It was gators that brought Ashley Porter to New Orleans.
Best known for her Porter Lyons Jewelry collection, Porter started out making exotic-skin belts. “I moved to Louisiana to find a good source for alligator. I turned to a jewelry line after I found the alligator backbone” that became the model for her signature look.
It’s origami that moves her today. Her newest project: handbags.
“I wanted a bag that was different, that had an element of surprise when you opened it,” she says. Thus the origami-like folds and pockets of the Gris-Gris bag. “It’s great for travel. It lies flat if you pack it.”
The fossil-y motif recurs here as well. “The zipper pull on the bag carries through with the medallion that’s a direct casting (of the gator bones).”
Creating the pattern for the bag took about two months.
“The thing I struggled with: I like an outside pocket, but for this first handbag, due to the nature of the skin, I couldn’t do it (cut it to make a pocket). The skin is what people are paying for. I’ll do an outside pocket on a larger tote that’s faux,” meaning basic leather with an embossed alligator print rather than real gator skin.
Porter currently has one bag in each of the seven material combinations.
“The real Louisiana gator, in Grade 1 skin from a domestic tannery in Lafayette, is the
most expensive: $2,800.” A python version is $825, and the least expensive is gator-embossed leather at $425.
To see the bags, make an appointment at the 2536 Esplanade Ave. studio, 504.264.1375, or order online at porterlyons.com. Special orders will take about a month.
This clutch is one of a series of new locally made leather bags by Bats on Tees. Another handbag debut comes from Bats on Tees, whose Winter 2014 collection of locally handcrafted leather bags recently hit the market. Saints fans know Bats on Tees as a source for clear purses that meet new NFL stadium regulations. But founder Tiffany Napper wanted to score a few extra points in that collection by adding other textures, such as PVC and leather. The smallest piece in the leather collection fits inside the clear bags, and the combo still meets NFL regs.
The largest is the Cherished Clutch, which doubles as a purse or a case for tablets or iPads. The collection’s styles, including cross-body versions, come in an assortment of burgundy, tan and black leathers, each with a handmade leather tassel.
They run from $40 to $98, and are available at Langford Market, 2131 Magazine St., 504.524.5168 or at batsontees.com.
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