Her handbags reflect her bright outlook
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From the start, Wu wanted to create a bag for teenage girls. "I just want to do my own mass market, more toward teenagers because I think that market is still not that saturated," Wu says. "Luxury is maybe more saturated."
In creating her brand name, Mengdi3wu, Wu says she decided to use 3 because it's her lucky number.
Two years after establishing her brand, Wu now has seven bags in her collection. Beside her "Button Tote," there is the "Tie Tote", "Tape Tote", "Jail Tote", "White Afro Tote", "Red Afro Tote" and "Thick Lip Tote".
Wu recently completed a sample of a new makeup case, which she hopes will be ready to sell by May or June after she has organized manufacturing and shipping details.
"This time I wanted to do something more personal," Wu says of the makeup case. The case's exterior is striped yellow and black, like police tape, but she's keeping the inside design a secret for now.
Wu says inspiration for her designs comes from daily life.
"I think for teenagers it's the objects we see everyday that are more relatable," Wu says, in comparison to more abstract designs like those she has seen at the Museum of Modern Art.
Wu started selling her bags in China because they are made there and that's where her father runs a baby-apparel business. Wu does her own public relations, writing press releases she sends to newspaper and magazine editors.
Wu's tote bags are available exclusively at Sears.com priced from $25 to $35. She says the original "Button Tote" is the most popular, and she believes more than 1,000 of the bags have been sold.
Although her target market is teenage girls, Wu has found the majority of her buyers are in their 30s to 40s. She speculated that those women want to be "cute and quirky," like her designs.
Wu says she has never seen someone carrying one of her bags, but she says friends have reported sightings in Times Square and in the SoHo district in lower Manhattan.
"We were all very impressed by how she created her handbag line and was able on her own to get orders and so much press," says Suzanne Piazza, who taught Wu in a Parsons merchandising class last fall.
"Mengdi is a very smart and creative student who is self-motivated," the teacher says. "She was an inspiration to the entire class."
Wu includes Piazza among a long list of mentors, she says, who have helped her strengthen her brand and have encouraged her in her business.
"My mom is very excited and supportive, but my dad wants to keep me humble and not brag about myself," Wu says. "I think there's a good balance between the two."
Wu wants her designs to maintain personal connections with her target market and to create functional bags attuned to the necessities of a young woman's daily life.
Perhaps the most important part of her design, she says, is the fun factor.
carolineberg@chinadailyusa.com
