At first glance, Erin Templeton’s vintage clothing, and chic handbag boutique seems out of place alongside Chinatown’s kitsch home décor shops and greasy spoons. But step inside, take in the kaleidoscope of recycled leather handbags and vintage finds and have a chat with the oh-so down to earth Erin, and it soon becomes clear that the shop is a deeply rooted part of the community. Erin has, after all, been designing and selling her handcrafted leather handbags here since 2002, drawing inspiration from “Chinese grandmas and anyone who knows who they are.”
A vintage buyer who studied shoemaking in England in 1999 before working as a leather hat designer in Melbourne, Erin got into handbags when she realized they’d be much easier to sell (“not everyone has a hat head,” she jokes). With limited cash and a pile of unwanted leather pants, skirts and jackets from her days “picking vintage,” she began making bags using the existing details of the high quality garments: a pocket from a jacket would become the front pocket of the purse; a dart from a skirt would become an interesting accent. Soon, fashionistas and editors were knocking at her door. Erin was, after all, Vancouver’s very first recycled leather handbag designer.
