Bag Envy
Briana Bigham
Business
Briana Bigham has always loved handbags. In fact, her cousin held an intervention after Bigham binged on several pairs of handbags in one outing. It is safe to say she knows her stuff and it comes as no surprise that when the time came for the fashion industry veteran to step out on her own, she would launch her own luxury handbag line B. Marie Style.
Bigham started designing prom dresses in high school. After graduation she moved to New York City setting her sights on the fashion industry. With a degree from FIT and internships from Dana Buchman, Bigham’s first jobs out of school were impressive. Tommy Hilfiger and Nautica gave her Assistant Design titles, but it would be a position on the design team at Esprit that would take things to the next level. Since the company owned the licenses for other design companies like Liz Claibourne, Laundry, and Betsey Johnson. Bigham was named designer for Laundry and won the New Contemporary Award for Outerwear Magazine. “My designs were in InStyle a few times,” Bigham remembers. “I had the number one selling coat in the country for four years running… still running. It’s weird…I’ll walk by 7th avenue and look through the shop windows and see the knock-off version and snicker. Then I’ll go to Macy’s and my designs are still on the floor even though I haven’t designed for them in a good five years.”
But all of that success came with tons of hardwork and after working 70-75 hour work weeks, leaving the office at 2am, and it wasn’t long before Bigham was burnt out. She took a job with Victoria’s Secret’s PINK as a glorified data entry specialist and was content living a much simpler life. Of course, when you’re cut from the cloth Briana is, you cannot out sew your fate. Her boss discovered her portfolio and all but demanded Bingham move into the technical design team at PINK, which Briana did.
In 2009, Bigham starred in Harlem Heights, a reality show on BET, left PINK, and got the ball rolling on B. Marie Style. Her line features an array of custom made bags ranging from hot pink studded shoulder bags to fur trimmed, fatigued clutches. Her next line will be titled Blackout and will be an ode to the black handbag. With the Blackout line, Bingham plans to build a lifestyle brand and eventually branch out to apparel. “I will eventually move back into clothing because I’m very skilled at that. That’s probably my best attribute. I’m good at handbags, I’m excellent at clothes. We’re dipping into it now, though. I’m making a silk charmeuse scarf with the handbags for the next line.”
