Edition Poshette

Edition Poshette is a series of book-inspired leather bags and accessories created by twin sisters Helene Schjerbeck and Simone Bendix. Simone is an actress, living in Paris and Helene is an architect living in Montepulciano. Both are voracious readers.
The sisters, who are Danish and grew up in Rome, have created a luxury accessories collection that draws inspiration from the books they grew up with. Almost all Edition Poshette bags are designed to be hands-free – for the multi-tasker on the move! Take a look at their unique bags, as well as an interview with Simone, below. I couldn’t resist – she’s a twin, I’m a twin. How could I pass on an opportunity to ask her personal questions?

1.Please tell us about Edition Poshette and how it came to be?
A dear and stylish friend couldn’t find a cool wallet, one that expressed something about her and how she chose to spend her money. I had been making one-off bags out of vintage fabrics and loved the mixing and matching of patterns, textures and finding a balanced expression within them, so applying that to leather was a whole new journey. I wanted the wallet to have the same expression as vintage fabrics- I wanted it to tell a story actually like a good book. I love books and feel ‘safe’ surrounded by them, knowing I can always ‘rely’ on them.
We started working with prints on leather many years ago and discovered how delicate the procedure really is – it requires a lot of preparation. Helene (my twin) is now in charge of all the graphic design, making sure we get the colors right, exact dimensions etc., then it was a matter of moving onto prototyping the purses in fabric while imagining how the whole thing would look in leather. We realized how every step is extremely important and bringing the process to fruition is entirely dependent on exquisite craftsmanship. Once the idea is transformed into the finished prototype it may need to be adjusted or even entirely re-done and once it leaves your own hands, you really want it to be in the hands of someone who cares as much about it as you do yourself. Once we had found the ‘right’ artisans, they assembled the pieces and all that had once lived only in our own imagination became a very poetic reality. We don’t believe in flooding the world with useless, modish objects so we really feel we have an obligation to create something that is well designed, well made and tells a story about who you are and why you have chosen to carry it with you on your journey in life.

2. Did you and your twin sister always plan to go into business together?
I guess we spent a lot of our life seeking out our individuality – and in our forties we decided to celebrate the greatest gift of all that we are two of us.
We have always been used to sharing our siblings, our parents, our school, our friends, etc. it seemed like the most natural thing to start sharing our business. The day I had to write about Edition Poshette for the website, I just couldn’t write “I” and thought,- oh this is ridiculous, it was so much better and stronger to write ‘WE” . Life is so precious and spending your working time together with people you like, makes it all so more valuable. It was really a question of putting it in writing, a very simple commitment.

3. Pros and Cons of working with your twin sister.
We know each other so well, we know when one has to ‘pick the other one up’ or how to encourage each other, go the extra mile, I can honestly say there are only PROS

4. Best business advice someone gave to you when you were first starting out.
“Make a business plan, once you’ve made it forget about it, no one ever sticks to it anyway’.. “Put all your efforts into the products , with a strong product you cant go wrong “, I have had a lot of great advice, at the end of the day if you strive to create something original the best advice comes from listening to your instincts. Edition Poshette is original. We are creating a brand and products that haven’t been made before, (eyewearbags like ‘Bell’occhio”, lipstick-holders, purse- bags sprinkled with poetry) we are doing it so differently from anyone else and it is working, so I guess we are learning to TRUST our instincts.

5. What most excites you about your work?
OHHHH, so many things, . . . having an idea, putting it into motion and watching it come to life, working with my twin, working with amazing artisans, seeing someone wear what we have made still gives us both immense pleasure and honestly makes us so incredibly proud.

6. What is the biggest lesson you’ve learned in running your own business?
It sounds banal, but listen to your intuitions and make what you like. ‘Love what you make, make what you love’….If you are passionate about what you do, the rewards will follow. ONE STEP AT THE TIME.

7. What business books or resources (if any) would you recommend to someone starting their own business?
Nothing compares to REAL LIFE, and mistakes made on the way. Listening to other peoples mistakes is of course helpful because you understand why and how it can go wrong, so when put in a similar situation you can draw on their experience. Being patient and persistent, when things grow gradually, they grow strong and durable. A great book to read (but not just for business, is Ken Robinson: Finding Your Element: How to Discover Your Talents and Passions and Transform Your Life

8. Do you have a particular career highlight?
The highlight is we are still doing it !!!,-and it’s constantly moving forward – we are growing 🙂 When you are passionate enough and patient enough it all comes together in the end and with joy – Of course if it were THAT easy everyone would probably be doing it .

9. Tell us a random talent that you have?
We love cutting in paper and are often referred to as the paper cutting twins- we created/ decorated a hotel room in Florence which we called the Paperoom.
From the bed you look up at a mezzanine, a skylight of Florence cut out in paper with lights behind it,- so it became a “Room with a view”

10. What do you like to do when you are not working?
We love our work so when we are not working, and working doesn’t always seem like work …. I guess we PLAY, READ and, oh, we love going to markets. There are so many funny stories to ‘discover’.

Thank you so much, Simone! I feel like I got to know you and Helene a little bit!

Images courtesy of Edition Poshette