Important notes:

Because of the high volume of orders during our online sample sale, your order cannot be canceled or modified after it is placed, so please check your order carefully before you submit it.

All sample sale items are considered final sale and are not eligible for return or exchange. Sample sale items do not qualify for price adjustments, as price adjustments are only offered for items purchased at full price within 7 days of the markdown, and do not apply to sale items that are marked down further.

Our extended customer service hours during the sample sale are from 9AM-9PM EDT, Tuesday through Friday. If you need assistance, please contact orders@stevenalan.com or call (877) 978-2526. Please note that during our sample sale period, our customer service team receives a high volume of phone calls and emails. We’ll do our best to get back to you as quickly as possible!

How did you meet, and how did you decide to start a business together?
Rachel: We met in 2010 in Los Angeles at an XX concert. It turned out Floriana was staying with an acquaintance I had known at RISD. We hit it off and decided to hang out the next day. She was a tourist from Berlin, so I showed her the flower market in LA. We stayed in touch over the following year and grew to realize we were at a similar place. We both went to art school, we both liked the idea of doing something that combined commerce and design, and we were both at a place in our lives where we were ready to start something new. After a year of communicating long distance, I went to Berlin for two months to develop ideas for what we might want to do together, and then Floriana came to Los Angeles.

How did it work with the two of you being so far apart?
Rachel: We eventually decided to both move to New York to start the company in April of 2012.

It must have been great to finally come together and build it.
Rachel: It was! It was interesting to bring together this European idea of elegance with this Los Angeles idea of casual simplicity. We liked the idea of something being very chic, but also versatile and easy to wear.

Floriana: We wanted to make a product that would last, and that would wear in an interesting way over time. It was nice that we had all this time to think about it, and get more and more focused. We would put something on a shared Tumblr, and have maybe a month to think about it. It really helped us get to exactly where we want to be.

It really shows in the line. It’s very focused, and a really impressive debut.
Rachel: Thank you. We spent a long time figuring out what the essence of our inspiration was, and how it could translate into something incredibly simple.

Was there any one source of inspiration that you always felt yourself coming back to?
Rachel: We’re inspired by simple and beautiful materials in daily life, and the small details that make something feel special. Everything from elegant packaging to flowers to fruit to cashmere. The clarity of bright, pop colors contrasting with rich or delicate neutrals. This inspiration eventually resulted in how we approached designing the bags – starting with a beautiful material and letting the essence of that be the predominant design element.

Tell us about the leather and the design details. What did you feel was absolutely essential? The styles are deceptively simple at first glance, but the more one looks at them, it becomes obvious a lot of thought went into every detail.
Floriana: For us, the quality of the product starts with the leather. We spent a great deal of time searching for the highest quality vegetable tanned leather, a leather that really glows. We eventually found the most beautiful option out there–sometimes vegetable tanned leather can look very masculine, but ours is very delicate in the way it’s tanned.

Vegetable tanned leather gets more beautiful as it ages, which fits with our philosophy. It’s very special in that it builds up a patina from use, abrasions that fade and build, making the item more personal to you. We also wanted the leather quality to have the luxurious feel of a designer bag, but at a contemporary price point.

Rachel: We love the contrast of natural leather with the sleek, chic patent. Patent leather is also a classical material, but it’s a different emotion from the natural vegetable tanned leather. In terms of the details, we felt that the most elegant concept that we could come up with would be very minimal in terms of how the stitching looked, and we also felt it was important to have a wallet, but we didn’t want to see a line of stitching at the top to attach it. So we developed the detachable wallet and we spent a lot of time obsessing over everything.

Floriana: Really, like 1/16 of an inch!

Rachel: We made many samples where we changed minor details. Just deciding the way the bottom should be stitched . . .

Floriana: How far in the stitching should go, what the stitching size should be, the handle thickness . . . we really like to get it perfect, and we talk about the details forever.

It seems you stripped out anything unnecessary, or distracting in any way.
Rachel: We knew from the beginning that we wanted zero to minimal hardware. Since I was a young teenager, I’ve been frustrated trying to find a bag with minimal hardware, so that was our starting point. Many people would say, “But it’s open, you have to have a zipper.” But it just is what it is – it’s an elegant, easy bag, and we don’t want to have a zipper. To us, of course, function is important, but it’s also this sculptural object. If you add a zipper, it changes that.

