With a big smile on her face, eyes ablaze with excitement and optimism pouring from her lips, 19-year-old Kimberley Starege evokes confidence that belies her years.

"My hope is to have my own chain of spas in Jamaica and the Caribbean," she told Saturday Life.

It's hardly a sober thought in the recession-wracked global economy, but Starege is drunk with a passion for possibility. Looking proudly at a pile of handcrafted totes lying on her sofa, her smile widens into a grin.

"Yes, I love fashion and those are just the beginning."

Her cottage-industry-style business started with a serendipitous trip to the cloth store.

"I had nothing to do, so I followed a friend to the cloth store. I was just there, admiring and browsing when the idea came, 'Why not make a bag?' I was always interested in art and craft, so I knew this wouldn't be hard for me to do."

her first tote

Starege made her first tote in 2003 when she was in eighth grade at Holy Childhood High School. Initially, the bags were a source of additional income, but the side-show has since matured into Tardy Totes.

"I made the full commitment to Tardy Totes in January 2008, while I was in sixth form. My mother was a bit worried that it would interfere with my studies, but I was determined to do this.

"So we made a pact: I would focus on my bookwork all week and sew only on Saturday nights. This worked and now that I have been successful and I'm at the next level in my studies, I can sew any day, any time," she said.

Sewing, she pointed out, runs in the family. Her grandmother, mother, some aunts and uncles once threaded the needle. She is the only grandchild who has embraced the art, a talent that is paying off.

"My grandmother's old sewing machine is my main tool. After more than 60 years, it's still going strong," she quipped.

Her products include beach bags, totes, handbags, cosmetic, pencil and laptop cases, clutches, one-strap and drawstring bags for males. Styles vary from one-strap and two-straps to strapless, from bamboo handles to pleats. Inspired by Louis Vuitton and Stella McCartney, Starege said she keeps up with fashion trends by browsing European websites and being in-the-know when fashion weeks in the Caribbean and Europe come around.

Belief in quality

Starege believes in giving the best to her customers. Her fabric choices include cotton, silk, linen, corduroy, plastic, twill and upholstery, but she intends to use jeans and leather in the future.

To add pizzazz, lace, flowers, bamboo, buttons, ribbons, hand paintings, elastic and sequins are choice embellishments. The bag maker loves all shades of blue - teal, turquoise and aquamarine are her favourites - but embraces all hues and ensures her totes ooze mood-lifting colours.

Balancing for life

Starege has learned to balance her studies at the University of Technology (UTech) and her blooming tote business. Now a first-year tourism management major, she is the public-relations manager for the Hospitality and Tourism Management Department at UTech, an active member of a political youth arm, and chorister at Andrews Seventh-day Adventist Church.

Despite her hectic schedule, Starege says she can sew more than 20 totes a day.

Marketing

Starege's creations have found a home in Montego Bay, Kingston, Mandeville and Spanish Town and women are sporting them in the United States, the United Kingdom and soon, Cuba, she says. Eventually, she hopes to participate in Jamaica's Style Week and Caribbean Fashionweek before gracing the runways of Paris, London and New York.

Starege is a big dreamer and she doesn't try to hide it.

"I want to go international and I'm getting there," she added. "I do my own marketing via Facebook, flyers, business cards and I wear my products too. But word of mouth goes a long way."

One case of fortune emerged, she explained, from a bad situation on the UTech campus.

"Students were constantly being targeted by robbers, especially when they travelled with laptops. So, I started making laptop cases. The news spread (to the right persons) and it just took off!" she said.

An unabashed extrovert, the focused yet fun-loving entrepreneur is stitching together plans of one day becoming the minister of tourism. But until then, studies and baggage claims occupy her time.

shaunette.jones@gleanerjm.com