Wendy Stevens
STATEMENT
Throughout two decades of creating and making my handbags, the commitment and passion for my work grows. I began designing handbags in 1983 in New York City, where an inner artistic potential was triggered by the variety and use of industrial materials that surrounded me daily in the city. Working intuitively, in an environment of artistic friends, I began to create an original, unique style, resulting in a modern, durable and versatile accessory.
All handbags are made of stainless steel with leather and metal components and are hand fabricated and assembled in a recently refurbished studio outside of Philadelphia. The use of stainless steel as the primary material has been effective in the strength, form and longevity of the handbags. When paired with the leather elements, they become user friendly and ultra functional. Maintaining quality and precision in the fabrication of each piece is crucial. As the handbag collection evolves, possibilities for creating new models with diverse shapes, sizes and textures seem limitless.
BIOGRAPHY
Wendy began designing handbags in 1983 "as a process of survival and experimentation" with her art. She had just moved to New York, leaving behind the West Coast and a career in bilingual elementary school education. Surrounded by friends making art in all realms, she began exploring her own artistic potential, which she found in the very substance of the city. For some people a subway car is nothing more than a fast way to get from downtown to uptown. For Stevens, it was a source of fascinating sheet metal, as were the telephone booths, elevators, and construction sites she saw everywhere.
"I hunted through endless available materials on Canal Street, in hardware stores, and in the industrial venues of the city," she explains. "Then came the hand tools: punching holes, cutting, sanding sheet metal in my apartment by day and working in a nightclub by night, where I noticed an enormous need for small, durable handbags - just big enough to fit some change, a driver's license and lipstick." That was the genesis of her first metal handbags. Henri Bendel, the epitome of uptown fashion at the time, placed an order. So did cutting edge East Village galleries.
BIOGRAPHY
Wendy began designing handbags in 1983 "as a process of survival and experimentation" with her art. She had just moved to New York, leaving behind the West Coast and a career in bilingual elementary school education. Surrounded by friends making art in all realms, she began exploring her own artistic potential, which she found in the very substance of the city. For some people a subway car is nothing more than a fast way to get from downtown to uptown. For Stevens, it was a source of fascinating sheet metal, as were the telephone booths, elevators, and construction sites she saw everywhere.
"I hunted through endless available materials on Canal Street, in hardware stores, and in the industrial venues of the city," she explains. "Then came the hand tools: punching holes, cutting, sanding sheet metal in my apartment by day and working in a nightclub by night, where I noticed an enormous need for small, durable handbags - just big enough to fit some change, a driver's license and lipstick." That was the genesis of her first metal handbags. Henri Bendel, the epitome of uptown fashion at the time, placed an order. So did cutting edge East Village galleries.
