Well, hello there.
I'm Jenny Nemlekar. I design and hand make each bag you see here, from scratch, in my home studio in Pittsburgh, PA.
Growing up, I was always told, "When you become an engineer, you can do anything!"
It's true.
Though I've learned that you don't need to be an engineer to become anything.
You can just become anything.
I have actually always wanted to be an artist, but my parents are typical Asian parents who make their kids go to school to become an engineer or doctor; I managed to appease both by choosing biomedical engineering.
Then I rebelled and did my artsy thing, sketching bag silhouettes during lecture and reverse engineering them to make templates (hey, the schooling came in handy).
I started my business in 2008, out of my dorm on a simple sewing machine, sewing simple fabric totes.
By the time I graduated, I was ready to stow away the engineering diploma and invest my savings into my full-time bag business with a new sewing machine, better tools, materials, and a nice camera to take product photos.
It's been a fun ride ever since!
I couldn't have done this without the help of my husband, Akshay, who is also my unpaid model. And my manager. Because without him, I would buy lots and lots of pretty leather hides and it would eat into my profits and I would lose my business and go bankrupt and we'd have to sell our house and Hubert. And we don't want to sell Hubert.
Oh yeah, there's also Hubert, our pug. He's silly and fat and keeps me company with his steady snoring cadence while I sew in the studio.
For the record, my parents (and in-laws) are really proud of me.
Proving parents wrong. One set at a time.
