Shoe brand Freda Salvador is bringing its effortless California cool, Made in Spain craftsmanship to a new category: handbags.
“It took us two-plus years to take the design aesthetic we use to think about our footwear — it’s cool but it’s functional, it’s no-nonsense but it’s elevated — and bring it to bags,” said brand cofounder Megan Papay. “Sourcing wise, we’re in southern Spain in the same factory that makes Loewe, so the execution was exquisite and we could play a lot with artisanal details.”
Freda Salvador, founded in 2012 by Papay and Cristina Palomo-Nelson, is based in Sausalito, Calif., and is a favorite of Jennifer Lawrence, Emma Roberts, Karlie Kloss and many more celebs for its Chelsea and Western boots, platform oxfords, loafers and woven ballet flats.
The designers started with three handbag styles, a leather tote in black calf or hazel suede with whipstitched handles and a shoulder strap; a bucket in black calf or seaweed green mock croc, and a mini crossbody pouch in mock croc or silver calf. Prices are $195 to $595, and the collection is available through the brand’s online store and at its new San Francisco boutique on Fillmore Street. (An L.A. boutique is next.)
“It was really important for us to do to a carryall satchel, it’s nice and light, and you can throw it on your back if you want to,” Papay said. “The bucket bag has the same welt as on our shoes, that’s how we tied it all together,” she said. “We’re recoloring them for spring, and then we’ll do a bigger size tote for summer in canvas and denim.”
The brand collaborated with actress Freida Pinto last year on a pair of D’Orsay sneakers to benefit charity. “I found on set and in my press junkets I was wearing my Freda Salvadors every day, like a pair of jeans you want to wear until you can’t anymore,” she said at the time.
“The momentum of Freda is so good right now, the people wanting our shoes, wearing our shoes, the stores picking us up, we cannot keep the ballets or loafers in stock,” Papay said. “We’re in a month out preorder, and every time we put them up on the site they are gone.”
