Danny K.
Tapestry handbags, totes and backpacks, hand-cut and sewn in Los Angeles
🇺🇸 Made in USA
Our assessment
Company details
Where Danny K. products are made
On both the Maggie Purse and the Danny Pack, the details block opens with “Made in the U.S.A.” before any material or dimension is given.
“hand-cut tapestry fabrics and water-resistant nylon lining, interfacing throughout, edge-binding on all exposed seams, woven nylon straps, YKK zippers, and heavy-duty nylon thread.”
The first Danny K. bag was made from “a sample of beautiful Italian tapestry from a nearby showroom.” The company still words it as made in the USA from those fabrics — which is the correct way to describe imported materials and domestic manufacture, and is how this profile repeats it.
What this emblem covers. Danny K. states “Made in the U.S.A.” on its product pages and carries “Handmade in the USA” on every page of its site. The tapestry fabric is Italian in origin and the company says so; the bags are cut and sewn in Los Angeles. The emblem covers the manufacture, not a claim that every material is domestic.
The story
Danny Kong was born in Bangkok into a family of shoemakers, worked as a shoe designer in the family business while he was at college, and emigrated to the United States. Then somebody gave him a sample of Italian tapestry.
He made a tote out of it at home and hung it in a friend’s booth at the Hollywood Farmer’s Market. “That first bag sold quickly.” In May 1994 the business started properly, and in the company’s own careful phrasing it has since “become a really busy small family business.”
What has not changed is that Danny still cuts the fabric himself. “He hand cuts the fabric in every bag to highlight the beauty and design of the tapestry” — which is the whole craft of working in patterned cloth. Cut the same yard of tapestry two different ways and you get two different bags, one of which looks deliberate and one of which does not.
Why they matter
The range is small and legible: purses and handbags, totes, backpacks and accessories — the Isabella Tote, the Classic Backpack, the Maggie Purse, the little Bella, cosmetic cases, cell phone cases and coin purses, in more than a hundred fabrics.
The bags have reached an unusual retail channel for a Los Angeles workshop. Danny K. says its bags have gone to customers in every state and been sold “at high end shops coast to coast — from the Huntington Library, Art Collections and Botanical Gardens (Pasadena, CA) to the Museum of Fine Arts (Boston, MA) and the National Gallery of Art (Washington, DC).” Museum shops buy tapestry because their customers already like pattern; they keep buying it because the bags hold up.
The showroom is at 1924 Hyperion Avenue in Silver Lake, open by appointment. Justin Wilner is President and writes the company’s About page; Danny Kong designs and cuts. The line that best explains the business is Wilner’s: “Our customers have become friends and our friends have become customers.”
Shop Danny K. products
Danny K. tapestry handbags, totes, backpacks and accessories.
Danny K. questions
Are Danny K. bags made in the USA?
Yes. The product pages open with “Made in the U.S.A.,” followed by “Our handmade women’s handbags are proudly made in the USA from gorgeous, hand-cut tapestry fabrics…” and every page of the site carries a “Handmade in the USA” banner.
How long have they been making bags?
Since May 1994, as a family business in Los Angeles.
What are the bags made from?
Hand-cut tapestry fabric with water-resistant nylon lining, interfacing throughout, edge-binding on all exposed seams, woven nylon straps, YKK zippers and heavy-duty nylon thread. The tapestry itself is Italian; the bags are made in Los Angeles.
Can you visit them?
Yes, by appointment — the showroom is at 1924 Hyperion Avenue, Los Angeles, California 90027.