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East meets West
L'Est rencontre
l'Ouest
“I love Istanbul because it’s the city where East meets West. One minute you’re standing in Europe and in five minutes you can be in Asia when you cross the bridge,” she says.
When Marjorie was starting out and crossing over into another creative territory herself, she made 13 to 15 designs at first. She began using shells and then she gradually integrated wood and animal pelt. She tried out the bags and then she started to get orders, as people’s reactions were very positive.
“The choice of materials is very important,” says Marjorie. “There is a combination of shells, woods, metals and brass that are used. A lot of work is involved in the whole process, which takes about 90 days and involves a team of 4 craftsmen.”
The shells been meticulously selected from her native Philippines and they have all kept their natural colors, although hammer shells can be used for adding tint to the bags.
Her handbags are a mix of creativity with the simple and classic. “Women still prefer a style that is classic, with simplicity and elegance,” says Marjorie.
Along with this perspective, her handbags also open up one’s imagination, as there is also a touch of exoticness and timelessness to each unique piece.
Storytelling
In her catalogue The Art of Bags, Marjorie offers little gems of poetry for describing her handbags. For one that shines with brilliant natural pink and grey blue colored shells, she shares: “Strewn on the beach like tiny scintillating diamonds, these shells. Discarded, unwanted, yet pristine in their simplicity. I pick one up and I see eternity in its hard crust.” And under the image for her handbag with dark green fossil-like imprints, she writes: “Imprints, ephemeral though they are, can speak of beauty, of passion of exquisiteness. Locked in an expert craftsman’s creation, imprints fossilize into hard-rock oracles, recounting their epics for all eternity.”
She emphasizes that her company is not selling handbags but rather stories. And each handbag indeed tells a story, stories of nature and of inspiring people and places.
One of her bags tells the story of a banana tree and how Marjorie did not want to let parts of the tree to go to waste as it had been damaged, while another has laminated wildflower and enables a woman to keep a bit of nature by her side. Another tells the story of a piece of wood that was eaten by termites but that Marjorie decided to keep. And yet another bag is laminated with falling leaves. “Why not make use of it?” she recalls asking herself. There is also a handbag that was inspired by the Pyramids at the Louvre through the use of geometric shapes, while another uses stainless steel as a wink to the Eiffel Tower.
“Imprints, ephemeral though they are, can speak of beauty, of passion of exquisiteness.
« Les empreintes sont éphémères mais elles peuvent parler
de la beauté et de la passion de la rareté.
Locked in an expert craftsman’s creation, imprints fossilize into hard-rock oracles,
recounting their epics for all eternity.”
Figées dans la création par un artisan spécialisé,
les empreintes se fossilisent en des oracles dures comme
le pierre, racontant leur récits pour toute l’éternité. »
The Aphrodite Abalone handbag from Marjorie Renner's Charlotte Collection.
Le sac à main Aprhodite Abalone de la collection Charlotte de Marjorie Renner.
© Marjorie Renner
Art & Inspiration