We were  able to steal a few moments with her and find out how the graduate of both SpelmanCollege and Northwestern Law School ended up designing handbags that have attracted the attention of megastars like Halle Berry and Jessica Simpson. Here are a few highlights from the article:  

Dezigner’s Den: How did you come up with the name Sukari?
Alicia Ferriabough: I was looking for a name for the collection and a good friend of mine suggested I call the line Sucre (French pronunciation ‘sook’) because the handbags were decadent. I thought it was a good idea, but no one pronounced it correctly. So I began looking at other languages to see what words meant sweet or sugar and I came across the Swahili word “Sukari” and I thought it was perfect. It sounded luxious and unique…just like the handbags. I also thought it tied in nicely with what I wanted to convey about the bags and the journey that I took to complete the collection. So the tag line became: “Sukari…because life is sweet”.   

 

Dezigner’s Den: Describe the Sukari collection in 3 words?
Alicia Ferriabough: Beautiful, Sophisticated and Rich.

Dezigner’s Den: To what extents are your handbags and accessories a reflection of your own personal style?
Alicia Ferriabough: My personal style is a bit classic conservative and also a bit bohemian chic. One can see the classic elements in my bags, particularly with the structured styles of of say the Arusha, Buenos Ares and Milan bags. The bohemian chic can be seen in the  Oaxaca, Havana and Manhattan bags. Both elements are me.

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