Innovation meets luxury in this locally launched handbag.
What is one part problem solver and all parts high fashion? The Scalzini Gia Mini Tote bag, designed by Atlanta native Renee Scalzini.
A graphic designer by training and trade, Scalzini treated herself to prescription designer sunglasses when she turned 40. She quickly learned there was no great option for carrying her new investment with her throughout her day. “I searched high and low, but couldn’t find anything that worked. The cases you get from the eye doctor are cumbersome and take up too much room in your bag, but flimsy slip pockets don’t protect them,” Scalzini says. “And since most people of a certain age have, at the very least, readers, when I started telling my friends about my frustration, they all agreed it was a problem.”
Scalzini’s creative brain took over, and in 2019, she decided to design a solution: a luxury handbag with a protective eyewear case built in. “I woke up one morning with the vision of how the functionality of a protective eyeglasses case could work on the inside of a designer handbag,” she says. She made her first model out of paper and then set out to find someone to make a proper fabric prototype that could be taken to a manufacturer.
Unable to find the right partner, she bought a sewing machine and taught herself to sew using YouTube videos. After making her “true” prototype, she set out to find a manufacturer— an endeavor that was also far from simple. “I finally have a good manufacturer, and I am proud of my product, but it has taken a long time,” Scalzini says. “Indie brands aren’t a priority for many manufacturers.”
When the Scalzini brand launched at the end of 2021, the first bag was made of genuine leather, but the designer’s niece quickly asked for a vegan bag. “At first I didn’t want to go that route because in my mind, vegan leather is that stuff that disintegrates on your shelf after a year. So I began searching the globe to find a better vegan leather,” Scalzini says. Her search led to silicone leather, or sileather, which was developed in 2013. It is typically used for upholstery in luxury cars and boats, but Scalzini discovered that it is temperature resistant so it doesn’t crack or peel in the sun or scuff over time, and it is also buttery soft, making it the ideal luxury handbag material. “While this is a new material for most people, considering it is 100% recyclable, good for the environment and non-toxic, I think it’s something more people will be gravitating to in time,” Scalzini says.
Because of the unique functionality of her design, Scalzini holds a utility patent for her bags and is now part of an elite group: Only 13% of patent holders in the U.S. are women.
Locally, Scalzini bags can be found in Westside Market in Roswell and online. New colors for the Gia Mini Tote recently launched, and three additional designs will hit the website in 2025, but that’s just the beginning for the brand. “I love designing handbags,” Scalzini says. “I have so many ideas that there aren’t enough hours in the day to get it all done. I wish I could just design things that solve problems for the way we live. I really feel like this is my calling.”
SCALZINI
scalzini.com
@scalzini.accessories
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