One of Josefina's signature bags. Photo: Courtesy of Josefina

In 2013 France Lamy left her job to design perfect leather bags to carry a baby's accessories. Now, her creations have reached the hands of Caroline de Maigret or Marion Cotillard. Here her story.

Mother of two children (Axel and Olivia) and creator of the Josefina handbag firm, France Lamy lives in Paris but escapes to Asturias to catch some air from time to time. “Madrid is crazy, but Paris I don't even tell you about. For me it is vital to spend 3 or 4 months a year in Comillas and disconnect”, she tells S Moda by phone. Of Franco-Spanish nationality, the entrepreneur behind Josefina studied at Icade and at only 21 years old she moved to Paris with her partner at the time (and her current husband) with the idea of ​​returning to Spain years later. . But her plans changed when Ella France began to develop an unstoppable career in the world of cosmetics: first at the giant L'Oreal and later at Nivea.

With an innate attraction to leather accessories and at a vital moment in which she yearned for a professional change, the seed of her project would germinate with her first pregnancy and a task that concerns every future mother: the purchase of what is necessary for the arrival of the baby. "I started looking for bags for the cart and all the designs had little drawings: little hearts, little sheep... That didn't go with my style and I thought I shouldn't be the only woman in the world who didn't fit them," she says. After detecting that niche in the market and with the mission of offering an alternative to children's prints, it was unthinkable for France to combine her work with her recent motherhood and her new project. "When you're a mother and you're in the office, you only think about getting home and being with your daughter," she says. So, at 31, France decided to swim against the tide: quit her job and throw herself into what she would become. in “Josefina” two years later. A risk, but perfectly calculated, in which a deadline was set to check if her business idea was really viable -and profitable-. "I had some money saved and I decided to give myself two years: if in that time I couldn't launch and sell it, I would look for another job."

France Lamy, founder of the Josefina handbag firm. Photo: Courtesy of Josefina

“The initial idea was to target mothers because it was a target that was quite neglected. In the same way that there are few maternity clothes that feel good, bags were eternally forgotten, ”she reveals. Hence her proposal: leather designs, versatile and designed to meet the needs (and different scenarios) of an urban and contemporary woman. Because her bags, in addition to having different compartments to carry bottles and diapers, also work to take the laptop to the office, go to a meal with friends or go out to dinner on a Saturday night. An all-terrain vehicle that adapts to the day-to-day life of a woman on the go.

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With the decision to produce within the borders of our country as a guarantee of quality and savoir faire, Josefina's bags are made in two workshops in Ubrique and Alicante. Something non-negotiable for the creative even with the attempt to reduce the final price. “I had an idea of ​​the sale price that I could not respect because I was in Spain. Although now it seems logical, in 2013 producing here was not so obvious, ”she says. With timelessness as its flag, her pieces combine design, functionality and careful quality with the aim of remaining in our dressing room over the years. “I always ask my family for their opinion and I trust a lot what my mother tells me. If she likes them, I know that they are bags that do not age”, recognizes Lamy. The style of her creations plays with the masculine-feminine duality, a mixture that has been used by iconic designers throughout history such as Yves-Saint Laurent and his well-known version of the traditional tuxedo designed for women. And that same sought to convey with the name of the brand. “My family is very creative. My brother was a writer and journalist – columnist David Gistau, who died last year. I brainstormed with my sister and the name “Josefina” came up: she had strength, personality and showed that duality”.

One of the Josefina signature bags. Photo: Courtesy of Josefina

Josefina jumped onto the market in 2015 and her experience confirms the unbeatable power of Instagram to publicize a new project. “The first year, social media was 90% of our success,” she stresses. “I went to Vogue to present the brand and I remember how they wanted to feature me in Children's Vogue and on the “My Little Pleaschures” blog at the same time. We hadn't even launched the website yet and it was a sign that we were doing something right”. And if the firm got off to a good start, it would only take years for Josefina's designs to reach the wardrobe of the Parisian socialite – 40% of her sales are made in France. “One day, I turned on my website and saw that Caroline de Maigret had ordered a bag. She couldn't believe what was happening. Scare number two was when a few months later she ordered another one from me, ”recalls Josefina's alma mater. But the French fashion icon has not been the only one who has fallen for her careful leather pieces: the list of women who have opted for the brand goes from Marion Cotillard to Karolina Kurkova, Sara Carbonero or Elisa Sednaoui.

Her advice to anyone who considers undertaking is clear: “Don't let yourself be influenced. I don't know for what reason people are more afraid than you and make you doubt yourself, ”she points out. And she concludes: “if I had stopped the number of times they asked me what I was doing, I would never have jumped. People didn't understand how I had just had a child and was quitting my job to sell bags for €300. What no one imagined is that six years later this accessory would star in the wishlist of future mothers. And of all urban women in search of a quality design that will accompany them throughout the years.

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