I want to thank my husband, Dean, for believing in me from the very beginning, when handbags were just a twinkle of a dream; my children, Sloane, Saige, and Olive, for inspiring and supporting me in this passionate journey while mommy was “making” and “obsessing over bags”; my parents, Joseph and Maria, for being so proud and supportive even when I made mistakes; and my sister, Nicole, for working with me in the early days and lending her talent. My family has been my rock.
I am grateful to my friends who have encouraged my entrepreneurial spirit, my amazing creative sisterhood—you know who you are.
I also want to thank my Botkier family, who have given me their best over the years. We learned together, and my appreciation goes beyond words. Thanks, too, to my colleagues, whose energy and shared interest in the bag business have taught me so much over the years: Beca Alexander, Kyle Anderson, Karen Giberson, Julie Gilhart, Steven Kolb and the Council of Fashion Designers of America, Aroom Han, Brooke Jaffe, John Manolucci, Roxanne Robinson, Kel Rowe, Aimee Song, and all the retail buyers who have supported my work. I’d also like to thank the team that helped me put together this book, including my agent, Nancy Chanin; writer Venessa Lau; photography editor Rebecca Karamehmedovic; my editor, Elizabeth Viscott Sullivan, and the rest of the team at HarperCollins: Lynne Yeamans, Susan Kosko, Dani Segelbaum, Pamela Barr, and Shubhani Sarkar.