UK designer wins Independent Handbag Designer Awards

The eight annual Independent Handbag Designer Awards unveiled its winners and it included two honours for UK-based designer John Edwards of Florian London. The awards, which attracted entrants from around the world including the USA, the UK, Egypt, Nigeria, Israel, and Kenya,

recognises independent handbag designers across seven categories from Best Student Made to Most Socially Responsible.

John E

dwards of Florian London won the awards for both Best Handbag in Overall Style and Design, as well as the InStyle.com Audience Fan Favourite Award, receiving more than 77,000 votes in an online poll. Edwards beat off competition from the likes of Jalan Sahba, Ella McHugh and Bernice Angelique with his ‘Vienna’ bag inspired by British heritage.

By winning the InStyle audience award Edwards and Florian London will appear in the magazine’s September issue, will be stocked in Bloomingdales and will receive a booth at WWDMagic to showcase the collection to press and buyers.

“In England, this is what we call a double whammy,” Edwards’s wife, Tola Adeagbo told the audience when accepted the award on his behalf.

Florian London scoops double honours at Independent Handbag Designer Awards

When discussing what makes Florian London innovative and worthy of winning the best handbag honour in his application, Edwards stated: “We pride ourselves on the ability to create quality leather products that are unmatched in design, style, and heritage. The craftsmanship that goes into every Florian London handbag is a byproduct of our standard to our testament, culture and belief in the pursuit of excellence.

“We have embraced our English heritage, which shows in the embellishment that we have used in our hardware and the detailing of our products.”

Other winners included Morgan Richards of Morgan Rhea who took home the Best Student Made Handbag award; Gili Rozin Tamam of MeDusa from Israel was awarded the Best Handmade Handbag honour, while Carolina Riffi Ollite-Hopman of Carat23 from The Netherlands won the Best Green Handbag category.

There were also honours for Monica Frisbie of Mondrina from Spain who won the Distinctly Denim by Guess Handbags award and Monica Botkier received the IHDA’s Iconoclast Award.

Image: Florian London ‘Vienna’ bag