Clutches inspired by art deco

Stefanie Phan has always had a thing for customization.

Wander into her Laguna Beach home and you’ll find her name engraved on a handbag’s clasp.

The designer of tailor-made clutches infuses a touch of the personal and the super-luxe in her new line, which she has been working on since 2012.

Noticeably missing is hardware.

The frameless acrylic clutches, individually handcrafted in the separate art studio of the home she shares with her husband of three years, Aaron Thomas, are engineered to remain secure despite the lack of metal hinges. The acrylic clutch is finished with hand-cut facets and accented with a black ebony acrylic clasp that incorporates rare-earth magnets for a snap closure.

Her three collections within the line include the Lollipop, purses in a range of colors that sell for $1,052 each, and the brand’s metallic bags, which feature hand-gilded 23-karat rose gold and are priced at $1,850. All the bags are sold excusively on the couple’s website.

The structured and sturdy bags come from Phan’s desire to “capture what art deco is.”

“It’s this convergence of opulence and industrialism,” she said. “I wanted something super sleek and clean and something that couldn’t be reproduced.”

Phan, who grew up on the beaches of western Australia and is a graduate New York University, said she always loved fashion. While studying in New York, she enrolled in a fashion-intensive course at Parsons School of Design, learning how to sketch and source materials. After working at W Magazine and Chanel public relations, Phan headed to California and became an editor at Riviera Orange County magazine.

She would meet her future husband during a story assignment.

Thomas, an artist and manufacturer who has designed and crafted mixed-media artwork for luxury brands including Louis Vuitton, Baccarat, Apple and Neiman Marcus, learned the craft from his father, Edward R. Thomas, who founded Thomas Plastic Designs in 1979.

Working in acrylic, the material her husband and father-in-law have mastered for a combined 70 years, is a dying art, Phan said, but the design process interested her since the material is rarely used for accessories.

For her individually handcrafted and made-to-order line, Phan said she wanted to avoid today’s common use of technology to assemble products. Instead, designs and parts would all be handmade, in-house.

“It’s a statement piece,” Thomas said of the clutch line. “It’s fun fashion couture without being crazy, but it’s expensive to do.”

At the start of their collaboration, Phan shared with her husband her conceptualized designs. He asked Phan to write a business plan, offering background information and explaining the proposed brand’s goals and plans for reaching them.

Ultimately, he agreed to co-create the pieces.

“She had a unique design and a lot of creativity that captured a lot of the art deco era with this modern time,” Thomas said, referring to a period dominated by bold colors and delineated geometric shapes. “It became this beautiful and functional art.”

The handbags, the couple said, could be used as a fashionable carriers for watches, cigars, toiletries and makeup brushes.

Each clutch takes 10 to 40 hours to make, and to date, the couple have designed and made about 50. Shoppers must allow six to eight weeks for delivery, though rush orders can be processed in two weeks or sooner.

All clutches are guaranteed to be free from defects in materials and workmanship.

Phan and Thomas said they would like to expand the line by adding suitcase trunks and covers for laptop computers and phones.

It’s attention to detail, supporting the local economy with the manufacturing in Laguna Beach, and loyalty to an old-fashioned and painstaking design process, Phan said, that makes the brand dedicated to the American craftsman.

“It has to be perfect or it doesn’t go out,” Phan said. “They really are beautiful and high-attuned pieces of craftmanship. To be a part of this is exciting and special.”

For more information, visit stefaniephan.com