Leida Pello: How did you come up with the idea to create a brand?

 

Karin Kallas: I did my master’s thesis on footwear; about the shoe last meant for Estonian, well Nordic foot type. And then my partner suggested we should do a brand, and we did. Obviously there is still room for improvement. It is a time-consuming process to fully develop it.

 

LP: Did the idea to do leather accessories come later?

 

KK: We did think straightaway that it has to be complete, not only footwear.

 

LP: But why leather design?

 

KK: I like leather way more than fabric. Even though fabric comes in more types and shapes, I prefer the way stitches look on leather. You can create so many different forms from leather, precisely those stiff ones. Since I was little, I wanted to become a designer and as I have an eye for detail, I chose accessories. When I went to the Estonian Art University there wasn’t anything about footwear. I learnt how to do footwear out of nowhere. We had a workshop and then a year later, me and my course mate decided to do a footwear collection for ERKI [abbreviation of the previous name of Estonian Art University] fashion show and then it all somehow happened.

 

LP: Can the customers come with their own wishes?

 

KK: Yes. We do a lot of special orders, more in a sense that they like something we have done, but they want to change or add something to it.

 

LP: How would you describe your bags?

 

KK: We try to make them as timeless as possible so that they would go with a lot of things. I wouldn’t say our products aren’t feminine. It’s just our designs are more raw and tough. Not everyone likes this style. To some extent our bags are commercial, however, we try to put something in them so that they wouldn’t be. We have included us under commercial design so that they wouldn’t be overly artsy ‘it’ bags or something like that. Our bags are somewhere in the middle.

 

LP: Who is your target customer?

 

KK: We would like to think that all our products are meant for a mobile woman, who doesn’t want to sacrifice on her looks. She is modern, probably with a family. Our customer might be a bit more fashion conscious and with a slightly sloppier style. I’d say comfortable and stylish.

 

LP: Do you have loyal customers who come back for new collections?

 

KK: Yes we do. We also have those who at some point bought something for themselves and now keep on buying gifts for others. In general, the majority who has bought something does return and get something new. Maybe it has something to do with creating a whole outfit. Once your shoes are in one style you want the bag to be in the same style, too.

 

LP: Where do your leathers come from?

 

KK: Our leathers come from Spain. We use a lot of pony leather that we get from Riga and honestly I don’t know where they get it. Maybe from Italy, as once there was a label saying Italy.

 

LP: Do your products have the Made in … label on them?

 

KK: No, they don’t. We think there is no point putting Made in Estonia, as some people perceive it as a developing country. Made in Europe that is a little bit strange. And as they are Spanish leathers, then this particular word phrase isn’t worth as much as Italian leathers. So we have decided to put only our logo and that’s it. Maybe later, once we can justify it, we will add something.

 

LP: Why Stuudio Nahk?

 

KK: It was quite random. We needed to register our company and for a week it was all about choosing the name. I can’t even recall what were the other choices; well, my name was one of them. But then I was like; it might not be the best solution. Once it all escalates, I might want to go to the shop without anyone whispering look that is she, basically that was my train of thought. I wouldn’t want it to be directly associated with a name. Let it be Stuudio Nahk.

 

LP: Is there a plan to expand abroad?

 

KK: We currently are in the middle of the identity creating process, sort of an enhancing process. It also means creating an e-shop for our webpage. We have sold abroad, but that is if they have found us. Foreign Estonians purchase a lot, maybe this way the word goes around and someone new orders something. However, it is really tricky to sell footwear online that is why we haven’t done it. Once we get the base products sorted out we can send a catalogue to a shop and say to the retailers that these products are available.