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Press & Publicity
The Sunday Paper | August 2006
In the bag
From Guatemala to Grant Park: Stephanie Jolluck designs beautiful handbags and makes a difference
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A handbag that will bring you to your knees CREDIT: Barbara Schatz
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Sitting pretty with a scarf-adorned handbag CREDIT: Barbara Schatz
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By Sharena Summerall
It’s the kind of bag that gets you stopped on the street. The combination of bright, eye-catching colors and intricately embroidered fabric is impossible to ignore as it seems to scream, “I’m not from around here!”
It’s a Coleccion Luna handbag: It’s a one-of-a-kind, and is, in fact, not from around here. But these colorful bags, created by Atlanta designer Stephanie Jolluck, are being spotted more and more these days as word gets out about her unique line of imported treasures.
Jolluck runs her business from her Grant Park home. She travels to Guatemala six times a year to work alongside a team of Mayan Indians she employs to produce the handbags, which are made from recycled textiles of traditional Mayan clothing. It’s a dream job, really—that took her by surprise.
“Wasn’t my path”
It all started after participating in a previous exchange program in Europe some 10 years ago. Jolluck, a 23-year-old Georgia State University student at the time, was hungry for more international perspectives and determined to be fluent in a foreign language.
“During that trip [to Europe], I really felt like the ignorant American who only spoke English,” she says. “I fell in love with travel and culture. It really changed my life.” So, in 1995, Jolluck signed up for a six-week exchange program in Mexico, where she planned to study Spanish at the University of Guadalajara. Of course, it didn’t take long to realize that reaching her goal of fluency would take much longer than six weeks. But funds were low, so she struck a deal with her parents: They’d cover her living expenses in Mexico for six months if she’d spend her weekends scouring the region for art and antiques and import them to the U.S. to sell.
Jolluck agreed. Having grown up watching her mother, an interior designer, import furniture and old pub signs from Europe, she was no stranger to the industry. She remembers occasionally skipping school to attend the Lakewood Antiques Market and ADAC (Atlanta Decorative Arts Center)—and, thankfully, had inherited her mother’s keen eye for style.
For six months, she immersed herself in Mexican culture, studied the language, made valuable contacts and explored the area in search of the best folk art and antiques. Basically, she tells SP, she had the time of her life.
Then reality kicked in: She returned to Georgia State, finished her degree and, a few short years later, found herself dissatisfied with her career as a high school Spanish teacher.
“It was a good experience,” she says, “but I just knew it wasn’t my path.”
So, one evening, over a bottle of wine, she and her parents began toying with the idea of putting her valuable importing experience and knowledge of Mexican art to good use. Shortly afterwards, Jolluck flew to Guatemala armed with $3,000 and spent two weeks buying goods to import, including beaded jewelry and a few textiles. Back in Atlanta, she sold the items to local boutiques and set up shop at the Lakewood Antiques Market as well as festivals.
“It was fantastic,” she remembers. “Within two months, everything had sold and I had to go back.”
And so her busy back-and-forth travel schedule began. She soon became interested in reviving the disappearing textile tradition of the Mayan Indians. She found artisans that she clicked with and began working with them to revamp the traditional clothing into unique marketable products. Her eye for design paid off: In the elaborately embroidered necklines of shirts, she saw incredible centerpieces for handbags.
“Never had a business plan”
Today, Coleccion Luna is carried in more than 200 stores across the country and featured in National Geographic’s catalog. In addition to handbags, the line includes pillows, table runners and belts. Jolluck has plans to expand the collection to include more bedding and decorative items.
“It’s taken me six years to get to where I am now,” she says. “I didn’t start with a lot of money and I never had a business plan. There has definitely been a lot of trial and error along the way.”
Aside from seeing her bags on the arms of women all over Atlanta, Jolluck says that one of the greatest rewards of her business is the effect it has had on the people of Guatemala. In an area where well-paying jobs can be hard to come by, Coleccion Luna employs 40 full-time workers and, over the past few years, Jolluck has watched as locals have been positively impacted—able to purchase better cars and clothing.
She has also developed close relationships with these workers and doesn’t foresee changing her jet-setting lifestyle anytime soon. “I can’t imagine not going there every other month,” she says. “When I’m there, I’m a part of their family.”
For more information, visit www.coleccionluna.com. |
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