|Chadds Ford Spotlight|
arden + james goods feature artist’s hands, fine materials For Chadds Ford business owner, it’s all about the handbags By Natalie Smith Contributing Writer
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he perfect handbag should be a combination of comfort, functionality and chic, and for its thousands of customers and social media followers, nothing less than an arden + james bag will do. Designed and made by the one-woman creative dynamo Briana “Bri” Brant, the bags and accessories bearing her company’s name are all crafted in a workshop in her Chadds Ford home. “I work in my house and it’s a tiny little bedroom upstairs. People would not even believe how I do everything in that room, but it works,” Brant said. The name of the business started in 2006 as a nod to the yearly Arden, Del. fair (“we went to the fair a lot when I was a kid and I always thought it was just the most magical place”) and the name her husband and oldest son share. The totes, pouches and carry-alls she creates are generally made out of leather or linen. Some are produced in waxed fabric, such as canvas and denim. She’ll often enhance the pieces with paint or other embellishments. These handmade, crafted items - including small leather goods - range in price from about $20 to $400, the higher price being for “the hugest bag, with the most pockets and in the fanciest leather.” Brant talked about working with her most popular material. “Everything [starts with] a full hide of leather. I buy it from the tannery and then I’ll cut it. I just like coloring it, painting it, dyeing it, or whatever. I start out with a 40-square-foot hide, and then I cut the big pieces out for the carry-alls and totes and then the hide gets smaller. I kind of work my way down. I always have pieces that are really small for making card holders and wallets, and then I create key chains with the really small pieces. “Then I give the scraps to schools, who use them in art classes. I never waste anything; it’s bad karma to do so. I’ve learned to be really efficient
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Chadds Ford Life | Fall/Winter 2021 | www.chestercounty.com
All photos courtesy Double S Media
arden + james owner/maker Bri Brant, with some of her creations at the company’s store in Chadds Ford.
with my materials. With every bag you get a key ring with the logo on it.” Her other materials are also specially ordered. “The wax canvas is actually from New Jersey and the company that makes it is amazing. The canvas, it’s like for army tents. It’s a family business and they’ve been doing it for ... I don’t even know … 100 years and I actually ordered direct from the woman who owns the business and she gives me all
