It took Vincent Lai some time to find his calling, but we’re glad he finally did. He graduated from college with a degree in industrial design, and then began to design products, but today he’s the creative director of his own handbag company Skinny Vinny. The playful moniker is his attempt to reclaim the name he was teased with as a child.
It may have taken him a while to get there, but it seemed inevitable that Lai would find himself in fashion. He honed his sewing skills as a child working in his parents’ garment factory.
“I loved every second of it,” he once told Refinery 29. “I learned some important skills. I guess it was fairly inevitable that design and making satchels was what I would want to do. It’s a good bridge between the two worlds.“
Lai’s bags feature architectural and geometric shapes, along with a few handy perks like hidden pockets. They’re not very fussy or particularly on trend, but they definitely do the job. And as an added bonus, part of the proceeds from each handbag sale benefits the National Resources Defense Council.
Skinny Vinny handbags are available at a range of North American retailers and online at Supermarket, Moxsie, and the official Skinny Vinny website.
