Louise van Broekhuizen and Laga Designs: Creating Hope One Handbag at a Time
Banda Aceh, Sumatra was the most devastated area of Indonesia after the tsunami hit on December 26, 2004. Today, the victims of the tsunami are just beginning to build their lives anew, many of them one stitch at a time as is the case of employees of Laga Designs International, Inc. This is due to premiere handbag designer Louise van Broekhuizen who designs and sells handbags made exclusively by tsunami victims of the Acehnese people.
“When you buy a Laga bag you’re not just buying a beautiful handbag, you’re investing in the future of a precious life,” said Broekhuizen. “The satisfaction and reward of helping people and seeing them with a hope for a better future gives me a great feeling that I am not doing this for me, but for others.”
Broekhuizen first realized her passion for designing and creating handbags when she started tearing into her personal handbag collection. “I have been buying and collecting handbags for years, and I have a tendency to tear them apart to look and feel how they are made inside and out. I have an elegant and expensive taste for things, so designing something unique and different is a daily challenge which I embrace.”
Self-taught designer, Broekhuizen, took her passion to the drawing board after starting her own company in 2006. She credits her expertise to a watchful eye and a willingness to study and learn from the experts. Broekhuizen was a regular attendant at trade shows throughout the US and China and even visited various factories to learn how handbags were created from start to finish. She then honed her skills through trial and error.
Broekhuizen designs her bags in a style that has been passed down by the Acehnese people for generations. “I think every bag we create is unique because it is made by a tsunami victim, so the little flaws are human,” said Broekhuizen. “The design is also very unique since it comes from a long history of the Acehnese people group. I bring the uniqueness of each design from an idea to a full-blown product of the highest quality inside and out.”
Broekhuizen started selling her bags at home parties and knew she had a product that people wanted when she sold $2,000 worth of bags and booked 10 additional parties from her debut party. Today, she continues to sell her creations through home parties as well as consultants, boutiques, and online at www.laga-handbags.com.
But the road to success has not always been smooth. Mundane business considerations have caught Broekhuizen by surprise. “I wish I would have known earlier the issues of inventory, quality control, and shipping from Indonesia which takes six weeks by boat and one week by air but at 10 times the cost,” explained Broekhuizen.
Broekhuizen lives in Irvine, California when she is not flying to Indonesia to check on her creations. She has been a resident of the US since the age of 6 when she emigrated with her family from Holland.
