Before Purse & Clutch, Jen says, “I actually didn’t know anything about the fashion industry. I didn’t know how corrupt it was, I didn’t know how dirty it was, I didn’t understand the environmental impact.” High fashion and ethical, environmentally friendly manufacturing are often opposites, but Purse & Clutch seamlessly merges them: “The ways [the artisans] are working are natural and are so much better for the environment… For example, the indigenous way that the Mayan women of Guatemala dye their fabrics is completely natural. There’s nothing in it besides different botanical items. The brand works then to “synthesize things, and make them easier and faster”; to “return back to working the traditional artisanal methods and then add that design component so it makes sense for someone in the States… who likes design and beautiful colors and whatever’s on trend right now.”

While Purse & Clutch has seen immense success, the business does encounter unique difficulties. “The first thing an investor will ask about your business is how will it scale,” Jen says. “But we’re working with weavers who each have different individual needs: a lot of them need to work at home, because they’re single moms with school-age children or younger. So it’s working and adapting to what they need, and that’s not scalable. We can’t insert any weaver into this business model we’ve created.”

We’re working with weavers who each have different individual needs. It’s working and adapting to that.

But to create its own business model is exactly how Jen and Purse & Clutch have solved these issues. Jen speaks about getting to know the individual workers personally and gradually adding more weavers or leatherworkers in a flexible system. “We’re able to change our business model a little bit and say, ‘Sure, if you can weave mainly solids we’d be happy to have you in.’ We find ways that fit whatever the specific needs are.” Other issues could arise in cross-culture communication, or through obstacles unique to the natural production methods. But Purse & Clutch’s mission, and the artisans it employs prevent Jen from becoming discouraged when she encounters a difficulty. She says, “We have to keep going as a company. We have twenty artisans that are relying on us. I just have to figure it out.”

Another issue emerges when bringing the product to the Western market, and the lack of information about indigenous fabrics and their production. “It’s really easy to dilute the art and to not really understand what goes into it,” Jen explains. “Maybe people weren’t even aware of what Guatemalan fabric looks like. Or it’s easy to get knock-offs at Urban Outfitters that are really screen-printed… We tell that story: this is why this is a $70 clutch. There are eight steps that go into it, everyone is paid fairly, it’s all natural. It takes that education piece as well.

But upon hearing this information, “people immediately get excited,” says Jen. “It immediately makes sense. They say, ‘Of course we want these things done better, of course we want more transparency.’ And I knew that—it was nice to hear that, although it can be complicated, people get it. It’s that awareness piece. Because once you know, you can’t un-know or un-see it. It’s something that sticks with you, and it should. It’s important. It’s people’s lives. It’s seeing people as human.”