Michelle Stupski: Simple Style at Heart of MIS Fashion Bags
MIS Fashion Bags’ logo says it best, “With simple lines and simple designs, you’ll always be simply styling with MIS Fashion Bags.” The company, owned and operated by handbag designer Michelle I. Stupski, has been in operation for only three years but has seen phenomenal success in that short time frame. Stupski, whose background is in fashion retail and interior design, has seen her handbag designs featured in local retail stores and hopes to produce a manufactured line that will be featured in trade shows, department stores and specialty boutiques.
“I have a creative personality and have been sewing since I was about 8 years old,” said Stupski. “I love fabrics. My mother used to make a lot of my clothing, and I remember going to the fabric stores and coordinating fabrics and outfits. How exciting it was to pick these items out and then have the finished product of clothing that no one else had.”
Stupski took this love of fabric and sewing and put it to use making original handbag designs. “I do not use manufactured patterns. Each design has been uniquely my own, and once the shape and style are to my satisfaction, I then make a pattern for myself.”
“I do a lot of research on fashion trends from clothing styles to color stories and then translate those trends into the handbag, thus making it a fashion bag,” said Stupski of her creative process. One of her most creative pieces was featured at a charity event. “I designed a collection for a charity event and created a bag called The Face of Cancer. It was a black doctor’s bag with a white mask imbedded in the front and other little details to finish off the design. It could be interpreted in many different ways. It is the one bag from the collection that I did not sell for personal reasons.”
“I feel I have a great sense of fashion and an eye for design and color, and I bring that to my collection,” said Stupski. “The use of fabric keeps the bag soft and feminine. I think a lot of the bags today are big, bulky, and masculine not to mention heavy. With fabrics you can still carry a lot of essentials without being weighed down.”
Stupski first began selling her creations by hosting her very own fashion show. “I had a fashion show to test the waters, and the response was outstanding! I now have an annual fall fashion show and it is still one of the best selling tools to date. It takes me the whole year to plan and produce the show, but it is a lot of fun and you get to meet so many people.”
Stupski also sells her bags online at www.misfashionbags.com and at several retailers in the Binghamton, New York area where she lives.
