Amishi

Amishi in the ancient language of Sanskrit means 'pure'. The brand signifies just that - pure beauty, pure innocence, pure design.

Amishi, named after the designer herself, was founded with passion to create evening bags for the contemporary woman who has both style and substance, and of course, great taste.

Her handbags are sheer poetry and she is motivated to create the desirable pieces of luxury by observing nature and the world around her. Her spirituality has enabled her to create purses which are balanced in design and bring about a sense of fulfillment and balance in the life of the women who wear them.

Her vision has always to make bags that are irresistible and therefore timeless and will be handed from mother to daughter to granddaughter. Her bags do not date, they are fresh, unique, and exciting.  They are as compelling today as they will be in 20 years.  Because they are not subject to the vagaries of this seasons “in thing” they will be complementing outfits at various special occasions over many years

Amishi travels widely to source her materials from all over the world. There is special attention to craftsmanship with an unparalleled finish. Amishi evening bags have been appreciated by many celebrities the world over.  Amishi bags are available for sale from only the most select retailers – such as Harrods – in 80 stores in the world, and from JustaboutBags of course! 

Amishi has created individual bags for many individuals and some prestigious fashion houses.  She is currently designing a unique creation for (shush – we can’t tell you yet), that will be launched on JustaboutBags during 2009.  Watch this space!

Mayaa

Founded in the UK in 2007, Mayaa fashion appeals to the connoisseur of expertly handcrafted bags in a wide range of striking designs for women with both traditional and contemporary tastes. Each of our designs is unique and created for the discerning woman with elegance, style and gorgeousness in mind. 

Mayaa sells through smaller niche markets retailers and solely online through JustaboutBags.  Bhavna, the creative force behind the Mayaa brand approached JustaboutBags in late 2008 to stock her bags online as she felt that focus of the site was a perfect match for her creations. 

JustaboutBags is all about bringing new, original and creative designers who are currently under the radar, to the attention of the online community and making these hard to find original pieces available to women who want quality, originality and style.

The signature Mayaa look includes richly embroidered beadwork interwoven with use of sumptuous materials such as hand made raw silk, tanned leather, brocade, jute and ultra-fine linen to create a stunning array of formal handbags. Working with such exquisite materials demands skilled craftsmanship when combined with the perfect finish that must go into every Mayaa creation.

Jimmy Liao

The history behind the creation of the Jimmy Liao purses is interesting and touching.

Picture books are usually just for kids. Most adult readers prefer complex plots and emotions explored through thousands of words in the pages of bulky novels.

But Jimmy Liao has become a big hit by luring office workers, housewives and other grown-ups back to the days when drawings outnumbered the words in the books they enjoyed.

Jimmy Liao, whose illustrated books with simple stories about people coping in the modern urban world have become hot sellers in Taipei, Tokyo, Seoul, Hong Kong, Shanghai and Singapore.

The picture books are popular because they touch on common feelings of being alienated, stressed out by work or fears about losing jobs and loved ones, readers say. Most of the pages in the paperback books -- usually the size of a cocktail napkin -- have one line of text and a clever, cute or whimsical cartoon-like drawing that advances the plot.

"Jimmy's drawing touches the hearts of urban youth. It relieves the fears and anxieties of urbanites, who are living amid struggle and pressure," China Youth Daily, a mass-market newspaper in China, said of the 44-year-old artist, who goes by his first name.

Jimmy's readers have even been known to decorate their bedrooms with the same trendy sofas and curtains used by characters in his books.

Judy Liang, an accountant in her 40s, explained why she was a fan of the author. "I was first thinking of buying the picture books for my daughter, but then found the images really touching," Liang said.

Other artists have tried to ride the trend of picture books but they can't match Jimmy.
In one of his most popular books, Turning Left, Turning Right, Jimmy tells the story of a romance between a lonely man and woman who never realized they were neighbours because one always turns left and the other right when they walk out of their apartment building.

One day, they meet by accident at a neighbourhood park, but they lose contact again because rain soaks the slip of paper the woman used to scribble down her telephone number.

The author, who published his first work in 1999, said he tries to use cute images to portray the "desolate world" of a person facing a middle-age crisis.

"You don't have to use dreary images to depict cruel, dreary facts. "Readers can catch the desolateness behind beautiful images," he said,

In his book The Moments, which describes the childhood hopes and dreams of adults, one drawing shows a dolphin sound asleep on a white pillow next to a sleeping boy. The caption asks, "How come my childhood yearnings can only come true in dreams?"

Jimmy often shows his sense of humour against a backdrop of grievance.
Another drawing in The Moments shows a boy standing in a classroom corner and peeking through a crack to see a world of butterflies, unicorns and comets. "Dear teacher, you'll never know there is a tiny hole in the corner ... I'll never let you know about the sights I see," the caption says.

After an illness in 1998, Jimmy ended his 12-year-career as an illustrator at an advertising firm and began his own creative works.

He said he gets inspiration from the simple life he leads with his wife, 5-year-old daughter and two cats in a 13th floor apartment on the outskirts of Taipei.

"I let my imagination run wild to create a freewheeling world," he said. "I draw with an instinct, not from keen observations," he added,

When creating his Turning Left, Turning Right book, Jimmy said he got the story idea when pondering about his next door neighbour, whom he had never met.

With his increasing fame, Jimmy has faced questions about the Western-style of his drawings. His characters often live in Western-style cities.

"Chinese reporters asked why I have Catholic nuns in my books instead of Buddhist monks," he said.

Jimmy has become a popular cult figure in the east, is now creating beautiful products – such as these superb leather purses, decorated with his incredible designs.