I purchased a Libaire® leather tote bag ca. 1995, shortly after starting my first (and only!) corporate job. I needed a serious wardrobe upgrade that included heels, hose, skirts and yes, a professional bag.
So, I headed to Nordstrom at the Stanford Shopping Center in Palo Alto, CA.
The Nordstrom saleswoman talked me into buying the tote bag to match the purse — both made by Libaire. The company, she said, was woman-owned and located in Berkeley, CA. Having spent the prior seven years working for a woman-owned contract sewing company in Palo Alto, I was “all in” as they say now.
I paid and left Nordstrom with my heart racing and my pocketbook gasping from the purchase of two beautiful bags plus sundry career wardrobe items.
I don’t know what happened to the purse, but I still have the tote bag, and that’s because I’ve carried it everywhere for the last 30 years: client meetings, road trips, vacations, factory tours, trade shows, and photoshoots — to name a few things.
It’s also the perfect carry-on for flights as it holds everything, including a laptop or iPad, books, food, water, etc. etc. It easily squashes under the seat in front, ha!
So of course, it went with me to New Zealand, when I visited our web designer, Rachel Cunliffe.
I spent my days exploring Auckland and took the ferry to Rangitoto Island — an active volcano located off the coast of the city. Once you arrive on the island, you can follow a trail to the top of the volcano.
That was a seriously good hike, but made more difficult because I was carrying this tote bag with my lunch and other stuff needed for a day of exploring.
A nice person took the photo to the left; you can see my Libaire bag at my feet. I still can’t believe I did that hike with it.
As an aside, after I arrived back in Auckland, windblown and sweaty, I made my way to the Ritz for afternoon tea. “Tea for one,” I said to the maître d’.
“Does Madame have a reservation?” he asked.
“Does Madame require one?” I asked. “No Madame, right this way.” It was an exquisite tea — even in my shorts and sneakers.
Writing the Tom Bihn post made me remember my Libaire bag had been made in Berkeley — and yep sure enough, the tag reads, “Made in USA.” I love how it’s woven versus printed. You can tell the company had real style.
The company went out of business in 2016 — much to the consternation of its customers / fans. Libaire bags are now collectors items on Poshmark, eBay, and other sites. Women continue to rave about them!
As you can see in the photo, my tote bag looks pretty good considering where it’s been and how I’ve used it all these years.
I found the purse on Poshmark; it’s the same one I bought in 1995 from Nordstrom, except it’s brown rather than black. It’s in mint condition. (Buying stuff like this is one of my weaknesses. I love vintage, and I love beautiful handcrafted items.)
According to a purse forum I found, women love the pebbled texture of the leather. I agree — plus the feel of it and the construction of the bags themselves is superb.
It also feels good to own a small piece of forgotten American manufacturing — and that these wonderful bags were made in Berkeley, a city I visited frequently having grown up in Alameda, a 20 minute drive or so away.
The significance of manufacturing being off-shored
I couldn’t determine why the company went out of business, but I’m assuming it could no longer compete with bags and leather goods made in China. Between 2001 and 2016, American textile products and apparel companies went out of business in droves; the industries basically flatlined.
At the beginning of 1990, American apparel factories employed 938,600 workers. By 2016, apparel factories employed 133,600 workers — an 86% decline or a loss of nine in 10 jobs.
Similarly, at the beginning of 1990, American textile product mills employed 243,500 workers; by 2016, this number had fallen to 117,417 — for a decline of 52% or a loss of five in ten jobs.
In fact, between 1990 and 2016, America lost 985,000 jobs; add in the losses from the supply chain, and that total is 1.98 million jobs lost.
It’s also estimated that “the growth of imports from China from 1999 to 2011 resulted in a loss of 2.4 million jobs, including losses from both within and outside manufacturing.”
That’s because when a factory closes up, the local mom and pops are impacted, too.
Data is from the book, What if Things Were Made in America Again, by James A. Stuber, J.D. He asks, “So how’s all that free trade working for you?” Good question!
Stuber states, “At the local level, a hit to employment from imports was not compensated for by increases in employment in non-affected industries.” In other words, low-paying service jobs didn’t take up the slack.
It’s for this very reason I made my commitment in 2015 to purchase Made in USA as much as I could — because I wanted to support American manufacturing.
Today, I want to help people understand why it’s so vitally important we do so.
When you buy American-made, you help keep jobs here. Think about it this way: Manufacturing + good jobs = strong families and strong communities.
Sharing the stories of companies who make stuff here is my way of giving back. Because manufacturing isn’t about machines. It’s about people — our people — and keeping the American Dream alive for those who want to pursue it.
That’s my “why.”
Please buy Made in USA whenever you can. Thank you!
