Dawn Waters: Taking Bold Handbag Design Down to the Wire
By making handbags using metal fencing wire, Dawn Waters of The Twisted Bag has probably made one of the boldest design choices imaginable. Waters describes her handbags as wearable sculpture. “They’re made of hand-twisted fencing wire, and adorned with glass, beads, shells. The lining of the bags can be made to match a specific outfit. Customers have asked me to line the bag with a particular fabric to match an evening or bridal gown.”
Wire handbags with geometric designs she saw in Cannes, France influenced her designs. “There were beautiful beads on the wire, and the bags were lined in silk. I began experimenting once I returned home, and they morphed into their current look.”
Her determination to create her bags resulted in designs that look “very little like the muse, but I like them just as much. I’ll try anything. If someone says, ‘Handbags out of fencing wire? Are you crazy?’ it just makes me want to make more.”
Good old word-of-mouth has been the best advertisement for Waters’ elegant bags. “Most are sold by people seeing someone carrying one. I’ve had some good local publicity that helped, and my website is nice, although I sell few that way. People really have to see them in person.” She also sells bags in stores near her Richmond, Virginia home.
Not every method of selling has been successful for Waters. “Art shows have not been as successful for me,” she says. Waters also admits that her biggest mistake has been “sending bags to a city far away on a consignment basis. They were taken, calls were not returned, and I never received compensation.”
Waters recently became Director of Communications at VCU School of the Arts. “I’ve been in advertising since 1985, mostly as a copywriter and broadcast producer. I went to the academic side in 2000, as Assistant Director of the VCU Adcenter, a graduate advertising program.”
Since going back to work full time, most of Waters’ sales are commissions. Until then she made about twenty-five bags a year. She has been designing for two and a half years.
Her technique has improved during that time. “I’ve learned how to make the bags ‘sit up’ so they can be displayed nicely. I’ve also learned what kind of beads are more durable, and how to best clasp the bags. That was a challenge in the beginning.”
Anyone curious to see more of Water’s unique creations can have a look at her website at www.twistedbag.com.