 How did you arrive at these particular color combinations?
Rachel: They kind of represent three different emotions. Some are very happy, some are more subdued and sophisticated, and another category is a little more downtown – black and red, black and royal blue. We love the idea of there being something for everyone.

Do you have a favorite style that’s your go-to these days?
Rachel: We love all three styles. When we began, I thought I would only use the large tote because I’m really practical and I beat up my bags a lot, but then Floriana started using the bucket and I thought, oh, I want a bucket!

Floriana: Now we’re using the smaller tote, so it changes.

What have been some of your challenges through the process. You mentioned it was difficult to narrow things down, but what about from the business side of things?
Rachel: I think in this business, manufacturing is tough. It’s hard when you have an idea in your head of what you want and it’s somewhat out of your hands when you develop that with a third party. You have to trust many people along the way – that everything comes out right, that it’s delivered on time, that there are no mistakes. It’s difficult to rely on so many people.

What’s been the most rewarding thing about being in business for yourselves?
Floriana: That we really love what we do.

Rachel: And that we like each other! We’re always sort of amazed at how our tastes are very in tune. Sharing an aesthetic with someone can be quite hard, so to have your own business and build this image that you mutually find beautiful is a great thing. It’s incredible to have the opportunity to make something of your own after spending your life looking at other brand identities you admire – Prada, Hermes, and not just fashion brands, but many different types of products as well.

Having spent so much time developing the product, and now working so hard to build your business, what do you like to do to relax or unwind?
[Both respond simultaneously]: Leave the city!

Floriana: Rachel likes to go to Los Angeles.

Rachel: My boyfriend lives half the time here and half the time in LA, so we’ll ship out this order and I’ll go to Los Angeles to unwind and Floriana will go to Italy to visit her mother.

Many thanks to Rachel and Floriana! You can find Mansur Gavriel bags at our Tribeca, Chelsea, Brooklyn, and Fillmore stores, and in our web shop.  Coming soon to Boston as well!

You recently returned from a trip to Istanbul, a city we love. What did you do, and were you there during the protests?
I sourced materials for upcoming products and looked at hundreds of antique Kilim carpets to choose the most unique patterns and colors to be used for future bags and shoes. We also looked into creating new handbag shapes, wallets, and smaller clutch bags. The most enjoyable part for me is hunting for new inspiration and textiles. The artisans who make everything are very talented and skilled in the quickly fading art of handmade goods. I love talking to them and watching them work. The food in Istanbul is also a big draw. We were very lucky to have left in time because we weren’t staying far from where the protests happened. Seeing it on the news was a shock.

Travel seems to play a big role in your work. What are some of the places that inspire you?
Turkey and Uzbekistan are the biggest inspirations because I use their traditional textiles and Kilim. I love that each pattern tells a different story and shares something about the artist and the family who created it. Travel opens your eyes to how other people live and adds a lot of richness to your life, so I try to get on a plane, train, or boat as often as I can! It’s fitting that my collection reflects this because the shoes are so comfortable for walking (or running in an airport!) and the bags are made for weekend jaunts.

What drew you to textiles, and how did you arrive at creating bags and shoes?
I have always loved textiles. My favorite thing to do as a kid was shopping for fabric with my mother and then making things on our sewing machine. Fast forward about 20 years, I went on a buying trip to Istanbul for my mother’s store – Galatea Fine Jewelry in Milton, Massachusetts – and fell in love with the Kilims and textiles at all of the Bazaars. I bought a pair of the traditional shoes and a carpet bag and was so impressed with how well the Kilim held up and formed to the foot. I didn’t realize it at the time but Artemis Design Co. was born out of that experience.

Fill us in on your design process, from inspiration to finished product.
I am always thinking about what the next bag or shoe will look like, and I used the materials as a guide. Silk, Kilim, and velvet all feel and bend very differently, and therefore some materials are better for different items. I usually have many different samples made and try them out for a little while. This tells me which bags or shoes are the most comfortable to use, complementary to the wearer, and beautiful to look at.

What are the most important features to you in a travel bag or shoe?
Comfort, utility, and beauty.

What are you currently working on?
I’m in the process of developing my next collection, which will continue to use rich, beautiful materials in classic and easy to wear shades. For the fall I am using lush velvets, silks, and Kilim in earth tones with pops of bright color.

