When Pierre laborde first began peddling his handmade handbags at the Grand Bazaar flea market on the Upper West Side almost a decade ago, he often didn’t sell any bags at all. As the years went on, he was content if he sold 10 or 15 styles from his booth each weekend. So he was shocked when, one morning in mid-November, his entire stock of colorful leather bags, priced between $275 and $1200, sold out in just two hours.”I was like, ‘What is happening?'” says Laborde, a soft-spoken 42-year-old with a neatly trimmed beard and a penchant for wearing vintage work shirts.He attributes the sudden surge in demand to a TikTok video posted by a shopper who stumbled upon his booth. The video, which featured a close-up of his intricately woven bags, quickly went viral, racking up over a million views.Laborde,who works out of a small home studio in Brooklyn,had been making bags as a hobby as he was a teenager. He taught himself the craft by watching videos and experimenting with different techniques. His designs are inspired by the work of vintage French and Italian artisans, but he puts his own unique spin on them, using bold colors and unexpected materials. Each bag is made to order, and Laborde personally handles every step of the process, from cutting the leather to stitching the seams.
“I like the idea of making something that will last,” he says. “I want people to be able to use my bags for years to come.” He’s now scrambling to keep up with the influx of orders,working long hours in his studio and enlisting the help of a few friends to assist with the more tedious tasks. He’s also considering expanding his operation, but he’s steadfast to maintain the quality and craftsmanship that have made his bags so popular. “I don’t want to lose the personal touch,” he says. “That’s what makes my bags special.”
The TikTok virality has been a whirlwind, but Laborde is taking it in stride. He’s grateful for the prospect to share his work with a wider audience, and he’s excited to see what the future holds. “It’s been a dream come true,” he says. “I never thought my little hobby would turn into something like this.”
The $300 Bag That’s Taking Over New York City
For months,New york City’s fashion crowd has been quietly obsessed with the vibrant,slouchy leather bags created by West Harlem-based designer,Antoine Laborde. What started as a small operation selling at a local bazaar has exploded, fueled by TikTok virality and a growing sense that Laborde offers something genuinely different.
Laborde, a self-taught designer with a penchant for baroque aesthetics, crafts each bag himself, using colorful cowhide leather and playful silk linings. His designs – asymmetrical clutches and hobo-style crescents – are distinctive and joyful,a refreshing contrast to the ubiquitous fast-fashion dupes and logo-laden luxury bags that dominate the market. And, crucially, they’re priced under $1,000.
The demand has become overwhelming. Laborde reports receiving requests from desperate fans offering him extra money to pick up the bags from his apartment.Over 1,000 people are signed up for updates on his website. His brother heard from someone in Canada who wants to invest in his line and sell his bags in Dubai.
“the pictures,the videos,really didn’t do it justice,” says Fatou Magassa,a recent graduate who discovered Laborde on TikTok and has visited the bazaar three times in the past two months. “The pricing was just so good, like it felt too good to be true as well – for the quality, for the fact that it’s genuine leather. And he hand-makes these bags.”
Laborde’s apartment and studio, a baroque-inspired space filled with antique furniture and paintings, serves as a showroom for his creations. Each bag features unique details, like contrasting pockets and an extra strap for cross-body wear. The neon-dyed cowhide styles are particularly striking, offering a burst of color that feels both modern and timeless. In a landscape of predictable leather goods, Antoine Laborde’s bags stand out as a testament to the power of craftsmanship, individuality, and a little bit of joy.
“I was in Whole Foods a week ago, and a woman came up to me, like, ‘Is that one of those bags from TikTok?'” says Brittney russell, a vintage-designer-handbag collector who recently added two Pierre Laborde bags to her closet.Her videos about buying and wearing his bags are among her most viewed on TikTok.
Laborde, a Haitian immigrant, graduated with a degree in womenswear from the Fashion Institute of Technology in 2000. But his career in fashion didn’t turn out as he had hoped. While he made wedding dresses on the side for friends of friends, he never managed to find a job in the industry designing clothes. At some point over a decade ago – he’s careful not to reveal his age – he hit a breaking point while working long hours at a knitwear company, measuring garments sent over from China and Korea to confirm the sizes were correct. “I took my 401(k) and I was like, ‘Okay, one life to live,'” he says. He went back to FIT to study accessory design and slowly started making bags out of his apartment and selling them at the flea market, where he found loyal clients before TikTok. But there were points when he thought about finding a different job, especially during the pandemic: “With everything that’s going on now, it’s a good thing I didn’t give up.”