How Monica Botkier Turned a Side Hustle into a Handbag Legend 🔥👜| Emily Blumenthal & Monica Botkier

Handbag Designer 101: The Stories Behind Handbag Designers, Brands, and Industry Icons

Before every influencer had a brand and every bag had a waitlist, there was the Botkier Trigger Bag—an iconic design that redefined what it meant to blend fashion and function. In this episode of Handbag Designer 101, Monica Botkier joins us to share the real story behind one of the most game-changing handbag brands of the early 2000s—and how she’s evolving her vision for a new generation.

Monica didn’t set out to be a handbag designer. From sneaking into NYFW as a fearless teenager to photographing high-profile editorials, her path was anything but linear. But her deep love for leatherwork, eye for detail, and natural NYC hustle led to the launch of Botkier, one of the first true indie It-Bag brands. The Trigger Bag wasn’t just stylish—it solved problems, and that’s what made it sell out.

This conversation is a crash course in handbag history, complete with celeb knockoffs, licensing deals, and the sharp pivot to Monica’s latest venture, Chosen Woven. She opens up about protecting designs, staying relevant in the social media age, and what it really takes to build (and rebuild) a fashion brand from the ground up.

💡 Key Takeaways
👜 The Power of a Signature Style: Why the Trigger Bag became a phenomenon—and how designers can create a lasting design legacy.
📈 Creativity vs. Commerce: How Monica balances the artistic process with the realities of manufacturing, scaling, and retail.
🔁 Adapting with the Times: Lessons on reinvention in an industry that’s always evolving, and why agility matters more than ever.

Our Guest: Monica Botkier is a legendary handbag designer, creative director, and founder of Botkier and Chosen Woven. Her groundbreaking work helped define the early 2000s handbag boom, and her designs continue to inspire a new generation of fashion entrepreneurs.

🎧 Listen now and take a trip through handbag history with one of the OGs.

Host Emily Blumenthal is a handbag industry expert, author of Handbag Designer 101, and founder of The Handbag Awards. Known as the “Handbag Fairy Godmother,” Emily also teaches entrepreneurship at the Fashion Institute of Technology. She is dedicated to celebrating creativity, craftsmanship, and the art of building iconic handbag brands.

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Chapters

1. From Photography to Handbag Design (00:00:00)

2. Creating the Bottegier Brand (00:09:35)

3. Building a Successful Handbag Business (00:17:01)

4. Handbag Designer 101 Masterclass Promo (00:26:45)

5. Industry Evolution and Brand Challenges (00:27:45)

6. Partnership Troubles and Selling the Brand (00:34:16)

7. Life After Bottegier and New Ventures (00:44:06)

8. Episode Closing (00:59:20)