likedifferent outcomes had we been
different, had we seen thefuture.
Speaker 3 (31:41):
You know, I know I've taken up a lot of your time.
I want to wrap up with justsome e-learnings, because I
could literally talk to you.
You know, the sun could go upand down and the kids would come
, eat and like I'd be, like, goaway.
I'm still talking to her Interms of the evolution and,
again, just I need to call thisout that and I don't think it
(32:02):
was you, I think it was yourpublicist who did apply to the
Handbag Awards twice and then Iwas able to honor you and then
we were able to have you as ajudge.
So that was one of the excitingthings and you know, through
the awards we've had so muchtalent that had come through.
But in terms of the evolution,of where your brand is at and
(32:22):
where it is now, what are somelike e-learnings and things that
you reflect and things that youwish you hadn't done or moving
forward, because how you run acompany, how you do anything as
someone who is single versus amom of one versus a mom of
multiples is very, verydifferent.
Who's single versus a mom ofone versus a mom of multiples is
(32:45):
very, very different, like Ihad the experience of recently
working with someone who didn'thave kids and it was.
It's hard to explain to peoplethe time schedule that I will be
up at 2 am till 3 am workingand then, like I, cannot be
available for certain time slots.
So how do you?
Because you have thisincredible platform, you have
this amazing podcast, you knowwomen empowerment, female
entrepreneurship that's now likea key thread of who you are and
(33:07):
what you're promoting.
How do you tie this and I don'twant to ask this stupid cliche
question how do you balance itall?
Because there's no such thingas balance.
But, like going back to yourbrand and handbags, how are you
handling all of that movingforward, especially like with
what's going on in the industryand the circular economy?
And are you going to bring backthat original morning after and
start selling it that way?
(33:28):
Oh, my God, we had a motorcycle.
Speaker 1 (33:30):
I don't even know which question to add to start
with, but I'll see if I can wrapit all up.
So, with regards to the morningafter bag, we actually did
bring it back last September of2022.
We relaunched it.
We called the map 2.0.
We did a huge eventpresentation tech forward.
It was fantastic.
Uh, morgan stanley, yeah,stanley, the banker bag, the
(33:55):
banker bag.
In 2025, it'll be our 20-yearanniversary, so we're planning
for it to really come back in abig way.
Then, as far as how does she doit all?
I remember someone talkingabout having a deep bench
Players on the bench.
Yeah, there's the team outthere and then there's the ones
(34:15):
on the bench, and so I have anincredible CEO running Rebecca
Minkoff.
I have an incredible CEOco-founder running female
founder collective.
I have a babysitter, I have myhusband, I have me, you know
like, and then it just keepsgoing.
And I think what I've gottengood at is letting good people
do good work and not trying tolike be in it all the time and
(34:39):
micromanage.
And you know, if I didn't comeup with that one idea, at the
end of the day did the customerlike fucking care.
You know, like if my designerdid it better, better shade of
blue, better.
You know application of studslike it's fine.
I did this for 20 years.
I'm good, and so I think it'slearning to let go.
Who's your bench and how arethey supporting you?
(35:01):
Because learning to let go.
Who's your bench and how arethey supporting you?
Because it's you know it's notall possible for my podcast.
I have a producer.
I have a copy.
As someone who writes the copy.
I met a woman, or a good friendof mine was struggling with her
podcast and she was listeningto every episode that she
recorded herself and I was like,why, why would you do that?
She's like well, I have to tellthem what to take out.
And I said, no, that's what aproducer is for.
(35:22):
Right, you're investingvaluable time Record.
Once a week, it's an hour of mytime Done, goes off and then
all the elves go to work, and sothat's how it's done.
My kids are at school eighthours a day and daycare eight
hours a day, so it's like I havethe way I look at it.
I have eight hours to geteverything I need done, and then
(35:42):
obviously there's peak timesfashion week where I'm working
late or working weekends, but Ithink the more kids I've had,
the more I've been able tocontrol that better.
And you can't get into thisbecause, as my daughter says,
when I grow up, I want to berich and famous.
You can't get into thisbusiness to be rich and famous.
You can't get into thisbusiness to be rich and famous.
(36:03):
You have to love what you doand be so, yeah, but be so
connected to that that you willweather any storm.
Because, as we have discussedonline and offline, it is more
hard than it is not.
There are more pitfalls thanthere are like momentum, and so
you should be getting the joyand the reward or the pay from
(36:27):
what you do, not the dollars inyour bank account.
And if you can do that, thenfind something else to do and if
it comes, woo bonus.
And if it doesn't come, thenhopefully you've enjoyed it.
Speaker 3 (36:39):
Girl, let me tell you , I hear you, I see you.
It is so funny because, like Ihave my kids historically, even
when they were little, if theydid things because I don't
believe in giving my kids anallowance I think that teaches
my opinion.
It teaches bad connection withmoney that you should get paid
for household chores, then Ishould be getting paid for them
(37:02):
too.
So if you're going above andbeyond and doing things outside,
so I have them invoice me.
I want to quantify the time, Iwant all of that.
And my daughter said to meshe's like I think I'm going to
be a doctor.
And I was like where the helldid that come from?
And she said, and I quote Ithink it would be easier than
being an entrepreneur, becausewhat you do is exhausting.
(37:24):
I can't even watch it.
Speaker 1 (37:25):
So I'm like, ok, I mean let's let you know that
being a doctor and being on callwill be very stressful.
When she has to tell someonelike their dad is dead.
But don't spoil it for her yet.
Speaker 3 (37:36):
Listen, listen.
My mom has already told herthat she should go into
dermatology to make it, you know, to amortize the cost for
everybody involved in the family.
Speaker 1 (37:46):
So that's a good.
You know, botox will pay for alot of things.
Speaker 3 (37:50):
Let me tell you I'm here for it.
Listen, rebecca Becky, all ofthe monikers you go by.
Thank you so very much for yourtime, your generosity, all of
this.
How can everybody find you andyour eponymous name?
Speaker 1 (38:06):
All right here we go you ready, do it, do it, do it
At Rebecca Minkoff for the brandand me at Becky Minkoff for
just me and everything outsideof the brand.
I'm launching a sub stack,probably in the next couple of
days.
So RebeccaMccaminkoffsubstackcom, my
podcast Superwoman with RebeccaMinkoff, my book Fearless on
(38:26):
Amazon and what else.
If you're not exhausted by allthose things yet, oh, my
LinkedIn newsletter, the storiesof failures that entrepreneurs
have encountered.
It's called.
You Can't Make this Shit Up.
Speaker 3 (38:39):
So those are all the places that I'm active With shit
as an exclamation point to keepit.
You know, pc, keep it, pc.
Thank you so very much Love toyou and your 80 kids who no
longer live in a Brooklyn shoe.
I hope to see you very soon,but thank you so much for
absolutely everything andanything.
Thank you.
Speaker 2 (39:00):
Thanks for listening.
Don't forget to rate and review, and follow us on every single
platform at handbag designer.
Thanks so much.
See you next time.
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