IN THE BAGS

• By KAREN MARTIN
• Assistant People Editor
• Published: Nov 23, 2009 - Page: 1D

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There’s only one thing Sherry Brown discovered she didn’t like about architecture after she got her degree from LSU.

“It takes too long to see the finished product,” she said.

Brown, 35, likes change.

And there’s nothing that changes faster than fashion.

So, in 2005, Brown started her own line of handbags.

“I’ve always been a fashion person,” said Brown, who grew up in Donaldsonville, where her mom taught her to sew. “One day I found these handbags online, but there’s no way I could justify spending that kind of money.”

So, to satisfy her fashionista soul, she made her own.

Friends saw and liked. She had a show. Then she had a hit. Her urban:kitty line was born.

Today, Brown continues to produce handbags unique not only in the design, but in the utilitarian qualities she builds in.

For example, there’s DECONstruct, which, by a quick presto-chango of the straps, goes from being a two-handle handbag to a messenger bag to a smart clutch, which can be worn with or without a strap.

“It’s really four bags in one,” said Brown, who works out of a small house in Baton Rouge not far from the Mississippi.

Then there’s her TravelCITY bag, a roomy tote that reverses to a completely different look. On one side, the “Driftwood” model has an abstract animal print and bronze metallic leather pockets; on the other, it is a brown/blue fleck pattern. “It’s like a walking gallery,” Brown said of the display of rich upholstery fabrics, which she uses for all of her bags.

The EL, her most popular style, is just an all-around bag, particularly nice in either a bright green “Bamboo” or rich orangey-red “Cypress.”