A personalized purse is in the bag with the help of Add Libb’s Libby Mitchell
Libby Mitchell’s Add Libb studio is a visual feast. Color and pattern play from corner to corner, and it’s pure delight to the eyes. But it’s a tactile pleasure, as well. Mitchell’s studio may may be tucked between painters and photographers in the midst of Monaghan Mill’s Hive Studios, but her medium is fabric, and there are rolls and rolls of it.
I can’t help myself; I want to touch everything. I’ve noticed Mitchell can’t help herself, either. She runs her hand across a table stacked with dozens of fabric squares. She rubs a swatch of leather between her thumb and pointer finger, considering my color palette. I’m here to design a purse, one that Mitchell will skillfully create—a craft she has been honing since the late 2000s, when she launched the Add Libb brand at the Charleston Farmer’s Market. Nearly twenty years (and a slew of art festivals and wholesale accounts) later, she’s now inviting the client into the creative process.
“I’ve started doing design events where people come in and pick their fabric, like a girls night,” Mitchell says. “I get to help them figure out how to make it something that’s them, but is also Add Libb at the same time.”
She’s patiently assisting as I peruse the collection on the wall. I’m picky about purses—function and style have to align seamlessly—and, mercifully, Mitchell has options. Clutches, shoulder bags, wristlets, wallets, satchels . . . I finally settle on a handbag with a crossbody strap, then head to the table to choose my interior and exterior fabrics. Mitchell pulls various options, some sourced from a warehouse in Williamston, South Carolina, that specializes in remnants; others are sourced from textile havens like Highpoint and Greensboro, North Carolina. All is upholstery-grade and made to endure wear and tear, and the brass accents and purse frames are top-quality and made in the U.S.
Custom handbags
Like any good artist, materials matter to Mitchell. She chats about her childhood as she works, explaining how growing up in a creative household, she was always crafting something. By age 11, she taught herself to sew with a machine she picked up at a yard sale. Even now, she builds cabinets in her spare time, and pulls a lot of inspiration from architecture.
“I’ve always been into functional art,” Mitchell says. “I have no two-dimensional artistic ability, but I’ve always had a very three-dimensional creativity. And I’m also very organized. Having something to put things inside of speaks to my soul. Purses were a natural connection . . . I wanted to make something you could actually use.”
Add Libb purses truly are wearable works of art. But when I pick up my completed bag a week later, it strikes me that they’re much more than that. By letting me choose the fabrics, leathers, and accents, it’s become personal. There’s a pink clutch awaiting pickup next to mine, made with extra fabric to match a mother-of-the-bride dress. Another client had the interior of her purse lined with material from her father’s old shirts. Opening the design process to the client allows an intimacy, a connection, something Mitchell knew was missing from her creative process.
“It’s fun for the people who do it, it’s fun for me, and I’ve just found that joy, that spark, is back.”
Bags can be designed by booking an individual or group design appointment, or by visiting the Add Libb studio on First Fridays from 6–8p.m. Premade bags are available for purchase at addlibb.com
