Where function, flair go hand in handbag

ACCESSIBILITY: Nicole D'Andra, design director and CEO of D'Andrea Handbags, displays some of her creations. D'Andrea tested the accessories with members of University of Rhode Island sororities. / PBN PHOTO/MICHAEL SALERNO
ACCESSIBILITY: Nicole D'Andra, design director and CEO of D'Andrea Handbags, displays some of her creations. D'Andrea tested the accessories with members of University of Rhode Island sororities. / PBN PHOTO/MICHAEL SALERNO

Nicole D’Andrea wanted her MacBook to fit inside her “Mr. Arrogant” handbag, one of several styles her company designs, so she put the zipper on the side.

“I try to keep the pieces stylish but classic and functional,” she explained. “I want you to be able to use it. And then I just want girls to have fun with them.”

D’Andrea, 34, who is both design director and CEO of D’Andrea Handbags, started the business in 2009 as a limited liability company, launching operations in the fall of 2011.

Making the Mr. Arrogant handbag to suit a practical need taught D’Andrea a lesson in how to be true to herself and her vision, which includes creating accessories for women and, soon, men, that are not only stylish but versatile, she said.

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“The biggest thing I’ve learned in regard to design is to be myself,” said D’Andrea. “I don’t try to follow trends but use the design going on inside my head and make a functional piece.”

While she declined to disclose annual sales revenue, she says the company, based in North Smithfield, is profitable and growing.

Besides adding men’s lines for accessories such as shoes, in mid-October she added bracelets to the jewelry she makes, and hopes to add charms for necklaces and bracelets as well as, eventually, apparel, she said.

D’Andrea attributes her success to her family, including her grandfather, the late Frank D’Andrea, and father, Frank D’Andrea Jr. She also relies on her brother, Steven, who is a partner and chief operating officer for D’Andrea Handbags.

All three relatives taught her the value of “hands-on” management, she said. Her grandfather taught her that hard work pays and to cultivate “hands-on” relationships with staff. D’Andrea has eight people working for her in-house and four subcontractors. She can jump on a sewing machine and make patterns just the way staff do, she said.

“Anyone we hire,” she said, “I want to know how to do their job. It makes a difference.”

Likewise, her brother, Steven, shares his practical side with D’Andrea, whose strong suit is creativity. It’s Steven who knows the territories to market to and how to grow the business, she said.

Originally from Smithfield, D’Andrea studied fashion design at the International Academy of Design in Chicago and graduated in 2005. She also interned for four months at BCBG’s Max Azria in Los Angeles. By then it was apparent that she preferred designing accessories such as handbags and shoes, as opposed to clothing, she said.

In 2006, she spent six months at Ars Suttoria of Milan, a school for fashion design and pattern-making for shoes and handbags. In 2012, she settled on a factory to produce her creations, she said, declining to name it for proprietary reasons.

“Finding a factory was the hardest part,” she recalled. “They have to be able to work with me. I give them a sketch and I work with the sample maker to make a prototype. … From there it goes into production.”

She has trained a sample maker by spending months at a time at the Los Angeles factory, and as a result, she now doesn’t have to go as frequently, she said.

Along the way, CEO Tiffany Tuttle of LD Tuttle has been an important mentor. D’Andrea oversaw a handbag line for that firm in 2007-08, she said. The Los Angeles-based firm specializes in Italian-made women’s shoes.

“She gave me the opportunity to get hands-on experience working with a factory, which was really valuable,” D’Andrea said. “She was like my grandfather, hands-on, from sketching to jumping in on photo shoots, so it showed me what it takes to start a new business and be successful at it.”

For now, D’Andrea wants to build her business so that her handbags become a lifestyle brand.

“I want to keep designing,” she said. “I’m very ambitious, so once we reach the goals we have now, I’m sure I’ll have more goals ahead of me.” •

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