NY designer needs tanners’ help to solve python problem
07/01/2014
After moving to New York and completing internships with a series of luxury brands, including Hugo Boss, Ralph Lauren and Rebecca Minkoff, Ms Zarsky set up her own brand, with around 20% of her bags made from python skin and the rest from more mainstream raw materials.
In a recent interview with business media website Fast Company, she explained that her fascination with python skin came from time spent during her childhood at her family’s ranch in Texas and finding snake skins on the grounds of the property.
Her instinct that she could translate this interest into commercial success appeared correct when she noted that the pieces in her collections that sold the quickest were the ones made from python, so she decided to make snake the brand’s specialism.
This has involved sourcing finished python-skin leather from Italy, but she told Fast Company that she has begun to think about sourcing the skins from Florida instead, partly to be able to offer US-made luxury leathergoods that use US raw material, and partly to help Florida tackle its “python problem”.
So many pythons populate the southern state these days that Ms Zarsky has heard from customers about pet dogs being attacked by the snakes in domestic backyards. The authorities’ attempts to tackle the problem have included licensing a new generation of bounty hunters, who earn money from tracking snakes down and slaughtering them. In 2013, the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission organised an official month-long Python Challenge competition, offering prizes of up to $1,500 to the hunters capturing the most snakes.
Camille Zarsky has already established contact with some of the hunters involved and knows now that she can source at least some of her raw material from the US.
Her problem is finding a tanning partner closer to home. She told Fast Company she has thought about exporting US skins to Europe for processing before importing them back again as finished leather, but said the taxes she would have to pay would double the price of her bags, which already retail at well over $1,000 each.
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