Sha’Lari Couture

Shannon Richardson

As the owner of Sha’Lari Couture, I had always dreamed of being a woman’s clothing designer. Little did I know, my childhood dream would take me in a different direction. Instead of designing women’s clothing, I would end up designing handbags and accessories.

At the beginning, NonnshsStyle was the name of my business before I changed the name to Sha’Lari Couture in the fall of 2012. What started out as an idea for a hobby, quickly evolved into a handbag and accessories business. A few months in, I received a custom order for a diaper bag for a baby shower. Little did I know, this diaper bag would be the catalyst to what would soon become a bustling custom diaper bag business shipping 350+ custom diaper bags to 47 states and 7 countries.

However, in August 2016, I decided to take my business in a different direction. I shifted my focus from working with fabric to working with leather. The challenge was, I had no prior experience or knowledge of how to work with leather. With my background in retail, an Associate’s degree in Fashion Merchandising, a Bachelor’s degree in Fashion Marketing and Management, my industrial sewing machine, and countless YouTube videos, I was able to combine my experience, my knowledge, and my desire to design and create to teach myself the art of leather crafting. As I sit back and reflect, I am pleased to see how far I have I come and look forward to what lies ahead.