✨ From Page to Runway: Inside the Savvy Suzanna Book Launch Where Kids Became Designers
A Celebration of Creativity and Confidence. Handbag Designers Among Us.
Last week, I hosted my very first Savvy Suzanna’s Amazing Adventures in Handbags book launch event at The Fashion Class, and it was everything I had dreamed of and more.
The room was filled with creative energy - kids sketched handbags, learned to sew clutches on real sewing machines, and proudly held up their finished designs like true mini designers. I also did my first reading of the book, which was both nerve-wracking and surreal.
The idea for Savvy Suzanna started after my first book, Handbag Designer 101, came out. I remember sitting in my agent’s office when she asked, “What do you want your next book to be?”
Without hesitation, I told her I wanted to write about a little girl who starts her own business and turns it into a career in handbag design.
She looked at me like I was crazy.
After all, I had just established myself as an expert in the handbag world, I’d founded The Handbag Awards to get Handbag Designer 101 noticed by publishers, built a career around discovering and celebrating designers, and now I wanted to switch genres completely?
To her, it sounded risky. To me, it felt necessary.
I knew there were no children’s books about entrepreneurship told through the lens of creativity and design, and certainly none about handbags. This was the story I wished had existed when I was a kid, the one that said it’s okay to dream big, make mistakes, and start over.
Fast forward to this past week, standing in The Fashion Class in NYC, where my daughter had learned to sew so many years ago, filled with fabric swatches, sewing machines, and excited kids, I realized just how right that instinct was.
Seeing Savvy Suzanna in their hands, hearing them say things like, “I want to have a handbag business when I grow up!” was everything. It reminded me why I took that leap.
This book isn’t just about handbags. It’s about creativity, resilience, and believing your ideas are worth something.
Since the book came out, moms have sent me photos of their kids doing book reports on Savvy Suzanna, videos of grandfathers reading it to their grandkids, and snapshots of kids reading it in their spare time, by choice.
That kind of response transcends sales, reviews, or recognition. It’s the why behind the work.
As someone who’s spent her career helping others launch their dreams, this was the moment when mine came full circle - from writing about handbags to watching a new generation of designers imagine their own.
If there’s one thing I’ve learned, it’s that sometimes the craziest ideas — the ones that seem like detours- are actually the most authentic extensions of who we are.
Savvy Suzanna was that for me.
And watching kids sketch, sew, and dream at The Fashion Class reminded me that creativity is contagious; it just needs someone to hand them the pen, the fabric, or the idea.
If you’d like to host a Savvy Suzanna Design Workshop at your school, boutique, or event, reach out because every child deserves to discover what they’re capable of creating.
We also have limited spaces left to be part of The IT BAG x NY NOW. The opportunity to be discovered and have your handbags sold in boutiques across the country, and to grow your brand to the next level, is something you should not miss.
Apply to The IT BAG x NY NOW Here.
And for those of you who want to learn a strategy on how to take your handbag brand from inception to shelf, I created the Handbag Designer 101 Masterclass. I am offering complimentary consulting sessions before and after as a courtesy if you register before November 1st.
Don’t forget to tune into Handbag Designer 101 Podcast on iTunes or Spotify. As the only podcast that covers everything handbag from designers to trends, to the business of retail, it’s the easiest way to connect and learn from the best. (Also - you get to hear more of me…)