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From a small Ohio town to Florence, Italy, Junie Collins built her life around leather, legacy, and quiet perseverance. For 35 years, her handcrafted bags have represented something rare in today’s world, patience, quality, and soul.
But this Black Friday, her story reaches its final chapter.
At 68, Junie is retiring for good, closing her Dayton workshop and saying farewell to the art that defined her life.
“My hands can’t keep up anymore,” she says softly. “But I don’t want my bags sitting in boxes. I want them to be worn, loved, and part of someone’s life.”
To thank her loyal supporters, Junie is offering something she’s never done before, and never will again:
a Final Black Friday Sale, up to 80% off her last remaining handmade pieces.
Junie grew up in a fading manufacturing town in southern Ohio, where factories closed, hope dimmed, and families scattered.
Her mother battled alcoholism. Her father worked double shifts to keep the lights on.
“Everyone said the town was dying,” Junie recalls. “I didn’t want to die with it.”
At 23, after years of waitressing and saving every dollar, she bought a one-way ticket to Florence, Italy, determined to master the old-world craft of leatherwork. She swept workshop floors, scrubbed dye off her hands, and watched Italian masters stitch bags so perfectly they seemed alive.
“They didn’t just make things,” she says. “They built stories you could hold.”
When she returned home five years later, Junie set up her first workshop in a small Dayton garage, just an old fan, a sewing machine, and a pile of worn-out leather.
Neighbors thought she’d lost her mind. But little by little, people started stopping by, watching, buying, remembering what real craftsmanship looked like.
“I wanted every bag to feel like redemption,” Junie says. “Proof that something broken can still become beautiful.”
Her bags became more than accessories, they became heirlooms. Each one, a quiet testament to endurance, grace, and the human touch.
Now, after 35 years of creation, Junie is ready to rest her hands.
Her Final Collection is a farewell, each bag a story, each stitch a memory.
This Black Friday, she’s opening her workshop one last time and offering everything up to 80% off, as her personal thank-you to everyone who believed in her work.
“This is the end of my story,” she says softly. “But maybe, it can be the start of someone else’s.”
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