Fashion Slow Lane!

Check out our Leopard print collection for A/W 2017.  Vegan leather handbags design by Tara Sauvage for Modalane Accessories LLC.  For more info please go to www.modalanedesign.com Los Angeles. San Diego. China. Hong Kong.

Have you thought about bringing your Contemporary brand to Asia?  I am working closely with a well connected successful Chinese-American entrepreneur who has successfully launched American brands in handbags, belts, accessories and apparel in high end Chinese department stores and high end Japanese stores.  I recently met up with her in Beijing and Tianjin to visit some of the stores has launched American brands in. (The smog in Beijing/Tianjin was horrific but that is another blog post)   The American brands are successfully selling more per square foot in China than in USA department stores. China is an incredible emerging luxury market.  If you follow any fashion news such as businessoffashion or WWD I am sure you have read about this trend in the past few years. “One of the most exciting findings is that by 2018, in the next five years, based on our predictions and based on how fast the region is growing, Asia Pacific will be the biggest region in the wor...

Thai baby & Pug.  Perfect. SEVEN years ago I went to Thailand to adopt my daughter from an orphanage in Bangkok.   In less than two weeks from today we fly back to Bangkok to show our daughter the country of her birth.   I am excited to show her the different parts of Thailand that I have loved over the years.   I love Thailand and now that I am better off than your average backpacker, on this trip I have booked "better" hotels. (When I used to travel to Asia I stayed in $20 a night cheap hotels)  However,  I really want to show my daughter what its like to live in the average village of Thailand. We currently live in La Jolla, CA which has some of the highest costs of living in the United States and the highest home prices nation wide.  We can't afford to buy the houses here that average about two million dollars so we rent a nice apartment.   My daughter is not spoiled, but by default she has every creature comfort of...

Miu Miu whimsical jewelry If you follow my blog you will notice I am a little neurotic.  That is just me.  The things I blog about can vary from a heavy bare your soul topic to a  blog post about my crazy travels to Third world countries where I picked up lice.   Yep... just me.  Crazy. Real. Honest.  I love travel, fashion, business and Miu Miu. On a lighter note today I want to talk about my favorite fashion brand. EVER .   That is Miu Miu.  The average American has never heard of it but most of my fashion friends know and love Miu Miu.  Its the younger sister of Italy's Prada, same designer just more whimsical.  Miu Miu is know for its fun, trendy, embellished statement pieces.    I used to collect their shoes when I lived in Los Angeles and there was a Miu Miu flagship store in West Hollywood.  That wonderful store closed a long time ago, so now I only buy Miu Miu when I go to Bologna, Italy for the Linea Pelle...

What a great video for women in the workplace.  Do you need to learn how to negotiate a better salary? Do you need to learn how to negotiate better with your clients to get what you need?  If so, please check out this video! It is totally worth your time if you are a person working in the modern workplace. I share only the best! Ciao, Tara

I am headed to Beijing, China to meet up with a Chinese-American business woman that I have known for about a decade.  She is going to introduce me to luxury department stores in China so that I can gain a better understanding of how to bring American better brands to the growing Chinese middle and upper class.   One of the fastest growing consumer purchasing powers of luxury goods is China.   China has a huge population and a growing middle class with huge purchasing power.    Many European brands such as Louis Vuitton, Gucci, Burberry and many others have already successfully entered China and have many profitable stores.   My goal is to be able to help smaller brands expand into international markets, not only China, but other Asian countries as well.    In the past my consulting has been focused on design, product development and production.   In the future I would like to be be able to be an expert in sales and marketing not only to...

To all my friends, vendors and coworkers, Wishing you a warm and joyful holiday season.  Be safe and enjoy the time you spend with family and friends.  I hope everyone gets at least a few days off for the holidays and can sleep in. Cheers! Tara & Family www.tarasauvage.com Dante and Rocco with Santa

Recently I read the book called Lean In by the COO of Facebook, Sheryl Sandberg.  In her book she covers many topics that working women deal with and offers practical solutions on how to overcome them.  Its modern successful women like her who are great examples for females of all ages and most importantly young women who are just starting their careers.    I think women have come a long way in the past 50 years, but I had an experience recently that made me realize we still have a long way to go in terms of workplace equality. If I can share my experience and it helps someone else then its worth putting myself out there, hence this blog post. Recently I answered an advertisement for a position in the handbag industry.  I have been doing  freelance work, but I am always looking for new gigs as I just moved to California 5 months ago and I am not working full time.   The job sounded like it would be an opportunity to learn a new sector in the indus...

I remember when I first bought my first luxury bag, a Louis Vuitton monogram Ellipse bag about a decade ago my friends and family thought I was crazy.   I paid about $800 for the bag at the LV store in Beverly Hills.   Now..10 years later, I can sell that same USED bag for about $500-$600 at   www.yoogiscloset.com .  These companies buy and sell luxury brand handbags like Chanel, Prada, Gucci, etc. and they have an official authenticator on hand to verify the bags are real.   So it is worth your money to invest in a luxury handbag, because 5, 10 or 20 years down the road..if you want to sell it..you can get up to 70% of the original value back. On one site if you buy a luxury bag and then change your mind you can trade it back in again.  Its pretty amazing how these bags retain their value year after year, one of the reasons is because companies like Louis Vuitton to not discount their bags and they rarely go on sale.  These luxury brands also a...

I can design anything.  These are ACETATE frames with Swarvoski crystals on the frames.   Made in Italy.  I will let you know where to purchase them next year.  For now you are the first to see the first sketch.  Ciao! Rocco. Sketch and Design by Tara Sauvage

We are keeping pretty busy with freelance handbag design.  I am working on my new website.   www.tarasauvage.com -right now its just a basic landing page because it is under construction.   You can also follow me on facebook.  Here is a link to my fan page.   https://www.facebook.com/SauvageDesign Enjoying the sun in California, although I have to be careful not to get burned.  I wish I had the darker olive toned skin but I am just white and burn super easy. Have a sunny day!  Ciao!

I met this really great family owned business in Milan that manufactures and has traditional and unique hardware for handbags and leather goods. In fact, I liked them so much that I decided to help them to bring their business to the USA market. They have great quality hardware and I like the fact that they are a family run business and they can do smaller MOQ for custom hardware! Check out their online catalog here, and if you want to order something please feel free to contact me or contact them directly, I teamed up with them to help with the USA market. Smart Accessori If you need help with your handbag design and collection development, please email me at roccodante@gmail.com   I have been in handbag design for 15 years and can help you design and get your collection manufactured.   We work with leather and non leather materials. For more info on handbag and accessories design check out www.tarasauvage.com Ciao, Tara Sauvage Designer Sauvage Priv...