Interview: Laila from Mary & Marie

Mary & Marie handbag designer Laila Taper.

Recently I was lucky enough to interview the lovely Laila, one half of the design duo behind Mary & Marie handbags. I was pretty excited as I love the range and was interested to know how the brand came about. It turns out Laila designs the range with her best friend Rachel Torti who she met in Hong Kong. The girls design the range keeping luxury vs. simplicity in mind and source high-quality leather and other fabrics for their designs. Their ultimate goal was to make it easier to organise your life into a hangbag which is pretty cool! Check out Laila’s answers below:

Tell us the story of how ‘Mary & Marie’ came to be?   

The idea started when my first child Bella was born. I couldn’t find a nice looking bag that had all the compartments that I needed as a woman let alone all the compartments I needed as a mum. I definitely found it frustrating that baby bags were so ugly at the time and designer bags didn’t have all the space I needed for my new role as a mum in a way I could access them easily. Who wants to be searching for a dummy when you’re driving with a screaming baby? It’s all about convenience when you have kids, and no one was catering to that market back then. At least not in a stylish way.

This is why we created the Mary & Marie range. Our bags feature a neoprene bottle holder which keeps your baby bottle warm, water bottle cold and prevents spillage, a hook for your wallet and another hook for your keys, a waterproof pouch that can hold a laptop, ipad, nappys, wet togs and more.

The inside of our bags also zip out completely so if you do make a mess and need to clean the bag you just zip it out and wash it. Simple!

What was your background before starting the label?  

 I grew  up on the beach in the Eastern Suburbs of Sydney in a gorgeously sunny environment where family and friends were always over on our sea-breezy bouganvillia-filled balcony. As Sydney’s beaches are filled with glamour, it wasn’t long before I was drawn to designing clothes and bikinis for friends.

Then when I was 19 I fell in love with snowboarding and, quite by chance, a friend asked me to help him start up SMP (surf label) so I quit computer programming and took up fashion design at East Sydney.

I was studying every night and working all day at SMP. The course took me three years to finish but it was great training- cutting patterns and samples all day and then going to college at night to make sure I was doing it properly. I guess that’s where I learned attention to detail.

It wasn’t long before I had a local beach side surf shop and I started selling my designs at these great markets around Sydney from Bondi to Paddington. It was a great combination of family and business and definitely where I learned to please customers.

I hear you’re based in Hong Kong and Rachel is based in Australia! What’s it like living in Hong Kong?

Hong Kong is awesome! After 4 years in Shanghai I was really happy to get closer to the beach lining at Repulse Bay (in Honk Kong). It make me feel more at home. Plus China is only 1 hour away on the train which is perfect!

View from my office:

What’s the best thing about your job?

Choosing leather and fabric making patterns from scratch and getting really excited when they come out just right. Rachel and I create a product based on what people ask for and want. It is so satisfying creating a product that you know will help people get themselves organised which is also beautiful and high quality.

What’s your biggest inspiration for your work? 

That would have to be finding new ways to evolve our design process to create the perfect bag! We are trying to produce low cost day bags that were great for mums, the professional woman and also great beach bags. With our current range we have gone straight to the customer and have created the range based on feedback and thoughts on what they want to see in their perfect beach bag.

What is your favourite bag of all time outside your own range? 

I have lots of LV’s as it’s my husband’s mothers day gift to me most years! My new favourite though is the Jennifer bag by Tom Ford.

What items do you always carry in your handbag? 

I have just finished creating the perfect makeup bag. It has taken me three years and 17 different samples to finally ‘okay it’ but it is a must have for my handbag! Snacks for the kids as also a must as well as my phone and keys of course and my laptop!

Is the collection only available for purchase online?

We have a number of boutiques selling our product in NSW and online but our online store is our main selling point.

Any advice you would give someone wanting to start their own brand?

The same advice I have given my customers for the past 14 years – You need money and a lot of it! I’m a realist. Starting up is not cheap and unless you have access to at least $100,000 dollars you aren’t going to be able to make a go of it. But the positive side is, if you put your head down, and keep that second and third job, you will be able to get it up off the ground.

What’s the vision for the company? 

To make Luxury bags at affordable prices that are fashionable and have all the components on the inside so that you can spend less time searching for your keys!

See some of the Mary + Marie range below, and more here.