My name is Paul Herrera, 28 years old from Manila, Philippines and I have been designing and making bags since 2004. I started out as a design assistant for a manila- based international bag designer and I learned a lot about bag- construction from her company. Before that, I was a theater arts graduate from the University of the Philippines where I majored in costume designing. My theater background gives me an edge when it comes to intricacy and texture of my evening bags. I sell my bags online and I have a made- to- order line as well.

I use satin, silk, taffeta and linen for the base of my bags and embellish them with glass and acrylic beads, pearls, metallic and wooden beads as well as laser- cut fabric details. I am usually inspired by animal skin textures and other things in nature that have details like tree bark, leaves, rock deformities etc. I think even if my bags are supposed to be very feminine and structured I infuse a lot of macabre intricacies to give my bags a "punk" feel.  my bags are one- of- a- kind and that are works of art. They are intended to be passed on to younger generations.

My line started with my twin brother's inspiration who is incidentally an apparel designer. He was the one who taught me how to make patterns for my bags, initially for women's wear but we just improvise to use it for bags. You see, I got into it the way an artist just picks up pen and paper and just starts to make drawings without considering if they will sell or not. I was making bags to express emotions and mostly to please my desires. After a few years of doing that, I felt that to move forward, I had to learn to turn it into a business.

My biggest nightmare has been having come up with a bag that looks exactly like another designer's work. I had to take the thing apart and since a Paul Herrera bags take hundreds of hours to make you can imagine the heartbreak I went through.  However, in 2007, I joined a national competition for professional accessory designers and I bagged the Grand Prize and a special award. It being the first time I ever joined a competition really was a big deal for me and opened a lot of doors for me.