Louise Farnay - The Inspired Judge

Louise Farnay, a judge in the Design-A-Bag Competition in the forthcoming Fashion Access (FA), holds three degrees in visual arts and design, extending from graphic design, to illustration, sculpture, and painting, to body painting, hair styling and makeup. She says that her designs are highly influenced by life itself and now expresses her love of colour, texture and fashion, through accessories. She draws inspiration from her extensive travels to more than fifty countries where she absorbs local culture and custom, and the cities in which she has lived: which include Tokyo, Copenhagen, Perth, Hong Kong, Sydney, London and Singapore. She started in 2002 with one idea and boldly went to Hong Kong to look for materials and components suppliers. Since then she has remained faithful to them and says "I am happy with my suppliers in Hong Kong and do not want to look anywhere else". She loves working with leather in particular soft and 'buttery' leather and says that she is inspired by the materials. She is very supportive of young designers and cannot wait for selecting the winners of the Design-A –Bag Competition 2008. Her advice to bag designers is: "Open your eyes!.

Louise Farnay Collections are bold and hugely versatile, they are highly textured, use rare gems, and appeal to ladies who like to stand out in the crowd. The designer herself says, "They are the perfect accessory for day and night". Her collections are now divided into two labels. Her controversially branded SNATCH Bags, launched in Singapore, established her reputation. More recently she introduced her Louise Farnay Collections, through which she markets her more luxurious collections, including her signature bag, Lucy, along with her famously desirable studded clutch bags. More recently still she announced the arrival of max-funk and uber sophistication, all rolled into one very sassy multi-functional 'must-have' handbag! This deliciously fresh and quirky approach is the creative ingenuity of using distinctively luxurious Italian leathers and fabrics, which are cut into strips, rich in metallic or electro hues and zipped together into an explosion of harmonious colours that transform into head-turning bags, totes and clutches. They are based on an innovative design concept which allows users to unzip sections of the bag to change its size, shape and colour combinations. Louise's bags can be found around Europe and the US, and in Singapore, Hong Kong, and Australia. For more, go to: <www.louisefarnay.com>