In the CBD’s heritage Epworth Building, the Russian-born designer and her team assemble bags made from laser-cut vegetable-tanned pieces using a Japanese stud press (so no stitching required). Find classic styles – including a bucket bag and shoulder bag – in black, brown and tan.
Russian-born handbag designer Katya Komarova didn’t plan for a career in design. She graduated from Moscow State University of Culture and Arts with a degree in acting before becoming a model. But after a chance encounter with a local artisan on a trip to Thailand in 2010 – who taught her how to make a leather bracelet – she decided on a career change.
Komarova followed her passion, studying handbag design at Accademia Riaci in Florence. By the time she moved to Australia in 2013, her handbag label ByMosquito was already well-established.
“When I moved to Australia, I realised that the business model – and the bags that I was making back in Russia – wouldn’t perform as well [here],” she says. So she launched a new, eponymous label in 2014 specialising in minimalist leather goods.
