Fashion Slow Lane!

Pendolare   I designed and created a convertible bicycle bag line I have been working on for a while.  My day job designing fashion handbags for other brands and life has often gotten in the way, but I keep moving forward. We have four great new styles that were captured recently in an urban photo shoot in San Diego. The brand Pendolore , which translates to "Commuter" in Italian is made from leather and high quality nylon canvas.   The brand was designed with urban male commuters in mind.  The gear was meant to be worn from the bike to the board room or classroom.   We have added a few styles that appeal to females as well. The bicycle I bought from Sole' bicycle in Venice Beach, CA and the model hails from Del Mar, CA. Photos by the Justin Bartels of San Diego.   The photo shoot took about an hour and it was a really quick on the fly type shoot. Check out some of the images here and let me know what you think.  Email all comments to roccoda...

We love our new logo for Rocco Sauvage www.roccosauvage.com mens leather goods.  Check it out and let me know what you think.   We have also been working with a team and have put together our new online esty store.  Here is a link:   https://www.etsy.com/shop/RoccoSauvage   Etsy is great because we can go direct to our consumers and not have to worry about wholesale or dealing with a middle man.  Now one of the biggest trends in retail is direct to consumer.  Customers are getting smarter and they are looking for that transparency in the fashion industry.  Customers are getting tired of paying huge markup for quality products from their favorite brands.  More and more younger brands are leaping online and forgoing wholesale and middlemen all together.  At Rocco Sauvage we thought it would be great to go direct to our customers so we decided to go on Etsy.   Let us know what you think.  Follow us on twitter @roccosa...

We now have a new men's leather belt for the everyday guy.  Check out "The Joe" ! This belt is awesome for the everyday Joe.  Fits in all the jean belt loops!  Cool buckle from Italy with a natural looking patina! Leather belt made in USA.  Ships from San Diego, California. All of our products are made to last over a decade, and like you, get better with age!  No pun intended. Available in brown or tan.   www.roccosauvage.com Brown Joe belt Tan Joe belt Ciao! 

We just got in production of Rocco Sauvage small leather goods.  Handmade in USA. Buy online at www.roccosauvage.com  

I recently drove  9 hours across the desert from San Diego to Sedona, Arizona.   The drive was the long, boring and hot.  (not sure how else to describe the Arizona desert).   The average outside temperature was 104 degrees.   Driving across the Arizona desert in a 10 year old Jetta after the engine light comes on is not exactly intelligent - but we made it.  We made it after several stops to cool down and to make sure the engine did not overheat.   Over the years I have heard about Sedona being a place for New Age types and a great place to visit. We met up with my parents in Sedona for the weekend.   I have head all about how the spa treatments in Sedona are a must do.   I did not book in advance so the best I could do was a chair massage, 20 minutes for $30.00 plus tip.   I signed my mom and I up for our mini chair massage.  An older woman was the masseuse and during our short session to tried to explain how energ...

I like to build brands.  It could be my brand it could be someone else's brand, but the bottom line is that I love to create.   It may not be successful and it maybe a bit hit...you never know until you try and find out.  Failure is part of being an entrepreneur or even an employee.   You will make mistakes if you have your own company and you will make mistakes on the job working for someone else.   I have found that having my own brand is more stressful then working for someone else.  You have further to fall when you do fall.  Just get up again. I don't fear failure because I have already failed a million times, but I am still here in the fashion game.  Fashion is either in your DNA or its not.  You either love it or hate it.  I still like to go through my leather swatches and magazines.   I will probably be 80 and have some type of business related to fashion, I just don't see it changing because its so much a part of ...

Hello, We have been working on the Rocco Sauvage website but its coming along slowly and making me have to work on my patience as I am not the most patient person in the world.   In the meantime I am building up my facebook fan page for Rocco Sauvage.  Here is a link: https://www.facebook.com/RoccoSauvageleathergoods If you have facebook, please take a moment to "like" or page and share it on your wall.   Thanks in advance for supporting small business in the USA! Its small brands that can grow to create jobs for other Americans!  Thanks so much!  What is your dream today? Ciao! Rocco Rocco Sauvage Belts by Rocco Sauvage

I sent my new samples for Rocco Sauvage to New York City to be photographed this month.  I have had a great luck with Jan Klier Photography which is now based of NYC.  I first met Jan in Seattle in 2010 at a Seattle FGI (Fashion Group International) meeting.   I hired him the following year to photograph my next collections of Rocco e Dante handbags and the photos were great. In 2012 Jan Klier moved to NYC and we kept in touch via social media.  When it was time to find a photographer for my Rocco Sauvage he was my obvious choice.    I have always said if you find a great vendor its best to take them with you wherever you go.   I am not going to switch vendors if I find someone I can trust and will work with me and has reasonable rates. I have worked with two other  good photographers but for various reason I was not thrilled with working with them.  One of them was a drama queen and would freak out if I asked for changes and the other on...