Shinyoung Park is an affordable luxury handbag designer residing in California originally from Seoul, Korea who creates beautiful bags made out of vegan leather and genuine cowhide leather. You can feel the Hollywood casual vibe from her bags. Her bags are simple but unique. She designs her own bags and manufactures in LA.
We asked Designer Shinyoung some questions to get to know her and her brand a bit better and here is what she had to say:
Q: Where are you from and where did you grow up?
A: I grew up in Daegu, Korea and moved to California after I got married!
Q: How old were you when you fell in love with fashion?
A: I always loved pretty things and clothing from a young age and everything got more passionate when I was in college as a Fashion major. That was the time when I started dreaming of my own brand.
Q: Where did you study fashion?
A: I graduated from Seoul Women’s University in Korea. We learn everything about fashion from fabric materials to sewing and pattern making to even marketing. In my last semester of senior year, I interned in a Paris boutique which is called ONNA (@oona.paris). I also attended a summer course in fashion at Parsons New York in 2008.
Q: When did you move to Los Angeles?
A: I got a job opportunity in downtown LA while I was working at North Face Korea. I left everything behind and flew to America and while working in LA I met my husband and got married and have two kids now!
Q: When did you start your own bag line?
A: When my first child was around 1 year old, I started working on my brand. Time was so limited since my baby was so young and and nothing was that easy. The factory was difficult to handle since I am a small business. My small orders were always getting delayed from big company’s orders. I had to handle everything myself with the new-born baby. It was chaos. I couldn’t even set up my website and I got a baby number two and had to stop everything. While I was working on my brand, my sister who graduated from art school was helping with my brand logo and other design works. She was inspired by me and suddenly quit her job and started making her own handbag brand, too. ( @leathergoods__). While I was with two kids at home, I finally made my website (www.misenver.com) and started selling my sister’s bags online around 2017. After 2 years, my kids were all in school and I had time for my business. In 2019 I started making my own bags in downtown LA, and since then, Misenver’s story begins!
Q: Who did you work with before starting your own line?
A: In my last semester of senior year, I interned in a Paris boutique which is called ONNA (@oona.paris). Now at Onna they sell different designer brands, but back then when I was working, Onna had their own line. Everything was designed by the owner -clothes were made one story below the store where the atelier was. I learned so much by seeing how garments are designed and made in one place. And it was Paris!! (a city that created most of the famous artists in the world) There was so much inspiration and art to be inspired by. I worked at North Face Korea in a production team after graduating from my school. I wanted to be a designer who knew how to manage production because I have always dreamed of making my own brand. All the experiences working at North Face helped me a lot running my own brand. I handled production with an overseas factory and it was a lot of work. I had to work until midnight most nights. After I came to LA, I worked in several wholesale places as a designer assistant and as designer. I loved designing and enjoyed working in the fashion world.
Q: Tell us about the name of your brand and what it means.
A: With the intent of inspiring fashion through fun and multifunctional styles, Misenver was created – a combination of the words Mischievous and Versatile.
Q: Tell us about your bag and what kind of materials you use.
A: Eighty percent of my bags are made from genuine leather and we have a vegan leather collection as well, so people who are against leather have a chance buying our products. We are working on apple leather for future collection since MISENVER wants to be responsible with the environment. Our goal is to transfer using 100% sustainable materials in 5 years.
Q: What kind of woman wears your bag?
A: My bags are for women who alternate between casual and dressy by occasion. Someone who loves to play with shapes and colors from their wardrobe will love my bags!
Q: How many different bags do you have in total?
A: We have a Mandoo collection and Pillow Bag, Cali Clutch, Phone Bag, Vegan collection which has Canvas and Denim lines and an All-black Tote and Mini Bags.
Q: What is your most sought-after bag right now?
A: The Pillow Bag is currently the most popular bag, especially the cream color. It is a beautiful color that goes well with most of your wardrobe collection. It can be casual, but at the same time you could wear it with a dress.
Q: What bag of yours do you recommend for date night?
A: Date night is perfect for a small bag. The Pillow Bag in black can look chic with a fitted black dress or even with a shirt and jeans. If you are wearing a pink dress and would love to play with colors, go with an Orange Pillow Bag and you will really make a statement. Mandoo Bag Minis are all in romantic colors, so you could wear any spring dresses on your date night.
Q: What bag do you recommend for a business meeting?
A: Our Vegan Logo Tote Bag in black has a chic look that will match perfectly with office looks with suits or dress shirts. It has plenty of space for all your files, laptop, etc.
Q: Do you have any bags for moms or travel totes?
A: We have 3 different Tote Bags that have plenty of room for moms to put their diapers and baby stuff in. All 3 Tote Bags are in the vegan collection which is Canvas Tote Bag, Denim Tote Bag and Logo Tote Bag. All of them are in a color that can be easy to match with everyday outfits and the design is pretty simple and a good classic staple longterm for your wardrobe.
Q: What new bags do you plan to design in the near future?
A: I have a few designs planned to launch this year. One will be a Circle Bag in grey and denim color which will be for everyday wear that you could feel Hollywood casual chic vibe in it. And as I mentioned earlier, we are working with the apple leather. We will have a laptop case made with apple leather launching soon. We are hoping we can have at least some good impact on the environment. Also, will be launching small accessories with fun prints. It is going to be unique, so no more details (shh) but stay tuned! 🙂
Q: What are your goals and dreams with the company for the future?
A: In the future, I really want to work with sustainable materials only so that MISENVER can help with the ongoing waste problem. I would love to work with companies who are related to making materials out of waste. Since I have so many ideas with designs, I could make wastes into a product that people will love.
Q: Where do you source your products from?
A: My leathers are from various places – the USA and Italy mainly. And as mentioned, all manufactured in LA.
Q: What is the price point for a bag?
A: My bags are in-between $100s to $300. Since my bags are crafted by hand with care in Los Angeles, they are considered an affordable luxury.
Q: Who are your biggest fashion and style inspirations?
A: As a designer, I love Alexander McQueen and John Galliano. I am more into fun and creative, yet fashionable. That is why I named my brand in combination of words mischievous and versatile. I also prefer simple rather than something being too much, so a lot of my designs are rather simple. I am planning on more playful and versatile styles in the future! I love Gigi Hadid’s and Haley Bieber ‘s street style. They love to have fun with colors or details. They can be casual one day and dressy the next day, and that is something that I want people to see in MISENVER, as well. (In combination with a casual and dressy look.)
Q: Can you give a couple examples of outfits you would pair with a particular bag of yours?
A: You could wear a Pillow Bag with jeans and white shirt. It will absolutely show a Hollywood casual vibe. You could also wear a ribbed dress or even a flowy ruffled dress with a Pillow Bag and you will look absolutely amazing. The Pillow Bag is really easy to style with almost any clothing piece, since the shape is rather simple and color comes in solid hues: black, grey and creme).
Q: Do you have any other unique and fun projects coming besides new bag creation?
A: At MISENVER, we are trying to collaborate with women in various fields such as art, music and beauty so that MISENVER can be more of a lifestyle brand, not just a bag line. We want to be creative and fun!
Q: Where can we find you online?
A: Find us at: http://www.misenver.com and on Instagram at @MISENVER
Credits:
Model: @thenancyschneider
Photographer: @kwak.pro
Makeup: @clairepiao
Article written and edited by Holly Glasser, EIC of MITH Magazine
