Kuwait Times

Published Date: September 08, 2009

Lured by the hand-sewn gold sequins with hints of red and green, and the warm hues of brown and orange hanging off a stranger's arm, the stylishly dressed woman with the closely cropped hair plowed through the crowded hotel lobby like an entranced fashionista hot after a must-have. "Is that? Is that ... a VeVe? she asks, her voice tinged with a bit of uncertainty as if her curiosity could no longer withstand the suspense.

The "VeVe" handbag is more than a glittery fashion statement. Inspired by Haitian Vodou designs, it's an emblem of identity in the shape and scale of an open Birkin bag that is quickly making a name for itself and its Haiti-born designer. "This is a good everyday bag," Phelicia Dell, 38, says modestly, about her traditional yet modern handbags, which retail between $70 and $120, and are winning accolades in and out of Haiti.

With bags large enough to carry to the market but sophisticated enough for an evening on the town, Dell's "VeVe Collections" (www.collectionveve.com) has become a statement of the ingenuity and creativity of Haitian artisans. Her own journey from struggling artist to sought-after handbag designer in just four years is itself a story about life after tragedy, and about what women in poor countries can do once empowered. Earlier this year, Dell was selected as the best emerging handbag designer after winning
the Diane von Furstenberg global handbag design competition.

An American fashion icon best known as the creator of the ever-popular hip-hugging wrap dress, von Furstenberg asked thousands of women to create a bag reflective of their country's local traditions, based on identical patterns. She launched it through Vital Voices Global Partnership's artisan program. The nongovernmental organization, co-founded in 1997 by then first lady Hillary Clinton, works to empower women in 120 countries. "Each bag is made by hand," von Furstenberg told The Miami Herald, "and I thi
nk that makes each piece have a special emotional connection to its origins.

Von Furstenberg said Dell's winning design, a handcrafted clutch in a neutral tone with a painted design paying tribute to the love and strength of Haitian women, was modern but true to Haitian traditions. "She was able to perceive and translate the directions of our design team and that she showed a great attention to detail and was involved in the whole process are all important qualities for a designer to possess," von Furstenberg said.

Dell, who first competed among Haitian designers to represent her Caribbean homeland before beating out women from Guatemala, Nigeria and Cambodia, still is wowed by the fact that von Furstenberg "fell in love with the design." "It feels good to have somebody recognize your work," says Dell. "It helps me understand that I need to help others through my own work. I feel a bigger sense of responsibility.

That need to help others has taken Dell from being a one-woman designer to an employer of 13 artisans who help craft her bags "from soul by hand." Though she often seeks inspiration from Haiti's Vodou culture, some bags are inspired by love and nature. A single mother, Dell left Haiti when she was 15 and moved to Miami, where she graduated from Miami Edison Senior. She found tepid success as an artist, singing love songs to a Zouk melody before falling in love and moving back to Haiti.

But the love story would be short-lived. A year after Dell gave birth to their daughter, her boyfriend and partner-he built houses, she decorated them-was kidnapped and killed. Heartbroken, but determined to raise her child in Haiti, Dell wondered how she would survive. One day, she finally noticed the fabric flooding her living room.

I thought to myself, 'What the hell am I going to do with all of this fabric?' I didn't want to do decor anymore, and I didn't want to sell them," she recalls. One day, she started pulling the pieces together. After months of trial and error-and giving away lots of free samples to friends-VeVe Collections was born. "I didn't have enough fabric to make two, three or four bags. That is why most of my bags are unique pieces," says Dell.

For years, Femmes en Democratie, Haiti's Vital Voices chapter, has struggled to create a market for female Haitian entrepreneurs like Dell beyond the upscale boutiques of tony Petionville, and sparse tourists spots of Labadee and Jacmel. But other than the occasional artisan fair, the group has found little success beyond Haiti and its Caribbean neighbors. Danielle Saint-Lot, a co-founder of Femmes Democratie, hopes Dell's success will change that. "For Haitian artists and business promoters, this award by
Phelicia shows us that our culture is what make us unique and competitive in this changing world," says Saint-Lot.

Femmes en Democratie supports a network of 50 women-owned enterprises, artists and designers and 20 associations of women artisans from throughout Haiti by providing them with training, opportunities, access to finance and markets. "Our goal is to have our women designers and artists unlock their potential and enter the global market," says Saint-Lot, who owns six VeVes including a beaded green, yellow and red one she sported last month to go hear former President Bill Clinton speak at a Haitian Diaspora c
onference in Sunny Isles Beach, Fla. "Phelicia is paving the way. As she always says, there are hundreds of unknown Phelicias in Haiti.

Dell's winning designs told a powerful story about women in Haitian society, through Ayizan, the guardian of the marketplace in Vodou culture. "She's an old woman who owns a lot of money but everything she has is for her to give away," Dell says. "She protects families, like abused wives." Both the story and designs resonated with von Furstenberg, who ordered 200 of Dell's clutches as part of a limited-edition collection for her DVF stores. The bags, said a DVF spokeswoman, are now mostly sold out; only a
few remain in London and Paris shops.

Less intricate than the larger handbags, the DVF collection of clutches retails for $50. "People are very interested in the story behind the things that they buy and where they come from," said von Furstenberg. Daphee Surpris, a New York attorney who spotted a bag at the Clinton speech, agrees. She calls Dell's VeVe bags "a conversation piece." "Once you see it, you recognize it," said the self-professed handbag aficionado, who fell in love with the collection while visiting Haiti over the summer. "It's fu
n, and very versatile. It's sophisticated enough for you to carry out to dinner, or to carry to brunch with your friends, and professional enough to go hear Bill Clinton speak." - MCT