Rosa D E S I G N S, LLC

Early in her life our mom, Rosa, was a motivated and independent woman. She was determined to become a fashion designer.  In her early 20s, our mom left her childhood home to start her career and to financially provide for her younger brothers and sisters. She began working as a seamstress and a tailor, created her own sewing patterns, and did some modeling – Rosa was on her path to accomplishing her dream. That dream came to a halt in her 30s when mental illness set in and prevented her from continuing her passion in the fashion industry. 

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Our mom was all about fashion -- while she did not teach us to cook, she did teach us how to sew. No matter where Rosa was headed as a single mom in the 1970s, to the grocery store or the doctor’s office, she would make sure to wear a fashionable outfit. In addition to wearing stylish clothes, she made sure to accessorize her shoes and purse, makeup, and sometimes even a wig (which was totally hip at that time). 

 

As young girls, we enjoyed going into mom’s closet to look through her clothes; we especially liked to pull out the patent-leather clutch purses from a chest located deep within the treasure-filled closet. Those clutch purses were very special to us. We had seen black and white photos of our mom’s modeling days in which she held the same clutch purses. We played dress-up and imagined how our mom used the purses in her day. 

 

As teens during the summer, our mom would take us to fabric stores in downtown Santa Barbara, which were Beverly’s or Betty’s Fabrics. We would spend hours in the stores looking through pattern catalogs for the perfect outfit. Mom would guide us through the fabric and let us know if we had chosen the right one for our projects. At the end of the afternoon, we would leave the store, each sister carrying a bag loaded with a pattern, fabric, thread, buttons, and zippers. We would walk excitedly down State Street to catch a bus-ride home. Our mom taught us how to prepare the fabric for cutting by placing it on a flat surface, in this case, our avocado-green, marbled-Formica kitchen table. On these summer days that lead into nights, we continued sewing sometimes working past midnight, until the projects were complete and ready to wear!

 

To carry on our mother’s love for fashion, and the sewing skills she taught us, we launched Rosa Designs as a way for us to continue a legacy of Rosa’s life as a dedicated mother, family provider, model, and tailor. We thoughtfully created a line of purses for independent, strong individuals like you who enjoy fashion. Each purse is made of quality fabrics, which are useful in design and may include a nostalgic feature of vintage brooches, an accessory our mom often wore. Our purses are handmade in California.

 

We are sisters who, like our mom, are passionate about fashion. Our intent is for you to use our purses on memorable occasions and to keep for many years -- maybe even passing them down to your loved ones, just like Rosa. As you view our collections, we hope you find a purse you will cherish and use on countless events filled with love and laughter.

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Maria & Sylvia

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We donate a portion of our proceeds to the National Alliance on Mental Illness (NAMI).