Debra Franses was raised by an art teacher and an international handbag fittings agent for the luxury goods market. As such, she was exposed to a unique perspective on art and fashion from an early age, which aided in the development of her distinctive style. As a student at Central Saint Martins in London, she drew the attention of the teachers with her handbag casting. The purse quickly became her canvas and tool for expressing her distinct style and personal aesthetics.
Debra Franses was interviewed in depth by Success Pitchers about her artistic path and how she founded ARTBAG Studio.
Describe your background and what you did before you founded ARTBAG Studio?
As a child, I loved raising money. I was brought up with a strong work ethic but also a very big heart and a love of all things creative. I played the piano, I danced, I made art, and always had a sunny smile. My mother was an art teacher and diligently taught me and my sister the values of culture. My father is an international businessman in the luxury accessories market. We travelled, learned foreign languages as a family and visited America many times.
I was interested in business and creativity. At the age of 10, I held my first garden party, raising money for the NSPCC. I was always tapping people for sponsorship, whether it was a swim, a walk or some other fundraising event. I loved the challenge of making money for good causes and to make a supportive community around me.
My 1st degree was in economics and politics, which taught me about the economy and how frustrating politics is. I was never very good at company politics. Although I did have a senior role at Reuters in the media division looking after big players such as the BBC and News International, as a woman, I always felt in these big media companies that my maverick nature was not going to give me the freedom I required to be happy.
At the age of 31, I left the corporate world to study fine art and was criticised at the world famous Central Saint Martins art school for being too commercial. I had won some sponsorships and organised exhibitions in large venues such as Selfridge’s and Harvey Nichols. I won a bursary to create a wallpaper line and, using digital printing, created a range of fabrics; This was my first creative entrepreneurial venture. It was called “Couturious.com” I later sold the web domain to an LA VC firm for $12,000 and started making art work as I didn’t want to focus on large-scale production in China.
Tell us the inception story of ARTBAG Studio.
Artbag studio was really founded in 2017 after 10 years of being an artist. It was actually a turning point, and as I took myself more seriously as a businesswoman, so did the people around me who I was working with. This included galleries that I did business with. It was a big shift. Prior to that, I was working with several international galleries, getting positive feedback, but it was a logistical nightmare and I was never making any money. I loved the work I was making. It came from the heart, was autobiographical and beautiful. People loved it, but it was very expensive and tricky to make.
To fund production: I set up an art school for children aged 5 to 15, I also worked as head of an art department in a secondary school. Pretty crazy! During my divorce, I met Ian, who had been managing music artists. He advised me to focus on artbag.
A bit of background here A gallery expects you, as an artist, to work with them by supplying them with work for free! It sits in their gallery until it is either forgotten about or sold, at which point you can then make a bit of a commission as they take at least 50%. Anyone who creates the type of work that I do knows that at any given time, I have a lot of expensive work scattered around the world, and it’s stressful not knowing if you’ll ever see this money back.
What has been your biggest lesson since becoming an entrepreneur?
Cover your costs. Without this there is no business and “Self-belief is your biggest asset along with humility.”
How do you motivate people to go the extra mile?
I try to use kindness and work from a place of love for what I do. I find that “my people” will respond to this. If they don’t, it will be a hard road, and I don’t naturally connect with people who aren’t seeing my vision.
What gets you up in the morning? What motivates you?
I’ve started to learn the art of Yin Yoga, which involves heart-opening stretches, and the clarity of what needs to be done comes to me intuitively. I am super flexible with the order of how this is done, as so much is about finding the right moment to get the task nailed.
I’m motivated by beauty, love, and freedom. This means that I need enough money, ideas, or connections to have the freedom of choice and I need to feel that my work is valued artistically, which keeps me motivated to produce new ideas and find new ways to tell my stories.
Kindly describe how you will specifically know what success looks like for you.
Being happy to work or take time off in equal measure.
What is some of the advice you give to aspiring women leaders who sees disability as a career barrier?
We are all humans. The fact that trans is growing is a strange biproduct of gender confusion. Focus on Humanist ideology and not on gender.
What are your future plans to sustain ARTBAG Studio success?
Leave no stone unturned! I’m looking at NFT and the impact of the metaverse trend on the ownership and royalties derived from the sale of artwork to protect my financial interests. I am also training my son to help me in the studio so that we can continue to evolve into the future.
