We were lucky to catch up with Kathleen Cormier recently and have shared our conversation below.

Hi Kathleen, thanks for joining us today. What’s something crazy on unexpected that’s happened to you or your business

Couture Planet is in Lynn, Massachusetts — about eight miles north of Boston. We make and sell fashion handbags all across the country but we also use our local newspaper. As our business at Couture Planet is dependent on what is covered in the daily newspapers, we have been really lucky to enjoy the success of our local sports teams. Tom Brady, former quarterback of the New England Patriots, has been a GOAT for us. Women of all ages went crazy for Tom Brady bags over the years. He has always been a best-seller. The craziest story is when a customer “of a certain age” (over 70 years old) asked if we had a newspaper article with Tom Brady with his shirt off. Sadly, we did not.

Kathleen, before we move on to more of these sorts of questions, can you take some time to bring our readers up to speed on you and what you do?

Couture Planet makes fashion handbags from 100% post-consumer/recycled materials. Our founder, who is now a minority partner, worked at a big hotel in Boston and got involved with the hotel’s recycling program. She had a background in fashion and started taking notice of all the great content, photographs, and advertisements in the newspapers. One thing led to another and the newspaper became a sort of “fabric.” I came into the business in the early stages. Personally, my initial interest was the newspaper itself. I am a newspaper junkie — reading my local and two national newspapers daily. Reading paper newspapers is slowly going out of vogue but I still love holding and reading an actual newspaper.

We initially promoted the eco-fashion aspects of the brand. In addition to using post-consumer materials, we seek to be an ethical company concerning sourcing, paying a living wage to our sewers, and keeping a small footprint. As the business progresses this is still a central philosophy and promise — but we also began to see that it was the MADE IN THE USA aspect of the product that was interesting to our consumers. We have a sewing shop in Lynn, MA, and employ members of the local community. Knowing where the bag was made is becoming more important to consumers and these people are our customers.

Initially, we believed that interest in the bags would be driven by content and that is the case to some extent. The photographs, however, are what truly drive the interest. For example, a Taylor Swift bag is currently one of our bestsellers. We have loyal customers whom we cherish. They are attracted to the uniqueness of each bag. They understand the “tongue in cheek” aspect of carrying a bag made from recycled newspaper. They like carrying a bag that represents who they are.

I am proud of several things about our journey. I am proud that we have terrific retail partners across the country. I am proud that we have not strayed from our initial mission. I am also proud that my co-partner, Michelle Kane, and I have personally invested in the local community. Michelle has served for years on the board of the local museum and has given countless hours to that endeavor. Six. years ago, I began volunteering at Girls, Inc., a local non-profit that empowers girls and young women to be “strong, smart, and bold.” We’ve made a lot of friends on our Couture Planet journey and that is a fact that we never take for granted.

Alright – let’s talk about marketing or sales – do you have any fun stories about a risk you’ve taken or something else exciting on the sales and marketing side?

In 2019, the New England Patriots football team was going to be in the Super Bowl for the third year in a row. We were crossing our fingers for a win because that meant big business. Yet, we were becoming seasoned business owners and knew that we could never pin our hopes on events where we had no control. A few weeks before the big game, someone walked into a morning meeting at our local TV news station and was carrying a Tom Brady bag. As the story goes, everyone flipped and they called us immediately to come over and shoot a piece for the next day’s early morning news segments. We sent out an SOS to friends to come immediately to our workspace — which is a sewing shop with loose threads all over the place–to help us straighten up the place before the TV crew arrived.

The Patriots went on to win the Super Bowl and everyone was happy.

How did you put together the initial capital you needed to start your business?

Couture Planet was started and financed on a wing and a prayer. Other than minimal investments of either time or small amounts of cash from partners, the business was built with a small business loan from the City of Lynn (Massachusetts). Lynn is a gateway city and has a long history as a manufacturing hub, At the beginning of the 20th century, Lynn was the world leader in the production of shoes. The City strives to honor that tradition and is very kind and generous to the local business community.

Contact Info:

• Website: coutureplanet.com
• Instagram: couture.planet
• Facebook: Couture Planet