Handbag Designer of the Day : September 6, 2007

Louisiana Health : December 2006
Beauty • Art • Style

A Nod to Tigger
Mary Tutwiler

Baton Rouge designer Sherry Brown is attracting the attention of trendy boutiques from New York to Lafayette with her Urban Kitty bags.

Sherry Brown has it in the bag. Clutches, totes and slouchy shoulder bags, that is. Her start-up company, Urban Kitty, is sitting pretty with a new line of fall bags, a sleek website, and a coterie of collectors who like the pop of her eye-catching designs.
Brown does not do basic black. “I like attention. These aren’t your plain old black bags. It’s important to me that when you carry one of my bags you get noticed.” Fashion and style drive her choice of fabrics, but when it comes to shape, it is all about practicality. “Pockets, there are lots of pockets,” she proclaims. Form definitely follows function in Brown’s collection.
The designer earned an architecture degree from LSU, and began her career in an architectural firm. Working on AutoCAD, a 2- and 3-dimensional design and drafting computer program, she put together presentations for the company. Brown discovered she liked the graphic design aspect of her work better than building skyscrapers and began moonlighting as a graphic designer.
Three years ago, she segued her computer graphics training into the publishing world and changed careers, signing on with the art department of Baton Rouge-based Louisiana Homes and Gardens magazine. Two months ago she became the art director for Louisiana Health Magazine. But the ability to see things in 3-D never was far from her mind.
Nor was her childhood enjoyment of sewing, a skill she learned from her mother. “I love fabric,” Brown adds. She started designing handbags on AutoCAD, drawing them dimensionally, envisioning how they would look in copper and blue nubby upholstery fabric.
When she, her husband, Rick, and cat Tigger decided to return from suburban sprawl to a small downtown Baton Rouge apartment, the big old-fashioned desk-mounted Singer sewing machine was left behind. Brown bought a commercial sewing machine capable of handling leather and heavy fabrics and began stitching bags. “I’m a graphic designer by day, seamstress by night,” she confesses. She started designing a line of bags, from the small convertibleClutch to the subWAY tote—big enough to hold a weekend’s get-away gear.
Brown gave the purses to her friends who loved them. “I knew I had something and I wanted to run with it,” she clarifies. “That’s how Urban Kitty was born.” Brown started shopping her bags to boutiques. A gift to a fabric company’s representative resulted in an order for over 60 bags. She designed a website which went online last fall.
Realizing the business was rapidly getting bigger than she could run by herself at night, she hired local seamstresses to produce her handbags. “I design and make the samples and then I give them to my ladies to sew.” The bags are returned to Brown who adds finishing details. Every handbag is entirely handmade in Louisiana.
The name of Brown’s company, Urban Kitty, is a nod to Tigger, who made the move from a tree lined neighborhood with a lawn and kitty door to a 4th floor downtown loft with a balcony. “I was initially worried about him,” Brown says, “but he made the transition to downtown without missing a beat.” Tigger clearly has resilience and style, elements Brown captures in her trendy bags.
To see the entire line and find retailers in your area, visit Brown’s web site www.urban-kitty.com.

Mary Tutwiler is a freelance journalist living on the banks of Bayou Teche in New Iberia. She writes regularly about food, travel, art, culture and, alas, hurricanes for The Independent Weekly, published in Lafayette, and the Times Picayune, as well as magazines such as Chili Pepper and Southern Breeze.

The Daily Reveille, LSU : Monday, January 23, 2006

Alumna finds career as handbag designer
Urban:kitty meshes function, fashion

When University alumna Sherry Brown made the move from a traditional home to a trendy, downtown loft, she feared her cat, Tigger, would not take to a new, city life. But much to her delight, he has embraced the habitat.
Tigger is her urban kitty.
Urban:kitty is also the name of Brown’s booming handbag business.
“The urban:kitty name embodies a woman living a chic and urban life,” Brown said. “Uban equals home; kitty equals fashion.”
The collection of handbags originated when Brown started producing bags for herself.
“I’m a fanatic about bags,” Brown said. “I’d never allow myself to spend the absurd amount of money on the types of bags that I liked, so I decided to make my own.”
Soon after Brown started making her own handbags, friends and strangers commented on the bags. As the demand grew, she started sewing more handbags, and Brown decided to go into business.
Brown is still keeping her full-time job as a freelance graphic designer but hopes to one day just focus on bags.
“The graphic designing pays my bills,” Brown said. “One day, I hope to have the capacity to just design [handbags], but for now, I’m doing everything from sewing to selling.”
Brown creates the handbags in a small corner of her loft.
“It’s a challenge to work in such a small space,” Brown said. “I must keep everything consolidated because my business is such a part of my home.”
Brown has many interior designer friends, who give her access to unique fabrics with a distinctly urban look. This connection allows Brown to use untraditional fabrics that are more durable than leather or cotton.
“I use upholstery, wool pinstripe, corduroy, vintage fabrics, basically anything,” Brown said. “I recently got a pattern from my mom that I assume is vintage sofa material.”
As an LSU graduate in architecture, Brown uses her design background to create efficient bags. Brown uses AutoCAD, the software program used to electronically draft floor plans, to test the bags’ design and functionality. She said these elements are paramount to urban:kitty.
“The bag must be practical but look good, simultaneously,” Brown said.
Brown’s expertise in aesthetics and design are reflected in each of her unique bags.
The bags follow an unmistakably metropolitan theme. Handbags with the name of Devonshire, TravelCity and Slouch revolve around a woman’s life in the city. Convertible messenger bags and versatile clutches are designed to mesh fashion with function.
“I love doing this so much because it exercises all of my talents,” Brown said. “I’m the designer, sales representative and marketer.”
Thanks to her efforts, the momentum of urban:kitty is quickly increasing. The bags can be purchased in Baton Rouge at the LSU Museum of Art, Stella Boutique, Material Girl and Atelier Salon. Visit www.urban-kitty.com to view the entire collection.

Red Stick Renaissance, Fall 2005

Cityscapes: New Businesses and the People Behind Them

Downtown’s “Bag Lady” Makes Good

She’s acquired the nickname “Downtown Sherry Brown,” because she’s among the growing contingent of young professionals who both work and live downtown. “It’s the best move I’ve ever made,” Brown said. “It’s perfect for me and perfect for my husband. It’s a lot of fun being down here. I drive a lot less, and my nighttime entertainment options are right downstairs.” That’s because Sherry and husband, Rick Brown, have a loft apartment in the Mayer Building on Third
Street, the mixed-use development that also houses restaurant/bar The Lava Room. Husband Rick works for Brown Carruth Studios, the firm that oversaw the building’s renovation, and both played roles in the project’s design process. Brown is also a designer whose Urban Kitty line of handbags is acquiring a devoted following. They are available at The Atelier Salon on North Boulevard, Material Girl at 5201 Nicholson and online at www.urban-kitty.com.

InRegister, September 2005