Phases of Producing my Scout Monosling Design in Manhattan, pt. 1

1. Think of a bag design that I genuinely need and yearn for

2. Use my hands to create the bag in the physical realm

3. Weirdly keep it for myself which I never do

4. Love it!!! But want to make it more chic..

5. Make it again but a more intense version

6. Experience an inner knowing that this is my next evergreen Maven design

7. Immediately sell my prototype because I need the money and “can always make it again”

8. Realize that even though I love how it came out, there’s something about the process of making it that is irritating to me and I never want to make it myself ever again.

9. Field inquiries from collectors asking about the bag and when I’m going to make it again - give them vague answers about producing it sometime in the distant, undisclosed future. Everyone’s chill about it.

10. Think about what I would have done differently with the design

11. Ask the collector who purchased it if they have any feedback on the design

12. Research artisan teams in NYC because the LA team I usually work with is having landlord issues

13. Start talking to one I like

14. Fly from California to Manhattan to meet them in person so I can get eyes on their operation and do a general vibe check (results of vibe check: classified)

15. Bring the first ever version of the Scout from my personal collection even though it has sunscreen all over it

16. Talk to a guy, like what he says, agree they should help me produce my design

17. Walk around Brooklyn wearing my bag, feeling kinda good here

18. Get complimented on my bag by a stranger who almost loses their mind when I tell them I made it 💅🏻✨

19. Go home to CA and muscle through another prototype that was not my best work but they’ll know what I’m trying to say

20. Put the prototype in a box with enough leather and hardware to make it again, include a handwritten letter, send it all to NYC

21. Go back to work as usual, making one-of-a-kind bags, completely different from the one I’m going to produce

22. Experience complete radio silence from nyc artisan team

23. Barely check in on them bc I’m overwhelmed and lowkey don’t want to deal with it

24. Experience paranoia that my design is getting stolen

25. Talk about it on IG stories. Instantly delete bc attention isn’t going to save me and and i look bad that day

26. Decide to move to nyc and I’ll just show up in person when I get there

27. Move to nyc

28. Finally get ahold of artisan team and tell them I’m coming to collect my shit and you better have it ready

29. Guy kind of gaslights me, says we had agreed to wait, and just work on it when I moved to nyc, which is why I’ve been on ice

30. Tell him I had no idea I was even moving here when we last spoke but ok, let’s just move forward with better communication because I like that you’re family-run and you’ve been in business for 40+ years. Also there’s a slight chance I may have subconsciously decided to move to nyc while I was in the room with you, and maybe I said it out loud, I don’t remember.

31. Take two trains to Manhattan, channeling assertion

32. Radiate a stern, dominant feminine energy as I stand over homeboy and command him to sketch out my changes at his desk.

33. Communicate to him telepathically that I am not to be fucked with.

34. Receive intuitive feedback that he’s just doing a lot, has kids, and they’re producing hundreds of basic ass tote bags for like, Coach or something rn… so nobody cares about your strangely-detailed small potatoes design, you’re safe.

35. Continue to field questions from extremely chill and patient collectors who want the bag and have been waiting for the bag, at this point, for 8 months

36. Announce that the prototype is being made!!

37. Go pick up the prototype in a depressive state, can’t remember why

38. Fucking love the prototype. Super super excited about the prototype!!! No longer sad.

39. Construction (their part) is leaving something to be desired tho… backburner that thought

40. Buy a bike off FB Marketplace

41. Ride everywhere on my bike in good fit wearing bag. Continue to love my design. It never slips.

42. Receive intuitive messages that people in cars, fellow bikers and passerby are coveting my bag, wishing they had one, and wondering where it’s from.

43. Commitment to bike riding while sexy triggers collective NYC consciousness awakening. Am given signal that Scout design is ready to be received.

44. Lovely man requests to pre-purchase the Scout bc his wife is following progress on it. He doesn’t care that idk how much it is or when it will become available.

45. Get ghosted by Manhattan guy again!!!!!

46. Decide to cut all ties bc why am I making my life harder trying to convince a random man to believe in me?? Also why wouldn’t they cover up that interior seam??

47. Find a woman-led and -owned team in Manhattan, offering more creative freedom and lower MOQ options, plus other exciting perks

48. Feel relief because vibe and communication seem way better.

49. Take bag with me to CA so I can surf and be with my dog and friends for my birthday. Love the bag the entire time. Works so great as a minimalist carry-on. Love love love!!

50. Show the bag to every person I meet on my travels. Their lives all change drastically after touching the bag. They never knew they needed the bag before, but now that they’ve experienced it, they can’t go back to their typical day-to-day. They’ll need to find a new way of coping with the yearning for the bag. No one is mad, just thankful for the spiritual trigger that the bag caused. They all retreat into solitude to contemplate and express themselves artistically until bag becomes available.

51. More people pledge to purchase upon completion!!! I love my collectors!!

52. I archive all public photos of the bag. Feeling that now it should be kept secret until it’s done? Tell me if that was a bad idea.

53. Return to NY and anxiously await my first in-person meeting with new girl-powered artisan team on Monday, 5.11.26 at 4pm ET.

54. Enter small 6th floor office in Garment District. Long wool tartan skirt, black boots, vintage black LL Bean windbreaker feeling like an effortlessly cool Druid warrior princess ready to cast spells on anyone who won’t help me make this bag.

55. Vibe out hardddd with one of the founders.

56. Accept all advice from her. Listen intently as she tells me of her own career beginning just like me — with herself as the primary manufacturer. Make it known that I will accept all tips and tricks for as long as our relationship lasts.

57. She points out the seam. I’m like: I know I know

58. Smile, laugh, get serious. Smile, laugh, squeeze in a joke that makes her laugh. Get serious. Charm. Charm. Charm. Leave on an uplifting and professional note.

59. Receive word that after discussing with her business partner, they believe I am a good fit and would like to work together?!! Um yes, please.

60. Begin the sample-making process all over again ($$) with a better aligned, more quality-driven team because I believeeeee!!!

To be continued.