Johanna Quintero was born in Pennsylvania during the mid seventies; back when mood rings, lava lamps, sea monkeys, and pet rocks captured the imagination of Americans. At the tender age of three her parents decided to return to the enchanting island of Puerto Rico - their homeland.
Attracted to arts at an early age Johanna found her passion for ballet, modern dance, drawing, and acting. She went on to acquire a Bachelors Degree of Arts with a minor in Business Administration from the InterAmerican University of Puerto Rico. With dreams of attending graduate school, Johanna's plans were diverted when she was offered a role in a feature film in 1998. It was then she came to the realization that maybe becoming a scholar wasn't the best career choice for her artistic mentality.
While she was deciding which professional direction to embark upon; the first Patchouli Handbag began to materialize. On Christmas Eve 1998, a beloved friend gifted Johanna with a vintage velvet blouse which was a little too big. The colors were spectacular and it was buttery-soft to the touch. Fearlessly Johanna grabbed some scissors and started cutting it up. This was the moment Johanna first dreamt of becoming a designer and this dream has captured her ever since.
Michelangelo once said, "I saw the angel in the marble and carved until I set him free." Like Michelangelo, Johanna's creative process is a journey. Each purse starts with a picture in Johanna's mind, inspired by the fabric at hand. Each purse tells the story of a woman unlike any other. Her designs represent women trapped in fabric until they can be set free by needle and thread. Johanna is fascinated with this creative adventure and unearths new designs every day.
