Paris Fashion Week concluded on the catwalk on October 4 and some locally made leather goods were put on display for the world to see.
Honeymouth opened at 125 S. Central St. two years ago and has since become an Old City staple, operated by an all-female staff. The brand appeared in eight different looks at Paris Fashion Week, one of the biggest fashion events of the year.
Knox News caught up with owner and creative director Georgia Vogel to learn all about the designer’s experience bringing Knoxville to Paris.
This interview has been lightly edited for length and clarity.
honey mouth:Old City leather shop, Honeymouth, sells handmade accessories in a funky ’70s-style space
What propelled you into the fashion industry?
Vogel: I’ve always been a big shoe and bag girl. I have always collected and admired and loved them. And I guess basically I started playing with leather for fun as a hobby and originally when I was making things they were definitely more utilitarian, less decorative, less fun. But we are interested in meeting the need for an ethically made affordable luxury leather bag. And that has been the driving force behind it.
When did you start making designer fashion items?
Vogel: So leather goods started about five years ago. He would say that this kind of situation of luxury leather goods, high-end handbags, started two more years ago when we opened the store. And it’s evolving every day, and we’re getting braver and honing our skills every day.
In my head, I can only think of a couple of local designer brands. In your opinion, what is the fashion culture like in Knoxville?
Vogel: That’s a fun question for us because I think we’re not like this fashion capital of the world or even the country or even the southeast. But I think our community is so eclectic and bold and made up of so many different types of people, and I think it’s budding and I think people are excited. And I think walking across campus or walking through Old Town or walking through Market Square, you see so many different people expressing themselves in so many different ways. And so we’re just trying to find our own voice and our own way of helping people express themselves in a new way.
What do you think about being one of the few designer brands based in Knoxville?
Vogel: We feel really lucky. I think it’s conflicting because some days we think we might have different opportunities if we were geographically located somewhere else. But then we also look at our two years here and the support of the community and how they’ve supported and loved us so deeply through all of our different transformations that I really can’t see us anywhere else.
Recently, you appeared at Paris Fashion Week. What can you tell me about that?
Vogel: It was the most incredible and surreal experience of our lives, definitely of our careers.
We sell out of a store in Manhattan called Flying Solo, and Flying Solo is a store that represents independent brands from around the world. And so, they invite a select number of their designers to participate in Fashion Week. And so, they invited us to attend the fashion show with them and accessorize eight different looks.
As an accessories brand, it’s much less stressful because there are no last-minute accessories or last-minute alterations. It’s like, we introduce ourselves and we give the bag to the model and they carry it and it’s great. So actually, a lot of us were like, “What the hell is going on? This is amazing.” Everything we expected and nothing we expected.
What did you present at Paris Fashion Week?
Vogel: We made three one-of-a-kind bags, which was really exciting and fun for us. And then we introduce our Classic Collection, which is sort of our new core collection that we intend to have throughout the year. The colors are bold and vibrant, but not meant for specific seasons. They are meant to be exciting, playful and fun and something you wear all year long.
When did it all happen?
Vogel: We were invited to participate in February, so there was a long preparation until September: a lot of time to prepare for the unknown.
The parade was from September 26 to October 4. We went on the closing day of Fashion Week.
During Paris Fashion Week, were there any memorable encounters with designers or celebrities?
Vogel: We met so many amazing independent designers and were able to attend Fashion Week pop-ups from some of our most beloved designers, including Jaquemus and Loewe. So those experiences were amazing and exciting for us.
What have been the aftermath of the event?
Vogel: The press has been amazing and really exciting. We’ve been featured in magazines and news articles that we never anticipated, like Elle and Harper’s BAZAAR and Page Six and The Cut, and so on, all these places that we didn’t even realize we might be on that map, on that radar, especially coming from East Tennessee and not being present in the general public from new sources like that. So the press has been really exciting and the support from our community. It has been very sweet.
How does it feel to represent Knoxville globally within the world of fashion?
Vogel: I feel so proud. I love the city. I’ve moved and I’m back. I intentionally chose to plant my roots here, and I intentionally chose to start my business here. And as we grow, we move into a warehouse space as soon as our team grows, which is really exciting. And we intend to continue to bring jobs to our community, and we love the city and proudly represent it.
Are you planning to present Honeymouth at future fashion events?
Vogel: Absolutely. I think our goal is to keep doing this every year and expand to other parts of the world and fashion events around the world.
What are you waiting for Honeymouth moving forward after Paris Fashion Week?
Vogel: I hope that we can still be a bright spot in our community and that we can still toast our leather goods and happiness to the name of Knoxville and say, “Here we are!”
Is there anything else you would like to add?
Vogel: We’ve got some exciting new things coming up for the holidays, and then we’re hoping to get some cute little pink bags under the Christmas tree this year if anyone likes it.
Source: news.google.com