We’d love to know more about Norah, your pet rabbit.
Norah is quite exotic, a Jersey Wooley and Lionhead mix (that’s where all of the fluff comes from) and still a baby. Her favorite treats are dried fruit and currants. Norah roams around our studio and keeps everyone entertained. She is a rescue from the MSPCA animal shelter in Methuen and was a gift for my last birthday.

Many thanks to Milicent for having us! We’ll be hosting an Artemis trunk show all day this Saturday at our Brooklyn Women’s shop, and at our Boston shop on June 22nd, so stop by to meet her and check out the collection.

Steven on the factory floor. It was great to meet all of the different people who work on the products we carry in our shops.

Steven checks out samples for our stores.

Many thanks to Filson for having us!

- Photos courtesy of Filson

{Allison is wearing the Thomas Sires Portmore Open Back Shirt and Banks Silk Short; Fiona wears the Hope Bay Sweater}

How did the two of you meet and what made you decide to start a business together?
Fiona: We met working together at Loeffler Randall, about five years ago. It was a small but growing company and we were all very close, which is how Allison and I became friends. I knew starting my own business was something I always wanted to do, and over time realized that Allison and I shared this goal.

Allison: I had also wanted to do something on my own since I started working as a clothing designer — it was just a question of in what capacity, as well as timing. Fiona and I share a similar aesthetic even outside of fashion so it seemed really natural to open a store and clothing line together.

Your business model is really unique, because not everyone can or wants to do all of those things.
Fiona: [Laughs] Well, that’s probably because they thought it through first (or rather, counted the hours in a day)! The concept of a store where we could feature our own designs alongside other objects/products was really exciting to me. The store is like a home in that we are able to create an atmosphere that really represents our tastes and helps the customer understand our point of view.

Allison: Like Fiona said, the other things in the store help explain the clothing, and ourselves. It’s also fun to work on other projects apart from making clothes. Working on merchandising the store or looking for the other objects we carry uses another kind of creativity, so when we go back to designing clothes we feel refreshed in a way.

Fiona: Our goal is to grow our collection from clothing into additional product categories, like the children’s clothing we already make and carry in the store. When you take fabric or trims out of the context of clothing, you realize they could make all these other things. You start to notice that a fabric could be a scarf, a pillow, a pouch, or even a dog collar. We might have purchased something with a clothing silhouette in mind, but the store allows us to think outside of those confines and try different things.

It sounds like the store really worked out as a testing ground for these explorations.
Allison: It definitely allows us to play around. Over the winter, I got on this yarn pom-pom making kick, and was able to use the finished products for a window display. Recently, I got really into origami, so I’ve made these Japanese paper ornaments called Kusudama that we’re selling in the store.

Fiona: At times we take for granted things that are a natural interest of ours, but our customers really respond to them. For instance, we re-covered the seats of these vintage Lucite chairs in a beautiful hand-woven fabric and had custom light fixtures made, both to decorate the store. Although they aren’t for sale through us, customers are always asking to buy them, and it’s nice to be able to direct them to those designers. I really enjoy that collaborative aspect to the business and I think this is an example of why the industry is moving in more of a lifestyle direction. A store that represents the brand down to the littlest detail feels more inviting and more inclusive. We have seven year-olds to seventy year-olds who find things they like in the store. Many of the mothers that shop at Thomas Sires do so because their kids see something and want to come in. And then there’s Ivy.

Tell us a bit about Ivy.
Ivy is my Norwich terrier. She’s developed quite a following since we opened. Customers come by just to see her. If you work at Thomas Sires, you inevitably spend a lot of time talking about Ivy.

Allison: She’s our number one salesperson.

What are each of your roles within the company?
Allison: We both do a little bit of everything. Since my background is in design, I handle the sample development and clothing production, but we come up with the seasonal concept for the collection and the designs together . We’re such a small company that we also have to do things outside our field of expertise, like accounting, office management, and we also work in the store. We even clean the bathroom!

Fiona: The idea coming into it was that we each had experience in different areas, but with a small company you end up doing everything and learn early on that some of the things you thought you knew you have to completely relearn because they’re applied in a totally different way. You have to be flexible.

How many employees do you have?
Allison: Currently, it’s just us full time, but we do have a store sales staff.

Fiona: (Laughs) We need help!

