We consider it an honor to collaborate with fantastic local artists to come up with new variations on the customizable market bag, which is why we’re excited to work with Emily J. Snyder on our new hand-painted Customize Your Monogram Bag (Limited Qty: 200). Emily originally hails from Rochester, Minnesota, and studied drawing, painting, and jewelry design at School of the Museum of Fine Arts/Tufts University in Boston. While working at a New York stationary house, she fell in love with art, especially appreciating the precision and detail involved. Soon, her creative work became a full-time job in itself, and Emily eventually made her way to LA, where she works on a variety of projects ranging from film titles to textile design and painted portraits.

Emily’s work speaks for itself (take a look here), and conveys a sense of boundless imagination and styles, as she draws ideas not just from traditional places, but from nature itself — from the elaborate lines in tree branches to the silvery trails left by slugs.

We’re excited to be working with Emily not just because she's wildly talented, but because she also shares our passion for using business to help people around the world. As with all our bags, every Customize Your Monogram Bag sold benefits the Bangladeshi mothers who craft these bags, giving them above-Fair-Trade wages, profit dividends, and a retirement fund, all of which help break a cycle of poverty for these women and their families. Not only does this collaboration result in durable, limited-edition bags featuring customized monograms hand-painted by Emily, it also tangibly benefits the community of Saidpur, Bangladesh.

We recently got to visit Emily's plant-filled studio in LA's Chinatown — check out the photostory below.

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