Shana Luther has been designing fashion accessories since she first learned to thread a needle. Her early fascination with accessories, and handbags in particular, quickly developed into an obsession that shows no signs of ebbing. Shortly after earning her degree in Fashion Design from the Pratt Institute, Shana founded the independent SML Bags (taking her initials as the namesake). Designing and assembling everything from her home studio, Shana began to explore a variety of handbag styles and experiment with textured leathers, heavy weight cottons, and abstract prints. “I love the idea of dressing around one’s bag,” she says. “The bag becomes the focal point for me.”

Now, after nearly seven years of hand-producing dozens of designs and hundreds of individual handbags with the SML stamp, Shana is taking her vocation to the next step with the launch of the Shana Luther Handbag Collection. When conceiving this new venture, it was paramount that Shana work only with U.S. vendors and that the Collection be produced locally, ensuring better quality control and offering her customers that strong sense of community that she herself holds dear.

A Pennsylvania native, Shana has made Brooklyn her home for over 15 years and proudly calls herself a locavore. She lives here with her husband John, a computer animation designer who brews his own beer, and their grumpy old cat Tiggs, who is deaf as a post but makes up for it with personality and sleepiness.

The Shana Luther Handbag Collection is proudly designed and produced in Brooklyn, NY.

Photo by Alexandra Anninos