{Fiona in Ocho Rios Jumper; portrait of her grandmother, Eleanor, in the background}

In building your business from scratch, what was a challenge you didn’t see coming?
Fiona: I think it takes you out of your confines and into a different space. The process of growth is a little bit like leaving home. A lot of times, you expected to spend your day doing one thing, or evolving the business in a certain direction, and it ends up going in an entirely different way. You have to adjust. Personally, that’s something I like and at a certain point you become zen about not being able to accomplish everything in THAT moment. Additionally, being patient about the future and enjoying your accomplishments as they happen. It’s very easy to forget to do that.
Allison: There are things that have thrown us for a loop, but they mostly have to do with business operation regulations, blah, blah, blah, so I won’t bore you with specifics. Basically, you can strategize on how to deal with challenges that you anticipate, but there are always unexpected things that come up, and they’re mostly things you don’t have experience with. You really have to be able to learn on your feet.

What’s been the most rewarding thing about it?
Allison: Hearing compliments on the store and clothing directly from customers is very rewarding. It makes me feel really, really good, especially when that person doesn’t know that you’re an owner/designer. The positive feedback is all the more special because it’s unsolicited.

Fiona: All the learning that goes into taking that initial plunge and making it a reality. Now, two and a half years later, we’re a part of the neighborhood. We have great customers who respond to our brand, which is exactly what we hoped for. In many ways they’ve become our muses. It’s inspiring to know that what you’ve created captures the essence of what you initially set out to achieve. I love being in the store and meeting our customers–they’re creative, interesting and smart and they get it. It’s such a mix. Many of our customers come from all over the world, and it’s exciting when they respond enthusiastically to our collection and the store, while also recognizing a textile or product from their country from where we have drawn inspiration. It’s sort of a mutual appreciation, which is nice.

Allison: Agreed. One of the few words I know in Japanese is “kawaii,” which means cute, and when we have Japanese tourists come in and I hear them say that, it’s awesome.

Fiona: Also seeing our clothing hanging in some of our favorite stores (Steven Alan!) is always exciting. I would love to go back to Japan and see our collection in stores there. That’s truly a dream come true.

{Allison in the Alexandria Sweater Tee}

Where do you get your inspiration?
Allison: We love prints, and finding or creating ones we like is often when our inspiration starts to come together. For Spring, we found some vintage prints that fit really well with this 1950s-60s Jamaica concept we were feeling.

Fiona: My grandparents built a house in Jamaica in the late 50′s and I have some old photos with kind of a Slim Aarons style, which we used as inspiration. I also have this vintage Jamaica shirt (like the one from the iconic Jamaica Tourism Board poster) that we turned into an intarsia sweater tee.  Our clothing aesthetic is quite classic, so having a loose concept keeps things fun and light. It also helps us build upon that initial concept with the other products and overall atmosphere in our store.

How is your aesthetic represented in the collection?
Fiona: The collection  has to come back to what we, Fiona and Allison, wear and the place we are in our lives. It has to be in line with our overall sensibility in respect to quality and design, and have a certain practicality and purpose. At the same time, we don’t take ourselves too seriously. It feels honest.

Allison: I think in terms of our aesthetic, we both enjoy wearing clothes that are interesting, but not over the top. I don’t mean our aesthetic is conservative–jumpsuits are a mainstay of our collection season after season.

Much of your inspiration comes from travel. What’s a place you haven’t been but would love to go to?
Allison: Fiona and I are both dying to go to Morocco. Also, I really enjoyed a trip I took to Thailand and want to go back. In Bangkok there are these amazing outdoor markets where you can find anything.

Fiona: I would definitely love to visit all the places Allison mentioned, and I also think that there are places that offer consistent inspiration, that one could visit time and again. The more we travel and explore, the more it opens our eyes to the other possibilities for Thomas Sires . . . even just a state away.

What are some of your favorite pieces from this collection?
Fiona: We’ve had lots of success with certain styles, like jumpsuits, since we started. It’s consistently something that’s sold well for us. Our Ocho Rios Jumper in the cotton Ikat print is one of my favorite pieces for summer.

Allison: The Alexandria Sweater Tee is a favorite of mine from this season. I love the marled and solid color blocking.

Many thanks to Fiona, Allison, and Ivy! You can find pieces from the Thomas Sires Spring ’13 collection at our Tribeca and Atlanta stores, and in our web shop.

