A passion for handbags and a love for designing Lona Gutknecht fell right into designs handbags. Lona Gutknecht Handbags are handmade in the United States of America. Lona goes one on one with every step of the making of her bags. All the leather is Genuine Italian leather with the exception of the Elk, which comes first hand from the Rocky Mountains. The leather is all hand picked by Lona herself.

Designing comes from many different angles for Lona. Traveling is a great inspiration for designing her bags. She sometimes designs a bag form one she saw in a dream she had. Lona often picks the leather first and then organically deigns the bag from the look and the feel of the leather she has chosen. She also takes into consideration when designing her bags suggestions that other people have made to her, things they desire in a handbag.

Lona is from the Denver/Boulder area of Colorado. She now lives in San Diego California and spends much of her time in New York City.

All photography by Lona Gutknecht with the assistance of Matthew Bryan.