Marlen Lugo founded her eponymous company in 2011 with a focus on creating unique objects that defy expectations and inspire their owners.

As an artist and designer Marlen Lugo has long explored the intersection of the functional and the fantastic. Her installations, sculpture, interiors, furniture and fabrics each walk a thin line between veneration and usage that becomes part of the experience of owning the piece. Her first collection of handbags and purses embodies this spirit.

Marlen’s love of materials, stories and craft come together to create soft sculpture that promises to stimulate and elevate our senses and beautify our appearance. Each handbag carries a story about its beginning that is to be revealed only to their owners.

Marlen was born and raised in San Juan, Puerto Rico and has been a maker of things and an avid traveler since childhood. She studied art and received a BFA from Tufts University. Marlen was also awarded a fellowship in sculpture from the Massachusetts Artist Foundation, the Mid Atlantic Regional Fellowship for Sculpture and a grant from the Marie Walsh Foundation Studio Program.

She currently lives and works in Venice, CA.

Here’s a video interview with Marlen,