Rubber Duckie by Dutch artist Florentijn Hofman in Harbour City

Monchichi dolls lining the window of a boutique in the Causeway Bay shopping area.

Enjoying a No. 1 meal at Pepper Lunch

The beautiful Man Mo Temple in Sheung Wan

I wanted to take him home.

My view on a rainy morning

You can check out more of our staff travels here.

- Photos courtesy of Erin Duffey

{Photo by Yusuke Iida}

{Photo by Yusuke Iida}

{Photo by Yusuke Iida}

{Photo by Yusuke Iida}

{With the United Arrows team at our office in Tribeca}

You can view the winning entry here, and see some of our favorite images from participants here. A few highlights from Sally’s board:

Thanks to everyone who entered!

Images are from Pinterest. If you know the source of any of these images, please let us know and we’ll credit accordingly.

{Clare and monogramming pro Walker}

On the trunk show:
It was so fun to visit San Francisco and see the Fillmore store. I lived in SF in my early 20s and it’s always exciting to come and visit and see what has changed in the city. I love meeting girls who are excited about the brand and come out to support us. It’s even more fun when they are getting something monogrammed and I have a chance to speak with them! Everyone looked so cute and was so friendly. It was a lot of fun. It also was not too shabby to have the event at Steven Alan and get to do a little shopping in the form of some new Daryl K boots!

What I packed:
When we arrived I had no time to check into the hotel so I did a quick outfit change out of the back of our rental car. I brought my CV travel bags, my Isabel Marant leather coat, various shoes options, and the monogram machine.

Where I ate:
The Mill was so amazing. The design, the skylights in the ceiling, the herringbone patters in the bookshelf that matched the subway tiled they have – it’s a design lover’s dream! It’s a dream that they have homemade toast and that is all I ever want to eat for breakfast so I could not have been more excited to indulge in some fresh homemade bread! I ate sesame bread with butter and honey and sea salt and it was incredible.

Many thanks to Clare! Stay tuned for details on the next Traveling Trunk Shows at our Greenwich, Tribeca, and Westport shops.

For great coffee in Los Feliz, Caffe Vita is the place to go. Their coffee is imported directly from the farm and is roasted on site. For those hot summer days, they also make an amazing iced coffee.

The Griffith Observatory is always a must see when you’re on the East Side. You get an amazing view of all of Los Angeles and it has great hiking trails.

Skylight Books, located on Vermont just around the corner from our shop, has a great selection of new and used books. If you have a hard time tracking down a book I’m sure Skylight carries it! They have a nicely curated selection of books on music, film, and theater, and Los Angeles culture and history.

For lunch, I’d recommend Best Fish Taco in Ensenada. I’ll let this video speak for itself.

I couldn’t leave the area without stopping by House of Pies and getting their famous banana cream pie.

If you’re looking to catch an early movie there is the Vista Theatre. The Vista is a historic one-screen cinema that plays current films. It’s beautiful inside and has an old school charm.

Thanks, Andrew! You can visit our Los Feliz shop at 1937 1/2 Hillhurst Ave, and read more about it here.

Our lovely hotel (El Pez) cabanas and pool. Vibrant colors are everywhere in Tulum.

Our cabana for the week

Tulum Playa

The local fishermen (and families) come out and fish in front of the hotel every morning at sunrise.

Ceviche Misto (shrimp and fish), a local favorite!

Out on the cabana lawn in our SA best! (Bette dress, short sleeve Single Needle shirt)

There were so many beautiful, chic, low-key beach bars along Tulum Playa, it was hard to choose one!

Biking along the beach road, which has the beach on one side, and the jungle on the other (in my Betty tank and packable raffia hat)

There are many gorgeous little eco boutiques along the beach to check out, all with very interesting architecture and reclaimed elements.

Hartwood Restaurant, owned and operated by Chef Eric Werner from Brooklyn. The jungle setting was incredible, and so was the food!

The Tulum Ruins (Zama) were once inhabited by around 1500 Mayans, and an important trade hub. The setting is unbelievable, right on the edge of a cliff overlooking the Caribbean Sea.

A vibrant fruit stand in Tulum Pueblo

Taqueria in Tulum Pueblo. There is so much good food to be had in town!

Many thanks to Deirdra! You can check out more of our staff travels here.