Abigail Klein Leichman
June 26, 2014, Updated June 25, 2014

Gili Rozin Tamam accepted the 2014 Bernina Best Handmade Handbag award on behalf of her Tel Aviv-based, two-woman design team, MeDusa (Hebrew for Jellyfish).

And the winner is ...
And the winner is … MeDusa.

The winning design was recognized on July 18 at an awards event in New York City. Tamam and Adi Gal’s funky MeDusa plastic handbags and jewelry have become a favorite of fashion bloggers and are selling worldwide by the bagful.

The mini-clutch edged out designs submitted by more than 1,500 applicants, and in its specific category bested finalists from New York, The Netherlands, Latvia and the United Kingdom.

Tamam said of the award-winning clutch: “It’s a tribute to the Old World culture and Far East design aesthetic. In this style, the plastic is combined with textiles reminiscent of carpets and upholstery, which creates a playful juxtaposition of design traditions — one ancient and the other new.”

Founded in 2007 by Handbag Designer 101, the Independent Handbag Designer Awards was created to celebrate handbag design and creativity from around the world. The IHDA is the only international design competition of its kind and is a platform for putting new designer talent on the map, fostering high-profile collaborations and hundreds of success stories.

 

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